Email Marketing for Beginners
If you are someone who is building a brand of ANY kind, you need an email list. I want to break down email marketing for beginners. Why is this so important, and what do you do with an email list when you have it?
Email Marketing for Beginners | What do you actually DO with an email list?
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I’m sure someone is reading this and thinking, “well it doesn’t apply to me – I don’t need an email list.” And if that’s you, I promise that you actually do need to do some email marketing.
Why? Because you can’t put all your eggs in one basket.
If you focus ALL your efforts on YouTube and then the algorithm changes so your content isn’t shown often, or you get blocked from your channel… then you’ve lost access to your entire audience. If you had your audience on an email list that you own? Crisis averted, problem solved. Start an entirely new channel, alert your email list subscribers, and get your subscribers back.
You don’t OWN the access to people who follow you on Instagram or Facebook or YouTube. You DO own the access to people who are on your email list. And if you wanted to, you could print out your email list and carry it in your pocket (which is weird, but you could).
You’re at the mercy of the algorithm to show your content to your followers. With an email list, you can control exactly who sees what! Those numbers are more standard and regular than numbers that are controlled by the algorithm, which can fluctuate a lot.
Plus, people on your email list have taken the time to give you their email – meaning they’re more invested in you! That’s a way warmer relationship that means it will be easier to sell your products to them later.
There are tons of other reasons you need an email list. If you want to learn more about the why, you can check out this video.
Email marketing for beginners – what do you actually DO with an email list?
You have decided to build an email list. Then, you’ve created a way for people to get ON your email list. And people have signed up. What do you do next?
1. Treat your email list like any other form of content
Email marketing is very much like other social platforms. If you don’t nurture the relationship with that group of people, your email list is going to decline. People will forget who you are, stop caring, and your open rates will suck.
You can’t create an email list and let it die! SCHEDULE writing and sending emails on your content calendar just like you would Instagram posts or YouTube videos.
I’ll be honest – my email marketing is the ball that drops when I get busy or need to let something go. I’m also intentional about not overwhelming my audience with sales. So when I go through a period of emailing my list like crazy about a new awesome thing, I will take a break from the email content so that people don’t get sick of me.
I do NOT do this perfectly, but this is the biggest tip I can give about email marketing for beginners. Consistency is key, like it is with most other things.
2. NURTURE and maintain that relationship
People took the time to give you their email address. That’s a pretty serious relationship, and you HAVE to nurture it.
That means you aren’t selling to your email list on the regular. You’re TALKING to them. Don’t schedule a sales email into your content calendar.
The content creation is about nurturing your audience and building the relationship with them. The main premise of building a brand, selling, and marketing, is getting people through the KNOW, LIKE, AND TRUST factor.
People have to know who you are, like you, and trust you to want to buy from you. And nurturing that relationship via your email list is THE way to take your audience through that know, like, and trust sequence.
People on your email list need to feel like you are their friend and genuinely want to help them, or whatever your unique combo is. I want my email list to feel like I’m their internet BFF and someone who can help them grow their brand!
When you’re creating email list content, write emails that BUILD your relationship! Just like you would on other social platforms. If you don’t date the person before you ask them to marry you, they won’t want to marry you. See what I mean?
How I nurture my list
Anytime someone signs up to my email list in ANY way (a freebie, paid product, etc.), they are sent a nurture sequence via automation. I use ConvertKit for this, and they have a free account for up to 1,000 subscribers.
In ConvertKit, I can set up automations that will send a new subscriber a series of nurturing emails. Those go out over the next week or two telling that person who I am, how I can help them, and where else they can hang out with me. It gives them some advice and some backstory TOTALLY on autopilot!
I have a nurture sequence template that you can grab for free! It includes all the text from my nurture sequence emails and the purpose behind each one, and you can grab it right here.
3. Send an email at LEAST once per week
Email marketing for beginners pro tip: staying consistent means sending one email per week to your list.
That probably sounds like a lot, and I’m not perfect at that by any means. If you can’t do it weekly, do bimonthly or monthly.
You need to take into consideration WHO the people on your email list are, WHY they’re on your list, and WHAT you can give them to make them feel like your relationship is growing.
A lot of people on my email list are interested in passive income, becoming a creator, selling digital products, or whatever else. And a large percentage of my audience is women. So in my current content plan, I’m sharing more personal development tips via my email list than I am elsewhere.
You can get creative here. Maybe you have a Marketing Monday email, or a Tip Tuesday. People will look for those emails and want to read them because of their content.
Maybe you’re a family vlogger. People watch your content to see your family, so you could email out exclusive clips that regular viewers don’t see. If you’re a gaming channel, you could have a weekly email with tips and tricks for a specific game.
4. Include a round-up of your content in each email
I like to add a round-up of the content I’ve released recently and what’s been happening in my universe at the bottom of each email. People will be ready and excited to check out your content after you give give give!
This is the recipe for email marketing success!
If you’re giving people useful content on the regular, then people will be super used to opening and enjoying your emails. They’ll be excited to see them each week and eager to open the next one! When your next email is a sales email, it won’t run people off. You’ve done a LOT of giving, and you’re just now asking for something in return. See how that works?
Nurturing and giving are KEY on social media in general, but especially with your email list. Nurture, nurture, nurture, sell. And repeat.
Don’t forget to grab my FREE email nurture sequence right here!
