Answers to Common Questions about How to get started with Email Marketing
Do you have questions about how to get started with email marketing?
When you’ve just started an online business, there are a lot of decisions to be made. And some of them likely relate to how you can create and build a list of email subscribers.
The term ‘email marketing’ covers how you reach your potential clients as well as how you nurture and stay connected with them over time.
Today I’m going to answer the most common questions I receive about how to get started with email marketing.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Why is Email Marketing important for my Business?
One of the first questions I am often asked is, “Why is email marketing important for my business?” Another way of saying this is, “Why do I need to build my email subscriber list?”
The first and most important answer is that if you only rely on social media platforms to connect with your audience, a couple of things can happen:
The social platform might disappear. This may seem unlikely, but that's exactly what MySpace users thought at the height of its popularity. Social platforms do come and go.
Your profile on a social platform could get shut down. Then you would have no access to the people you've shared amazing content with via your Facebook business page or other social media platforms.
Again - it might feel unlikely, but this actually happens to people all the time.
‘The Money Is In The List’
Experienced online business owners know that the money is actually in your email list.
The reason we say that is because your subscribers get to know you at a much more intimate level than they do on social media.
The “know, like, trust” factor develops more strongly via email and therefore, you are able to make sales to your list once you have created that relationship.
If you find it uncomfortable to share stuff about yourself, you are probably filtering yourself on Facebook or any of the social media platforms. Whereas in your emails you’re likely to be much more open to being vulnerable and sharing deeper and more meaningful interactions with your subscribers who have chosen to be in your audience.
It’s important to note that when you are building your list, you are NOT thinking, “Oh, I'll get them on my email marketing list in order to sell to them."
Yes, that will be one of your ultimate goals. But before you can do that, you need to build up a community, which naturally develops when you create a sense of belonging and feeling understood and heard for your subscribers.
Keeping that in mind is really important when you're building your list. Remember that email marketing is the way that you connect with people.
By building your email list, you can:
- Create invitations for free things like webinars
- Add value by sharing your blogs, podcasts, or whatever it is
- Share other content you have
- and from time to time, make offers to them
This is a beautiful way to create a connected and nurturing community by using email marketing to grow your email subscriber list.
What Email Marketing mistakes can be avoided?
(aka How not to be a Spammer)
Another way you might say this is, “How do I do email marketing without being a spammer??
Frequency of Emails
I don't know about you but I actually have some people who sometimes send me emails up to four times a week. When that happens, one of the first things I do is hit the unsubscribe button.
Don't be that person who becomes the spammer in somebody's mailbox.
Even if you think each thing is valuable. Limit your amount of contact to about once a week.
The frequency of your emails might be different when you are doing a launch and your cart is about to close. You might send a couple of emails as reminders. Or, when you have an event and need to remind people to come to the event.
Those activities are little different from general email marketing and selling of offers.
So the first thing to consider is the frequency of when you send things.
Email Content
The second thing to consider is your content. The content you send to your email marketing list should be original, not just a rehash of what you’ve already shared elsewhere.
That’s because a lot of your subscribers will have been following you on social media and they want to see different content. Perhaps, more depth on a topic you’ve talked about before. Or unique content that you haven’t shared elsewhere.
This unique content makes it worth their while to continue receiving your emails.
This is how you can develop a good open rate for your newsletter. You can look up the open rates for your particular industry if you want to set a benchmark.
But in general, aim to see at least 25% of the people on your mailing list opening your newsletter.
If it's below that, there are a number of factors that can affect it so you need to question whether it is the subject line, the content, or the frequency affecting your open rate and unsubscribe rate.
Making Offers Via Email
So you’re watching your frequency and you’re making sure to send high quality content. Next, let’s talk about how often you make offers to your list.
If you make offers in every single email without providing value such as education, people will get tired of it and unsubscribe.
You don’t want your offers to be the primary thing you talk about. I've noticed that even some of the big name players in the digital world look a lot like spammers because when I receive their emails, I just feel I'm constantly being sold to.
That is NOT what you want to do. You don’t want to create that kind of feeling in your community.
What you want is for your people to feel heard, nurtured, and be able to reach out. They should feel valued as part of your community.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean you can never sell to your email list. It’s about knowing how and when to sell.
Can I do Email Marketing without a Website?
Another question I am asked a lot by start-up businesses is, “Can I do email marketing without a website?”
My answer on this is a definite and resounding YES.
A number of my clients are in the early stages of business so they are still working out their messaging, who their ideal target audience is, and what their offers will be.
Obviously, when you’re in start-up you are still in this phase of exploration. So why would you invest in a website when you still don't really understand the details and nuances of your business?
Start with Email Marketing
I suggest you use email marketing at this phase instead of a website. All you need is a place to promote your opt-in offers to start building your email list.
That could be any of your social media platforms or in the business-related groups you belong to.
In social media groups, specifically, you do this by adding value - answering questions, providing information, and becoming known as a valuable resource to others.
There’s another benefit to participating in groups like this. Once you start to communicate, create new connections, and build community, you will also start to hear what those people want and what problems they need solved.
Once you have that insight, then it might be the right time to create your website content.
Creating Content without a Website
You might think you need a website in order to publish your content, but you can still create content without a website. Just publish it directly on your social media profiles or send via email to your mailing list.
Then, once you are ready to create your website, you can use parts of the content you’ve already written for email and social to create blogs or offer pages.
The right time for a Website
When to build a website will be different for different people but I'd say in those first few months of your start-up business, focus on income generating activities instead of building a website.
Your income generating marketing activities would include:
- Hosting list building activities such as webinars or free trainings
- Promoting your lead magnets to get people on your mailing list or into your sales funnel
- Emailing your list regularly with information or an offer
- Updating your email nurture sequence to get better results or conversions
- Staying present on social media to let people know what you do and how
- Staying present in social media groups to network with your ideal clients or referral partners
- Getting interviews or writing guest articles.
What is an Email Nurture Sequence?
I am often asked, “What is an email nurture sequence?”
This is a term used to describe a set of emails sent at a regular interval or spaced apart, designed to build a connection with your new subscriber.
The reason it's called a nurture sequence is that it's not about you.
Your nurture sequence should not be just you telling them everything about yourself.
Yes, they want to know a little bit about you, but what they really want is to know you understand them. That you can help them explore the problem they're facing. And that you have tools, tips, and ideas on how to solve this problem.
A nurture sequence is wonderful because in a couple of short emails you can actually help that person understand that they've come to the right place.
Which Email Marketing Service should I use?
Which email marketing service is best? Or, which email autoresponder should you choose?
These are questions many people get hung up on.
There are a lot of services out there and many of them have free options available.
But not all of them are easy to work with.
If you are in the start-up phase of business, I suggest you select a tool that's not only fit for your purpose but can grow as you grow in your confidence and competence with that tool. Choose something that can stay with you for at least the first year of business.
Once you get past about a thousand subscribers on your list, you may be ready to look for something different.
But when you first begin, the email marketing platform I recommend is Mailerlite.
I like Mailerlite for my start-up clients because it:
- is free up to 1000 subscribers
- has a drag and drop visual editor, so creating email sequences is just like working in a word processor
- makes creating automations (email sequences) is really easy.
And we all know that when it feels easy and doable and we enjoy the process, we can let go of our fear of technology and get things done.
If you are looking for an email platform to start with, take a look at Mailerlite. I find it much easier to use than many others while still offering features you need and can scale with your business.
How to Get Started with Email Marketing
I hope this answered some of the questions you have about getting started with email marketing for your business.
We covered a lot of ground here, including:
- Why is email marketing important for your business
- What email marketing mistakes you should avoid (aka How not to be a spammer)
- How to do email marketing without a website
- What an email nurture sequence is
- Which email marketing platform to use in start-up
For even more information about how to get started with email marketing for your business, check out my free email marketing training Fabulous First Opt-ins right here.