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As the popular saying goes, social media is a rented space.
In 2023, if you do not have an email list, what are you doing?? You need to move your audience to a much safer space and keep nurturing them. In this article, I’d explain why you need an email list and how you can build and maintain one.
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What is an email list?
It’s a list of email addresses and other details like name, location, etc generated from collecting data from people that visit web pages.
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What is Email list building?
The process of collecting email addresses from visitors of a website, customers of a business, prospects, event attendees, and other people interested in a business is called list building.
If there’s anything that’s as important as building your brand online, it would be building an email list. Having an email is important for many reasons but I’ll highlight a few here:
- Emails are targeted
With emails, you have control over who does or doesn’t get your mail. And if you are sending the mail to 10,000 people, all 10,000 of them will get the mail, unlike social media where your content is at the mercy of the algorithm.
- You are the owner of your email list
So during April 2023 MYK launch, I lost my FB page. The page I was using to run ads for MYK course. My targeted ads and leads, poof! All gone. But I still made tons of sales why? Because I had my email list and my IG page, so I channeled my organic marketing efforts there. But without my email list, I wouldn’t have made the profits I made. Unlike your social media pages that you don’t own and can lose access to when it gets hacked, when the platform is down, or when policies are not favorable, you own your email list and only you can control it.
- Emails are personal
Don’t you feel special when you read an email with your name in it? Makes you feel like it was written specifically for you. This is how subscribers feel about personalized emails. It builds trust.
- You will make more money
Your email list is a good way to make money organically from your digital products. Your subscribers are people who are not only interested in your brand but trust you enough to want to hear from you regularly so of course, it’d be easier to sell your products to them.
You should note that building an email list is not a one-time thing. It is something you do constantly because your email list loses subscribers over time. People change their email addresses, unsubscribe from your list or move to other companies leaving their emails behind. So you need to get new signups to keep your email marketing KPI high.
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Strategic Ways to Build Your Email List
- Lead magnets
You need lead magnets to build your email list. Let me give you this analogy; you know the hook that makes the bait for a fish? That’s a lead magnet, the earthworm is your valuable offer and the fish is your prospect/target audience. A lead magnet is basically a special product or service that you promote to your audience and prospects to get their contact details that mostly include their names, email addresses, and phone numbers as the case may be. Examples of lead magnets are:
- Short e-book
- Planner
- Workbook
- Template
- Webinar/masterclass
- Cheat sheet
- Checklist
- Event ticket
- Early access
- Referral discounts
- Free trials
- Free shipping
- Consultation
If your business is on social media, your lead magnets must be hosted on a landing page. Direct links to get the offer should not be shared in your social media posts. If you do you wouldn’t get the contacts you created the lead magnet for. Instead, create a landing page with opt-in forms they have to fill out to get the offer. The link to the landing page is what should be in your bio or posts as the case may be.
- Embed signup links and buttons on your social media page
This is the easiest way to organically advertise your newsletter to social media users. People should be aware of the fact that you have a newsletter they can subscribe to at any time.
- Embed pop-up forms on your website
You can make signing up for your newsletter easy by strategically placing opt-in forms throughout your website. Make your opt-in forms as eye-catching as possible by using pop-ups, slide-ins, or other eye-catching tools. Pop-ups, slide-ins, etc. Are opt-in forms that pop up after a visitor spends a few seconds on a website. They should have incentives like a bonus or a freebie, to incentivize them to sign up.
- Run a sale
Run a sale that will be exclusively open to people on your email list only and encourage people on your website and social media pages to sign up to get access to the sales. This will create a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out).
- Collaborate with other businesses
When you partner with brands that complement your business. It is a great way to reach new customers who may be interested in your products or services by tapping into their existing audience.
For instance:
You’re a finance Coach with 7,000 subscribers
And there’s a SAAS brand that offers savings and investment services with 11,000 subscribers.
You both decide to leverage each other’s reach by promoting each other’s products.
If you create an email campaign promoting the SAAS brand and you send it to your 5000 contacts, with a CTA that directs them to use the brand’s services
And at the same time, the SAAS brand creates an email campaign promoting your services, sent to their 11,000 contacts, with a CTA directing them to use your services
You both will make profits you wouldn’t have made if you never collaborated. That is the beauty of collaboration in email marketing.
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Conclusion
Building an email list is not a day’s job but with the right strategies, effort, and focus on offering value to your subscribers you can build a thriving email list that can develop into a valuable resource for your business.
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