I tend to write a lot about email marketing. A lot. And sometimes I do think, there’s no way anyone else is interested in another post about it, but just like every other form of digital marketing, email marketing can be just as impactful. I feel like it’s such a forgotten form or deemed as outdated, yet, at my current full-time job, email marketing plays a huge role in reaching our audience and generating sales on a daily basis. It’s just one of the reasons I’m super passionate about making the inbox impact.
So you’re probably like, “Cool, Kaela, but I kind of need like leads and people on my list to sign up.” You’re right. For sure. But before you can even start growing a list, you have to understand the basics for your email subscribers and what this means.
Email subscribers must do three things. They need to know you, like you and trust you. So let’s break these three things down with a tip on how you can get them to do it.
KNOW YOU | Before you can even grow an email list, people have to know who you are, where to find you and be hungry for more. One of the easiest ways to do this is to define your voice and target audience so you can create messages that directly appeal to them. Sure, you can put ad spend behind it, but different marketing strategies put in place to help you grow will essentially help people learn about who you are. The obvious Facebook and Instagram presence shouldn’t be ignored (if that’s where your target audience lives) but don’t forget about the silent killers – LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Alignable! I’ve found some great clients and generated web traffic from all of these sources organically (no cost, yay!) and helped grow my email list this way.
LIKE YOU | While you’re out in the world getting known, people have to like you. I know this sounds so middle-school of me, but your target audience has to be intrigued by you. What makes you interesting enough to take up space in their inbox and why should they purposefully give you their contact information? I’ve found success in sharing videos in Instagram stories to connect with my followers. They know my humor and personality and connect with me that way. My biggest piece of advice – and trust me, I still work on this one myself – is to be yourself. Be yourself. Not someone else. Yourself. It’s so hard to get caught in a comparison trap, I know this, but being yourself is the only way you will truly surround your inbox with people who are interested in you. Can you imagine how miserable it will be daily to show up to your email service provider and craft emails if you have to fake who you are? No thanks! Hard pass. Be you and you’re automatically one step ahead of the curve!
TRUST YOU | When you say you’re going to not sell their emails or spam their inboxes, be true to this. Show up when you say you will, deliver the content they want to see and do so in a way that stays true to you and your brand. Sending out content, for example, picture this. You get your first sponsored partnership and are #soexcited to promote it but after using it, you actually end up hating it or not seeing results. Here’s the dilemma you’re now facing – show up not being honest on how you feel and fooling your customers to purchase something you don’t believe in (don’t actually do this) or burning the bridge with your partner. Trust me when I tell you the later is better in this scenario. In this day and age, reviews go the distance and once you’ve branded yourself a certain way, well, the future of your success is going to be an even steeper uphill battle.
While these three little tidbits of info seem like Business 101 basics, they can be forgotten with all the other million processes you have to keep track of when running your business. As mentioned earlier, one of my favorite forms of marketing is email marketing; so let me help you! Drop a note in my inbox, slide into the DMs, send a smoke signal (don’t actually do that, I’m oblivious to the obvious sometimes and definitely won’t see it!) and let me know how I can help you out!
If you’ve recently taken on email marketing sound off in the comments; what’s been some of your struggles and where do you see or wish your email marketing was at? Let’s help each other grow!
Talk soon!
kaela
Kaela Mast 
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