Developing an email list is an important part of monetizing your business, because it’s essentially a list of prospective customers. It’s also your way to stay in touch with your people, remind them that you exist, and develop relationships. Building your email list will create a strong foundation for your business.
All you need to start is a simple plan
- Set up your email marketing system.
- Create an offer that will grab people’s attention so they want to join your email list.
- Promote your free offer.
Setting up an email marketing system
There are lots of email marketing software options, but two that we highly recommend are MailChimp and Convertkit.
MailChimp is a good option if you’re on a budget, because their plans start at free! You only pay once you have more than 2000 contacts. While it lacks many features that you’ll want later on, it’s an easy way to get started, and it will get the job done. When you do upgrade from MailChimp to a more advanced software, migrating your subscribers to a more advanced option isn’t to difficult.
If you money to spend then you may want to use Convertkit. It’s a user-friendly email marketing system with many powerful features.
Some of Convertkit’s top features are…
- Segmenting your list
- Tagging subscribers
- Sending automated sequences to specific segments or specific groups of tagged subscribers.
- Sending mass broadcasts
Once your email marketing software is connected you will need an opt-in form to add to your website or landing page. This is a simple form that a potential subscriber can type their name and email address into and push a button that will add their information to your list. It indicates that they’re interested in receiving a free resource. Most email marketing software comes equipped with built-in opt-in forms that you can easily install on your website.
Creating an irresistible offer
Now it’s time to give people a reason to join your list. The easiest way to do this is to offer a free resource that they can sign up to receive. But here’s the catch, with so much free content now available online, your offer needs to be captivating to stand out and attract your customer.
The best kind of freebies are those that provide value and help people solve problems or achieve a certain result. Choose something that’s appealing to you, that you can put together easily and make sure your prospective customers will be interested in it. Remember to connect your freebie to your email software so that it can be delivered automatically to your subscribers.
Promoting your offer
Next you need to write a blog and social media copy to let everyone know about your freebie. This should be done over a period of time for example a month. Once the period is over you can then identify how effective your promotion was by reviewing how many subscribers you received.
If you need help
Putting together an email marketing campaign to grow your email list doesn’t have to be hard. With our tech skills we’re always ready to help you so you can focus on your business. For more information on our email marketing package click here.
