Oct 9, 2019
As a blogger, I’m sure it isn’t news to you that you need an email list. This post is all about taking your email marketing to the next level with these advanced email marketing strategies.
It’s true that social media algorithm changes can hurt you and your business, but beyond that, your email list is something that you own.
You don’t own Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest. Those things could go away tomorrow or they could decide to never show a single post of yours again, ever.
What would happen to your business if that happened?
Well, if you have a thriving email list full of people who trust you and are your loyal fans, you could continue to grow your business.
But how do you do it?
How do you build an email list and what do you do with it once you’ve built it? That’s exactly what we’re diving into today.
I’ve got Matt Molen from personalizedpaths.com back with me today.
Matt has a very hands-on approach to teaching email marketing, and so today, we are going to get specific about how to make your own email marketing doable.
In my last episode with Matt, we covered the basics, and his advice was so practical and helpful. Be sure to give that one a listen if you’re just getting started with email. And now, on to Part 2!
Tips To Grow An Email List
Matt’s primary tip, the one you need to put into practice before you think about anything else, is to become an email acquirer and be aggressive about it.
You need to make email acquisition an intentional part of your strategy.
We all know we need to have that email audience. We need to have a place where we are in control without the fear of algorithms. But for many people, they can’t make the jump from thinking about email marketing to really doing it.
Your traffic is your number one list building tool, so put yourself in the shoes of your readers:
- How does she arrive at your site?
- Where does she land?
- What problems can you solve for her?
To get someone to notice you when they land on your site after a Google search, to get someone to remember your name, you need to offer something of real value, something she can’t walk away from.
It can be anything that offers bonus value. This could be checklists, printables, more tips, hidden content that must be unlocked, etc.
A Simple Start to Email List Building
Most people don’t start building their email list because they are “too busy” doing other things.
An easy way to get started is by going into your Google Analytics.
Look at the last 30 days and then look at the last year. Take your top 10 posts and see if they have any commonalities or if they are individual posts.
Think about what you already have that you could package up and give to the reader as a bonus in exchange for an email address.
Building a Journey for Your Subscriber
You want to be an aggressive email acquirer, but you also want to be a journey builder.
If you have an audience that you know is interested in your niche, you can create a forever series.
Set up automated answers to the questions your readers are going to have next. This takes away the stress of having to figure out what to write in an email every week. You already have your journey set up.
Once you build trust and expertise and serve content that truly adds value to your reader, then you can sell your products to your audience.
Segmenting Your List
Logistics and segmenting the audience is a stumbling block to most people.
But the better our audience is segmented, the better we will be able to answer specific problems, and the better we are going to be at building our brand.
Look at your content and see what is attracting the most viewers and build up your content around that topic. Build your email list from that content.
It can seem overwhelming, but you only need to pick one segment to work on at a time. You don’t have to have it all figured out in order to start. Pick a topic and write out a 10-email series on that topic.
Marketing is an art with a touch of science. Most artists get better at their craft with experimentation so dive in and try something.
Broadcast Email Content
Prolific content creators can send more than one email a week to their list.
Matt recommends that you set up your automated email sequences based on evergreen material. And do that as far out as you can; a month, six months, a year.
Your broadcast email is going to be the same except it’s filled with seasonal content, not evergreen content.
If you’re a lifestyle blogger, you can send a broadcast email to everyone on your list and see what the engagement is. If some people don’t open it, they’re telling you what they want.
Connecting Email To an RSS Feed
At one point we had something called RSS Readers that would notify us when blog posts or articles went out from our favorite bloggers.
They still exist and every WordPress account has an RSS feed that allows you to send out your latest content.
The problem with it is that many people make that RSS feed their default. At this point, you’re sending them your LATEST, not your GREATEST.
If someone opted into your list, they aren’t interested in every latest piece you write. They are interested in what is going to add the greatest value to their lives.
You can make it an option for people to receive your RSS feed. If someone would like an instant alert, they can opt-in to it.
Formatting Your Emails
How long do you want your own emails to be when you open them?
However long it takes you to answer a question or solve a problem.
Sometimes that’s longer, sometimes that’s shorter, but generally, you want your emails to be shorter.
Your email is about getting to the point, so invite people to click through to your site, where you can go more in-depth if you want to.
You want a minimal amount of links per post. Make those links big and easy to click for people reading on their phones.
Matt recommends using a larger font for those emails: Arial 17 or 18, at the very least.
And check your own emails on your phone to be sure that the format looks right and is easy to read.
How to Optimize Your Subject Lines
We do not spend enough time coming up with good subject lines.
If someone sees your subject line and decides to leave your email unopened, everything is wasted.
Matt likes to use the formula of curiosity + self-interest.
“5 Ways the Instant Pot Helped My Love Life,” is a post Matt is actually writing right now.
This subject line grabs your attention because it’s odd, but you will get value because you’re interested in instant pot recipes.
Read your subject line, see if you can shorten it, and then use it. You need to cut every extra word out and edit, edit, edit.
Pruning Your List
It can seem hard to prune your list that you’ve worked to grow, but in the end, it will save you money, save you time, and helps your stats.
If you are an aggressive email acquirer, you should be an aggressive email pruner.
You want to come up with ways to get the right people on your list. If you can’t serve them correctly, you don’t want to spend the money to keep them.
Matt prunes every 2-3 months, (with a few exceptions that you can hear about in the episode) but you can certainly play it by ear and do what you feel is best for your list.
Parting Email Marketing Tips
- Adopt an email marketing mindset.
- When writing your content, think about what extra piece of value you can offer in return for an email address.
- What problem can you solve, and what can you offer your readers?
Using this strategy, you will see your email list grow within weeks. For further information on Matt’s email marketing strategies, check out his full course at https://www.personalizedpaths.com/autopilot/.
Matt also offered a free mini-course, so listen in to the episode to find out how to get that!
If you liked this episode, be sure to let me know. Share your email wins and any questions to jillian@milotree.com and we’ll help you get answers!
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TIMESTAMP
- Intro
- 2:50 Tips To Grow An Email List
- 7:45 A Simple Start
- 10:57 Building a Journey for Your Subscriber
- 14:47 Segmenting Your List
- 23:35 Broadcast Content
- 26:57 Connecting Email to RSS Feed
- 29:48 Formatting For Email
- 33:16 Subject Lines
- 39:16 Pruning Your List
- 43:21 Parting Tips
Read the podcast transcript for “Advanced Email Marketing Strategies You Need to Know”
TOP 4 TAKEAWAYS
- To be successful at email marketing, you must become an aggressive email acquirer.
- Set up a “forever series”; a 10-post email series around one evergreen topic.
- Segment your list to build a loyal audience.
- Spend time writing attention-grabbing subject lines and editing your emails to be as short as possible.
- Prune your list every 3-4 months.