Email marketing is one of the most underrated tools for marketers, especially if your business is a small and medium enterprise that aims to grow. It is also one of the best ways to build relationships with your clients and audiences. I am very passionate about email marketing because it has helped and saved me as a businesswoman over the years and beyond.
But first, I want you to understand why you need email marketing. Let’s visualize you going to 5 monthly events, meeting 20 people, and getting 20 business cards. And that’s only in one month, in a few months you will have a bag full of cards and it would be impossible to keep up with all those people. With email marketing, you have the ability to stay in contact with your clients and audiences with just one click away. That’s where email marketing does the job and works for your business. Here’s a 5 step formula to build an email marketing list from scratch.
1. Sign Up for an Email Sender
Have you ever heard about an email sender? Simply, email sender is a platform that helps you send out bulk messages for you. Utilizing an email sender is one of the keys to building an email list. I use ConvertKit as my email sender. One of the best things about ConvertKit is you can sign up with ConvertKit for free for your first 10,000 email subscribers. Incredibly, you got to use an email marketing product to grow your business for free.
After you sign up to ConvertKit, you need to write the draft for the message you want to send and put it inside the ConvertKit. After one click away, everybody who’s on your email list will receive that mail. That’s going to take your marketing journey to the best of your ability.
2. Create A Valuable Offer
You may ask, what does it have to do with a valuable offer? When we create an email list and run email marketing, we need people’s email. But you can’t go and ask people for their email because it’s not how it works. In order to get people’s email, especially people in your niche, you have to create a valuable offer requiring them to give their name and email.
In my case, I have created an offer called 75 Viral Hooks. In exchange for the email, I will give them free 75 viral hooks. With this offer people who are interested will sign up using their email list and it indicates to us that they have an interest in what we do in our business. After they give us their name and email, the ConvertKit email system will send them automated emails with 75 Viral Hooks.
3. Creating A Landing Page
Now, what does that mean? Now you have an email sender and offer in exchange to get people’s email. The landing page you need is where you put your offer, where people click and then sign up for the email.
My landing page that you could explore is keenyakelly.com/75hooks. You can see how I created my landing page and how I serve the offer. On the landing page, there is a button “Grab The Hook” where you can click and there is where people give us their email. The good news about ConvertKit is it will help you set up your landing page because they have a very detailed drag-and-drop template to create a great landing page.
4. Make an Autoresponder & A Welcome Sequence
This is where the magic happens. You don’t have to worry about how to make an autoresponder program for your email list because when your landing page is connected to ConvertKit, it will deliver the offer within a minute after the person gives you the email.
But what exactly do you want to say to your audience? That’s where you need a welcome sequence. You are going to welcome them with the offer that you gave. You are communicating with them and starting to build the relationship. Don’t make it too bland, make it personal, add a little interesting graphic, and give an introduction about your business. For inspiration, try to observe my 75 Viral Hooks landing page, you can sign up with your email and see how I do my welcome sequence.
6. Market Your Offer
Now you have everything set up, the last thing you want to do is market your offer. Remember, the goal of building an email list is to generate more leads and make more sales through email marketing. The more lists you have, the more leads you get, and it can lead you to more sales.
Personally, I promoted my offer through several social media, podcasts, YouTube videos and even using chatbots. If you go to my Instagram or Facebook account and leave a comment “Hook”, you’re going to get a message in your inbox, and it will direct you to give me your email, the process will continue and the hook will be ready on your inbox.
In the end, building an email list from scratch might feel challenging, but with these 5 steps, you’re well on your way to creating a powerful connection with your audience. With ConvertKit you can grow your business through email marketing. And all we’re going to do is nurture those leads that have come in. Email marketing isn’t just about selling, it’s about building relationships with your clients and audiences. Keep it genuine, and enjoy the journey as you see your email list become one of your best business tools.