Create an Email Marketing Strategy and Grow Your Brand!

Ready to step up your email marketing strategy, or get one started? Tune in as Bree shares 5 keys to get you rolling! Email marketing is an AWESOME way to grow your brand because you don't have to pay to play, worry about algorithms, and you can own your list. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

"Just remember, your audience is choosing to hear from you. They signed up for your opt-in, they know what that means, they know what it is, and they want to hear from you! So let them let them"

Discussed in this episode...

Why is an email marketing strategy important?

Today we're talking about five keys to an awesome email marketing strategy! You may be asking, why is email so important? I've got a few good reasons for you!

• 1. There will always be email.

What else can you say that about? I had an email when there used to be MySpace. I had an email address when I had my old Zenga blog (which is definitely no longer around). And yet there is still email!

• 2. It's free!

You don't have to spend money to be seen in an inbox, right? On all these other social media platforms we are sometimes having to "pay to play" or make sure that we're appealing to the algorithm. Or we have to do the things that they're requesting us to do to be seen. With an inbox so you don't have to do that! All you have to do with email is simply send a nice email!

• 3. You can own your list.

You can't own followers on social media, right? The reality is that they could just disappear one day. And we definitely don't want that to happen! But that's what I love about email is there's not that risk. You can download your email list and take it with you to another platform if you want. So, now that I have you convinced that you need an email list, and you need to work on it, here are five keys to an awesome email marketing strategy!

1. Have an email marketing platform that you love!

If you are not happy with the email marketing platform, or it's hard to use, then you're not going to use it consistently. This goes without saying for any tools that we use. You have to pick something that you're going to use consistently and stick with. We bloggers are visual people, right? We want things to be visually appealing, which is why here at Thrive, we love Flodesk! It gives us all the heart eyes because they have really beautiful templates and it's super easy to use. At the end of the show notes, I've shared a link that will give you access to a free trial of Flodesk. It has truly made my life so easy.

2. Have an opt-in that your audience will love!

You want to create something that will make it easy for your audience to say "take my email address and give me that magical thing"! You can get creative with this! The options are truly endless! A few ideas could be:

• A printable
• An E-book
• A multi-day email sequence with exclusive content
• A lightroom preset
• Access to a Facebook group

Whatever it is, you want it to be irresistible for your audience!

3. Create a landing page with your opt-in.

This does not have to be complicated at all! You can do this on your own website. Just start a new page with your opt-in form, have a picture that showcases and captures the experience of your opt-in. Share something fun and engaging that makes your audience say "oh, yes, I definitely want this" whenever they see it. Doing it this way will give you a link that you can send people to when they ask for your freebie. Because you want to make an opt-in that, whenever somebody DMs you about something, you can easily share! This is going to not only save you time, but it's also going to help increase your email list.

Another reason I love Flodesk is it makes this super easy to create! In Flodesk, underneath "forms", you can choose a full page. And voila, Flodesk will automatically create a beautiful landing page for you using the template that you select. From there you just have to add your message, and an image, and you're on your way. So yes, you can totally build it on your website. Or you can just head over to Flodesk and make it super easy on yourself!

4. Create a welcome series.

Now you want to create a series of three to four emails that will go out automatically when someone signs up for that awesome opt-in! And don't worry, I'm going to tell you exactly what you can do in this email series!

I recommend a series of four automated emails. These can go out at whatever interval you want, but I've chosen to have ours drip out every 3 days after someone has joined our list.

The first email goes out immediately and contains the freebie and a short little note of welcome. Don't overcomplicate it, we're going to keep this welcome series super simple!

Email number two, which will automatically go out at the interval you've set, should show them what you're good at. This could be some of your best blog posts, or anywhere that you've been featured. Showing credibility is what you're doing here. If you've been on another podcast, or if you've been on somebody else's blog that's bigger than yours, or had a media promotion or anything like that, show it off!

The third email is where you set some expectations. In this email, you're just going to tell them something along the lines of; "I'm so excited you're here! I am going to send you free and paid resources. Here's what you can expect". You want them to get a feel for the kind of emails that you'll be sending their way. By doing this you are clearing the air upfront that you are a business.

Email number four is when you're going to share about yourself and how you relate to them. And the relation piece is key here! Sure, we love to hear about you, but humans are selfish creatures and we want to know how following you and staying on your email list relates to us. You want your audience to read this email and think "oh my gosh, she gets me".

So that's your welcome sequence. As long as you just don't overthink it, it's super easy! Just follow those four steps and you've got this.

5. Make a schedule for sending out newsletters.

This could be once a week, twice a month, monthly, or whatever works for you right now! Just remember, your audience is choosing to hear from you. They signed up for your opt-in, they know what that means, they know what it is, and they want to hear from you!

There you go five keys to an awesome email marketing strategy!

 

Resources Mentioned

• Shift
• The Profitable Blogger Society
• Flodesk
• Thrive Podcast - Episode 95, Episode 93 and Episode 74

More about Bree Pair:

Bree Pair is a blogging coach and founder of Thrive - A blogging community built to empower and educate bloggers to make a full-time income by spending time on the right things. Her passion is helping bloggers create a strategy for growth and working with them on every side of their business to give them the confidence they need to be successful. Bree is propelled by the results of seeing bloggers go from overwhelmed to steady and sustained growth and creating the lifestyle they want.

Follow Bree on Instagram!