As a blogger, email marketing is one of the most powerful tools available to you. Email allows you to reach out directly to your readers, build relationships with them and keep them informed about new content or promotions. With an effective email strategy in place, bloggers can grow their audience and increase engagement with their blog posts.
Email marketing for bloggers has many advantages over other forms of online promotion such as social media or search engine optimization (SEO). Unlike SEO which requires ongoing work and monitoring, emails are sent directly into people’s inboxes where they can be read immediately – no waiting around for someone else’s algorithm! It also gives you more control over how often people receive communications from your blog; if done correctly it can become part of a routine that readers look forward to rather than something annoying that gets ignored or deleted without being opened.
The first step towards successful email marketing is building an engaged list of subscribers who have opted-in by providing their contact details in exchange for updates from your blog. This will require some effort on behalf of the blogger but there are plenty of resources available online which provide advice on how best to do this including offering incentives like discounts/freebies etc., creating sign-up boxes across multiple platforms (blogs/social media), and regularly asking existing followers if they would like to join the mailing list via polls, etc. Once these steps have been taken then it’s time to think about what kind of information should be included within each newsletter; this could range from introductions & reviews all way through previews & announcements regarding upcoming projects plus any special offers/giveaways that may be running at particular times throughout the year.
The key thing to remember when crafting messages is to make sure the content is relevant and interesting enough so as not bore recipients but still informative enough to encourage further exploration either the website itself links external sources related topic area being discussed – doing so helps ensure the reader will return future newsletters and continue the engaging journey started off the right foot!
Finally, once everything is ready make sure double check subject lines used headlines titles clear concise yet attention-grabbing avoid using words likely trigger spam filters by sending out a test message yourself prior to the actual dispatch confirm looks working properly before hitting send button… Good luck!
7 Tips to Get Started with Email Marketing for Bloggers
Do you know how valuable it is to be able to hold someone’s attention nowadays?
Our entire society has become a cesspool of distractions.
Phones that are always connected, emails constantly coming in, social media always making you wonder if you’re missing out, friends sending you messages, and hundreds of apps that can send notifications if you allow it.
With all of the distractions in the world, email is one of the VERY few ways that you can hold and keep someone’s undivided attention.
From a business perspective, just how valuable is that?
Well, there have been a ton of studies around this and it was determined that when done correctly, $1 spent on email marketing can equate to $36 in revenue.
Another study ranked Return on Investment (ROI) by marketing channel and found that email marketing was the highest possible return when done correctly.
Now, you may be thinking…
That’s great, But my blog is still young and I don’t have a ton of blog traffic yet. So, when should I make email marketing a priority?
The answer?
Now.
Assuming that you get over 100 visitors to your site each month, there’s no reason to not begin an email list.
For this, I recommend Getresponse. as I use it myself. But more on that later…
You see, an email list does something that most other marketing channels have a very difficult time doing.
Email Marketing Creates SUPERFANS.
Kind of like the guys below….except with a lot less Bratwurst and sausage. (Shout out to the Superfans from Saturday Night Live back in the 90’s if you don’t get the reference)
Odds are, your superfans aren’t going to be a bunch of overweight middle-aged men eating processed meats and enthusiastically screaming your blog’s name.
Instead, it might be a single guy working a 9–5 job, a divorced mother of two working two jobs, an ambitious college student, or whoever else your blog attracts.
The thing is, Superfans are SUPER valuable.
The reason?
If you use email marketing correctly and provide a ton of value to your email list, like I try to do, it builds credibility and trust.
In other words…your Superfans know, like, and trust you.
And you know what that means?
When you ask for something like feedback or help…
When you sell something like an online course, membership, or consulting…
When you recommend something like an email platform or business tactic…
THEY LISTEN.
Granted, you’ve earned the right. It’s not like people sign up for your email list and immediately become a Superfan.
An example straight from my experience…
I can’t even begin to tell you how many times since I started my online business I’ve had people message me to tell me that they purchased a product through my affiliate links.
And honestly? I’m grateful.
The fact that people go out of their way to support me and my business is a really good feeling. It helps me justify the thousands of hours I’ve spent creating content on my blog and Youtube channel.
And that’s well and good, but how can you take advantage of email marketing?
How can you create Superfans?
It’s actually much easier than you think.
First things first, ONLY create an email list if you have over 100 visits to your blog each month. Remember….these visits are REAL people and there is significant value there.
Why should you wait until 100?
Because if you don’t have any traffic to your blog, no one is going to sign up for your email list. It’s a complete waste of time at that point.
Second, assuming you have over 100 monthly visitors, click right here to sign up for the GetResponse email marketing platform.
Why GetResponse?
I’ve literally tried dozens of email marketing platforms. From free to very pricey. I like GetResponse the most because they provide users with the maximum value for the price.
They aren’t the cheapest platform and they aren’t the most expensive either. But the segmentation and automation capabilities they offer are unmatched.
While you may not care about this now, I assure you that as time goes on you’ll be very happy you don’t have to change email platforms as it’s a complete nightmare to transfer subscribers.
Third, now that you’re signed up, figure out an email opt-in that resonates with your audience. For example, I offer free email mini-courses to my audience in exchange for an email address.
You need to do something similar, but offer something your audience would like. For instance…
If you have a fitness blog, maybe you offer a free PDF download of 10 diet mistakes people make.
If you have an employment blog, maybe you offer a bunch of free resume templates.
If you have a blog focused on helping people with a passion they have, maybe you offer a list of common mistakes to avoid or guidance on products they’d love.
You get the picture. The point of an email opt-in is to offer your audience something of value that they’d happily give an email address in exchange for.
Fourth, embed forms on your website. With GetResposne this is easy. Granted, there are popup platforms like Convertbox that will increase your email sign-ups, but you can start by simply adding GetResponse forms across your site. If you sign up through this link, the onboarding tutorial explains how to do this.
Once you’ve done this, people will begin to sign up for your email list. This is when the real fun starts.
Fifth, provide a ton of value from the start. This is something that I think a bunch of bloggers screw up. When you get an email address from someone, that doesn’t give you a license to spam them with a bunch of affiliate offers or products you’re trying to sell.
Instead, it gives you a small window of time to build trust and credibility with your audience, so don’t abuse it.
With GetResponse, you have the ability to create an email automation.
What’s an email automation, you ask?
Good question….and it’s awesome.
An email automation in GetResponse allows you to write emails once and have them sent to EVERY SINGLE SUBSCRIBER that signs up to your email list over time.
Need an example?
If you’re on my list, I’ll assume you took one of my free courses. Remember how there was an email delivered to you every day for 7–10 days straight when you signed up?
Yea, that was GetResponse email automation.
So, my point is, when someone joins your email automation, provide a TON of valuable free information in the first five emails at a minimum.
Sixth, now that you’ve built trust, you can pitch something. After five emails full of valuable information, your subscribers will trust you more. Heck, depending on how good your content is, they may already be a Superfan!
Now’s the time to ask them if they’ll support your business.
This might mean buying an affiliate product you recommend, a product you’re selling, a course you’ve created, or even hiring you as a consultant.
This is your opportunity to make money from your email subscribers and you don’t have to feel guilty doing it. Remember, anyone who buys whatever you’re pitching wants to help and support your business.
Seventh, and final point, swap between value and pitching. After five value-focused emails and one pitch email in an email automation, you may think things are over.
But no, they are just getting started.
From here, you need to build out your email automation to provide value consistently, and once in a while, throw in a pitch email for something you want your subscribers to buy to support you. When I do this on my other sites, I usually go with three value-packed emails and then a pitch email and repeat. But you can adjust this to whatever you’re comfortable with.
And if you’re concerned about what happens when you run out of ideas….
Simple.
Just drop all of your contacts into a “waiting” period and when you’re ready and the new email is set, you can send it through.
And that’s it….
That’s the how and why of email marketing.
If you found this post helpful and you’re considering starting email marketing with your own blog, I’d be grateful if you supported me by clicking this link to sign up for GetResponse.
Thanks!