Welcome to another exciting episode of the Digitally She Does It podcast! This time, we're diving into the dynamic world of email marketing and audience building.
Join me as I uncover key insights and offer actionable tips to ignite your journey into email marketing. Discover the power of social media integration and learn why cultivating an engaged email list is essential for your business growth.
I'll guide you through leveraging email marketing as a cost-effective and impactful tool to connect with your audience on a deeper level. Plus, I'll unveil 7 essential tips to kick-start your email marketing strategy and drive results.
If you're eager to explore the world of email marketing and amplify your online presence, this episode is tailor-made for you. Tune in now for invaluable insights and practical strategies to propel your business forward!
The Digital Creators Hub
Gain FREE access here... www.pink-lemondigital.com/hub
Get in touch:
Got a question, suggestion for an episode or maybe you would like to be a guest?
Email me at karen@pink-lemondigital.com
Welcome to another exciting episode of the Digitally She Does It podcast! This time, we're diving into the dynamic world of email marketing and audience building.
Join me as I uncover key insights and offer actionable tips to ignite your journey into email marketing. Discover the power of social media integration and learn why cultivating an engaged email list is essential for your business growth.
I'll guide you through leveraging email marketing as a cost-effective and impactful tool to connect with your audience on a deeper level. Plus, I'll unveil 7 essential tips to kick-start your email marketing strategy and drive results.
If you're eager to explore the world of email marketing and amplify your online presence, this episode is tailor-made for you. Tune in now for invaluable insights and practical strategies to propel your business forward!
The Digital Creators Hub
Gain FREE access here... www.pink-lemondigital.com/hub
Get in touch:
Got a question, suggestion for an episode or maybe you would like to be a guest?
Email me at karen@pink-lemondigital.com
Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello, and welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. This is episode 80. And in today's episode, I'm talking about email marketing and how to get started with building your audience. So let's jump right in, and let's get started. Welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show.
I am your host, Karen, and I'm here to lift the lid on what it actually takes to create a successful business. If you are an ambitious creative ready to build a business on your own terms and without compromise, then this podcast is perfect for you. With my award winning approach to marketing, an expert knowledge in creating online courses, this show will leave you feeling inspired, energized, and ready to bring those big dreams to life.
Karen Davies [00:00:49]:
Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step strategies to help you accelerate your businesses grow. So, let's dive in, and don't forget to subscribe to all my upcoming episodes which drop every Wednesday.
Hello and welcome. Thank you for joining me today. I am your host, Karen, and I really do appreciate you hitting the play button to listen to today's episode. In today's episode, I'm going to be talking about email and how to build your audience through list building. And I'm going to be sharing 7 tips that is going to help you to get started. So if you are new to email marketing then fear not because in this episode I'm gonna break it all down and I'm gonna tell you what you need to do to get started to build your audience online.
Karen Davies [00:01:47]:
But before I do, I wanna talk to you about the digital creators hub. This is your one stop shop, digital digital oasis to getting you started online. Now in the digital creators hub, it's a there's a treasure trove of resources to help you get started. You will find guides and tools and all kinds of things in there to make that transition into the online space so much easier. And here's the thing. It's completely free. So when you're in there you're not gonna have to pay to get in there because there is no cost. So if you are curious about getting started with an online course or maybe you're thinking about digital products that you can create in your business, then head over to to the digital creators hub because you will find some resources in there that's gonna help you to get started.
Karen Davies [00:02:45]:
Now to access this hub, head over to my website www.pink-lemondigital.com/hub. Because there's no better time to get started with creating your digital business than now. So go and gain access to these free resources and start your digital journey today. Okay. So back to today's episode.
And today, I am talking about email marketing and how you can use it to start building your audience. So if you are new to email marketing, you've never done it before, you don't know what it's about, or maybe you have tried it and maybe you have felt overwhelmed, maybe it's not worked for you, or maybe it's just something that scares the living daylights out of you, then this episode will break it all down. And hopefully by the end of this episode, you'll have a better idea of what email marketing is about, why you should incorporate email marketing in your business as a as part of your marketing strategy, and how you can get started as well.
Karen Davies [00:03:57]:
So to start with, I just want to touch upon what email marketing is because I know it can be really confusing if you are new to this. So email marketing is essentially a digital marketing strategy that involves sending sort of targeted messages to a group of people. Now that group of people is going to be dependent on who your ideal person is that you ultimately want to work with. And what email marketing does, it allows you to engage and communicate with those people directly. So you're taking it taking them from social media or from wherever they may be, and you're bringing them into your own environment, your list, where you can then build that relationship. It's a really powerful way to connect with your people and to build relationships, but, also, it gives you the opportunity to promote what you have as well. So through email marketing, you can also promote your products or services. So when you are in a launch and you are looking at at promoting your online course or your membership or your digital product, building an email list is going to help you to connect to your people who you want to buy that course.
Karen Davies [00:05:25]:
So you become very strategic with who you attract and then you work on nurturing them in your list so that when you are ready to promote something or sell something, you have people that you can talk to about it. Email marketing is not new. It's been around for many many years and it's proved to be one of the most effective ways of building an audience and engaging with them and building those relationships. So it doesn't matter what size of business you have. Even if you're on your own building your business, you can incorporate email marketing into your strategy. I think very early on in my business, I was building my email list. There have been times where I've put more focus on it than other times. It depends what I've got going on, but I've always been building my list in the background as I've been building my business because what I realized very early on, especially with what I was doing in my branding studio, that it gave me a direct route to my audience.
Karen Davies [00:06:32]:
So rather than putting stuff out on social and hoping that it lands in front of the right people, building an email list meant that I could be really targeted with the people that I brought into the list. So when I was building my branding studio, I would have freebies that I would promote that would bring people into my business that were interested in what it is I had to say, which at that time was all about branding. And what I realized over time, the more specific you can get with what you put out there, the more specific person or subscriber you're gonna have in your list. And And I think that's one of the most important things to really take on board. So, if you are looking to connect with a certain type of person or maybe they have a particular job or you there are certain characteristics, knowing who that person is and knowing who you want to connect with is really important because you can then create things in your business that then attract them into your list. And it's really powerful. It's a really powerful thing to be doing because you get to build your audience. Now, there are loads and loads of benefits from for incorporating email marketing into your marketing strategy.
Karen Davies [00:07:53]:
You can promote your offers. So if you are creating digital products, and we should all be creating digital products in our businesses. But when you do have a digital product that you've created, you have an audience to be able to, to promote it to. So it means that if you are looking to sell, you will have a ready made audience. Because that's the question I get asked a lot is it's one thing, obviously, creating the product, but how do you actually get it in front of the right people? Well, the best way to do that is to build a targeted list. A list that is of your people so that when the time is right you have those people that you can then promote to. The other benefit of focusing in on your email marketing is that it's gonna help you to build your brand. Because email campaigns, when you send them out, help to reinforce a brand's identity.
Karen Davies [00:08:57]:
And it keeps that business in the forefront of the audience's mind. So rather than trying to gain awareness on social where it's so incredibly noisy, if you can bring people into your world then when you send out emails you are going to be the the the business. Your business is going to be the business that they then see. It's also a really great way, as I said, of building relationships with your customers because you can communicate with them on a regular basis and you can share content that is relevant. So if you are in a particular space that focuses on sort of a niche area and you wanna talk about that, then you can do that through your email marketing. So you can present educational content and you can deliver valuable tips and you can nurture your leads in your email system by being the authority. And I think that's something that's really important. So, if you're looking to position yourself as the authority then you can do that through the emails that you then send out.
Karen Davies [00:10:09]:
And then most importantly, it's a really cost effective way of being able to communicate directly with your audience. You don't have to chuck a ton of money at this. This can be something that you can do pretty much for free. There are lots of email platforms out there that have a really generous tier that is free that will enable you to build your list before you even have to pay anything. So it's not as though you've gotta throw a lot of money at this in order to get it started. You can start it for free, start building your audience so that when it comes to a time when you have things to sell and promote, you you have an engaged audience to promote too. So there are many ways to build your list. Usually, it's just about capturing data and that data may be in the form of, like, a name and an email address.
Karen Davies [00:11:06]:
So you just need to I think when it comes to deciding how to capture those details, you just need to really sort of be specific in in your approach. So, for example, you can create free content, and that free content can be attached to a landing page where somebody will enter in their details in order to gain access to what it is that you are offering. You've probably seen things online. Maybe you've been on Facebook or Instagram and then you've seen an advert pop up that says download my free guide on how to dress for the right body or something, or maybe it's download my free guide to learn how to grow your followers on Instagram. You would then click on the ad. It would take you to a landing page. You would give them your name or your email address or sometimes both. And then what will happen is that guide will be sent to you but they have your email.
Karen Davies [00:12:07]:
They have your data. So what you've done is you've got that guide for free but in in return, you've given them your data, which is really valuable to them because then you'll go into an email system, and then you'll start to receive emails. And it's their way of being able to communicate with you and build their brand with you. So you've most likely been on the receiving end of it. So when you are the person that is delivering the content, then you just need to really sort of consider your audience, what they need from you, and what you can create as well. Now as I said, I started years years ago doing this. And in my branding studio, I built a really engaged list because I had a branding checklist. It was really simple.
Karen Davies [00:12:56]:
It was it was obviously lovely designed and all of that, but it was a checklist. There wasn't anything complicated about it. And it was really interesting because whenever I sent it out, I would get sign ups. I would get people come into my email list and subscribe to my email marketing, to my newsletters. And it became a really easy way of building my list. And even now, I've obviously, I've moved more into the digital space and I'm talking about, you know, building business online. So a lot of my content is related to that. But I still follow the same principles.
Karen Davies [00:13:31]:
I'm still creating free stuff. I'm promoting free stuff on social media or in my email or through this podcast and I get sign ups and I build my list and my audience that way and it proves to be really effective. What is great is that I'm giving value. I'm not just asking to give me their data. I'm giving them something valuable in instead. So they're going to give me their information because, ultimately, they need what it is that I'm giving them. So I think it's a really great exchange. It's something that I think works really well and what it does it helps to build my audience so that if somebody wants to go on to my list it's because I know they're interested in what I'm talking about.
Karen Davies [00:14:22]:
And I think that's the point. Building your email list should be tailored to your audience. It shouldn't just be anybody. Whatever you create, whatever value you offer it should be targeted at your niche, at your people that ultimately you want to engage with. So very recently for me I've sort of stepped up a gear with my list building. Obviously, I have the digital creators hub, and that that's essentially sort of free content. And in exchange, I get, email emails and that. But what it allows me to do is create something really tailored for my audience.
Karen Davies [00:15:05]:
So the value I always just think if you're gonna ask for something and you're asking people to give you something free, really pack out the value element of it so that people are really wanting to give you their information in exchange of what you have. Like, I think that is really important. As I said, I've kind of upped my game a little bit in terms of email marketing because I'm now running ads. And the ads, interestingly, are proven to be really successful. So I'm promoting a a free guide at the moment, and I thought I will run it on Facebook. So I am new to Facebook, advertising. All of my list building efforts in the past have been completely organic. So I kinda got to a point where I sort of feel like I know what I'm doing with that, so I'm gonna go down the road of doing paid ads.
Karen Davies [00:15:58]:
So been running ads, worked really well, got have really grown my list, which is really interesting. Actually, it hasn't cost me a huge amount, but what is interesting is the metrics that sit behind the ad. Now I think this is gonna be a complete different episode because I don't wanna go too too much down that rabbit hole of talking about Facebook ads, but it's it's really interesting. If you can come up with something that is really relevant to your audience, it doesn't matter whether it's organic or whether it's paid, You will get those sign ups, but I think it has to come down to the thing that you're offering. So if you are thinking about getting started with building your list then really take some time and and hone in on the thing that you're going to create as as the freebie, whether it's a free ebook, a free guide, a checklist, a cheat sheet, whatever that might be. Really tap into the needs of your audience. What do they need? What are they asking for? And what's gonna give them a quick win? So you don't want to be giving away the how. That's not what you want to be given away in your free guides.
Karen Davies [00:17:15]:
You want to just be guiding people a step closer to an outcome. I think that's really important because I think if you give them too much, it will become overwhelming. And also, if you give them too much, they're not gonna have buy from you because they'll have all the answers. So there is a real fine line between creating something that has that value in it but not giving away everything. So what I mean, what I would sort of recommend there is if you are thinking about getting started with email marketing or list building, just take some time and really work through what that looks like for you. Sometimes just a simple checklist is enough. So if I was, for example, creating something around Facebook ads, Facebook ads can be really overwhelming. It can be really challenging to know where to start.
Karen Davies [00:18:09]:
So I would look at creating something really simple to just move my audience one step along. So whatever that might be it might be I don't know. It could be a checklist. It could be it could it could be a list of all the components needed to create an effective ad. It could be a guide on writing really effective copy. It it's going to be something that's just gonna help them do a thing that they're looking to do without giving everything and the kitchen sink. But when you get there and you really master this, it can be really powerful. And and what's really interesting is because I've been really focused on building my list over the past probably 6 months, when I send something out related to a masterclass or something else that I'm running, the the response I get is so much better because the people on my list are the people that need to be on there.
Karen Davies [00:19:12]:
They they're interested in what it is that I'm offering, and I think that's the difference. I think I've I'm I sit here knowing firsthand just how powerful it can be. So if you are not list building in your business then I really highly recommend starting because it's going to be the one thing that I really do think is gonna move the needle for you when it comes to selling your offers in the future. Now just something I wanna stress is that you do not need to run paid ads. You can build your list organically and I think that's something really important to take on board. You can use social media to bring people into your world without having to spend money. I've started with ads because I'm being really specific as to what it is I'm trying to achieve, and ads are gonna help me expand my reach and get more eyeballs on my content. And because I've been doing this for a while, I'm at that stage where in order for me to achieve my goals, I'm ready to put some money behind it to up what up the level of what I'm doing.
Karen Davies [00:20:27]:
But if you are starting out you do not need to do that and I would recommend you don't do that because that's a whole different board ball game. When you start bringing Facebook ads into the equation, it just starts to ramp everything up. And when you're starting out, you really do not need to be doing that. So please don't think for a moment that you have to put any money behind it. You can do this organically. So I want to share 7 tips to help you get started with building your list. So if you're new to this, these tips are gonna help you. And if you have involved yourself in list building before but maybe you've stalled then hopefully this will help you to get started again.
Karen Davies [00:21:09]:
So my first tip is about defining your goals. You need to have a clear outline of what you want to achieve. Otherwise, you're going to stumble and then you're going to struggle and then you'll end up giving up. So you need to identify why you're doing this. Is it to increase sales? Is it to build you awareness around your business? Or do you just want to build an audience that you can nurture? Now I think having a specific goal is gonna really help you with this because this is going to define exactly who your audience is and what journey you wanna take them on as well. Because it doesn't stop when they come into your email list that there is work to be done afterwards. You need to nurture them. You need to engage with them and communicate.
Karen Davies [00:21:59]:
So having a really good idea of what your goals are going to be and why you're doing it and what that purpose is is really important. Don't just build a list for the sake of collecting data. Put purpose behind it. Think about your long term goals and what you want to achieve in your business and how list building is going to help. Because I think once you have a clear idea on what you're looking to achieve you'll have a really clear direction in which to move and then you know what you need to be spending your time on. So even if it's a case of just writing your goals out and making sure that you understand exactly where list building comes into that it will really help you to make more success of it because you'll know exactly what it's for. So always define your goals. My second tip is about choosing the right platform for you.
Karen Davies [00:22:59]:
So there are so many email marketing platforms out there. The market is saturated with these tools and each of them has their little nuances that make them individual. So you need to choose an email marketing platform that's gonna suit your needs. Now if you are just starting out, you don't wanna take on a a system that's complex. So you want to sort of use a system that is user friendly and that doesn't charge you whilst you're getting going. So I would recommend MailerLite. I u I have been using MailerLite. I recently I mean, in last week's episode, I spoke about Flodesk.
Karen Davies [00:23:43]:
Because I moved to Flodesk, I was using Kajabi which is all part of my course platform. I then moved to Flodesk, which I have to say, in terms of user experience, love Flodesk. But then this week, I've moved back to MailerLite, which I used to use because what I realized was there were some limitations with Flodesk. And because of what I'm trying to achieve with my email marketing, I'm not able to do some of the things that I need to do with the Flodesk platform. So do your due diligence. Make sure that you investigate each of the platforms. See what it is you need. See what features they have.
Karen Davies [00:24:23]:
And then when you are confident that you've found the right platform, then sign up to it. But, honestly, it's worth taking the time and just looking at what they all offer and then choosing the right platforms for your needs because what I wouldn't recommend is that you move from platform to platform because it's just a time suck. I've wasted so much time this week moving from Flodesk to MailerLite, and it's just been honestly, I I it really has been a challenge. So take your time. Have a look at your platform, and then choose the right one that suits you. My 3rd tip is about deciding on your list building strategy. There are so many ways in which you can collect email addresses. You can use sign up forms on your website.
Karen Davies [00:25:12]:
You can ask on social media. You can create free content, lead magnets, e guides, checklists, cheat sheets, all of that good stuff. You can offer discounts. You could even put on events. There are so many ways to build your email list. You can run a 5 day challenge and build your list that way. There is no wrong or right way to do it. You just have to decide on a strategy that works for you.
Karen Davies [00:25:39]:
My 4th tip is about focusing on value. So if you are asking somebody to give you data, I. E. Their name, their email, then just make sure that what you're giving in return is valuable to them. So get to know your audience. Know exactly who you want on your list and what it is they want from you as well. And then deliver it in newsletters or deliver it in free content, whatever works for your audience, give them value. Give them a reason what to be on your newsletter.
Karen Davies [00:26:11]:
Give them a reason to be part of your community and they will continue to engage with what it is that you send them. My 5th tip is all about automation. So when we start anything there's always an element of work because you've got to plan it out, then you've got to create it, and then build it, and that takes time. But once you've built your machine, and it does become a machine, the more and more you do it, it becomes a machine because what you wanna do is get to a point where you're doing it on automation. You're you know, things are automatically working for you in the background. We don't have enough hours in the day just to focus on one thing all of the time. So with any strategy, you want to build for scale but you also wanna build for automation as well. So when you're ready and you get it working and you'll you'll know when it's working because you'll put something out, you'll promote something and you'll get somebody sign up.
Karen Davies [00:27:15]:
When you get to the point where you're confident that what you're doing is working and that it's hitting the right mark with your audience then you wanna get it automated. You wanna set up welcome emails. You want to do follow-up sequences and then you wanna send re engagement emails so that your subscribers will engage with you. Because there's no point having an email list and then you receive crickets. You want them to engage. You want them to click through the things that you're sending because what you're sending is relevant to them. So when you get to that point where you become confident with what you're doing then you need to think about getting it automated. And then my 6th tip is about being compliant.
Karen Davies [00:28:02]:
Now, this is an important one because in the past, people added people to their email list and then sent them a ton of emails. Now because of GDPR compliance, this should be a thing of the past. Now I know it isn't because I get emails from random people that I know I have not subscribed to and it's naughty and we should not be doing that. We only wanna have the right people on our list. That's it. And we also want to be asking permission. So, when you send your emails and you're asking people to come onto your list give them the proper permissions before sending them emails so that you know they actually want to be on your list. And also provide clear opt out options as well and always respect their privacy.
Karen Davies [00:28:56]:
Don't ever sell or give data away. You stay compliant. Stay on top of your values and this is where integrity I think really comes into it. You wouldn't want your data given to anybody and also for yourself you wouldn't wanna be spammed with a tonne of emails so don't do it to other people always be compliant in your efforts. And then my 7th and final tip is about making sure that you monitor and you analyse your results. Now here's a bit of a pep talk. With list building, you are always going to get people that unsubscribe. It's going to happen.
Karen Davies [00:29:43]:
It's not personal. People subscribe at times that it's relevant to them. And then through maybe things that are going on in their life and maybe shifts that are going on in their business or whatever, they may get to a point where what you're sending them is no longer relevant. And that's absolutely fine. So don't take that to heart. So when you're looking at your metrics and you're seeing people unsubscribe, always approach it with the mindset of that they are just making space for new people and actually you would rather have a small list that wanna hear from you rather than a large list of people that are not interested. Because when you start to track your metrics, you'll start to have a you'll start to see the click through rates and how engaged people are. And it can be really challenging if you're somebody that takes things personally.
Karen Davies [00:30:42]:
But in this activity alone, you should never take it personally because people change. Their circumstances change and that's okay. But it is really important to monitor and analyse your results because this is going to give you an insight into what's working and what's not. If you're seeing that a lot of people aren't engaging then it might be that what you are sending in your newsletters or your nurture sequences is not relevant. It's not working. It's not converting. So then you just tweak it and you spend some time working on that piece. But don't not monitor your results because those results, those analytics are going to tell you a story about your audience and it's gonna help you to just create more compelling content.
Karen Davies [00:31:32]:
So there you have it. They're my 7 tips. I mean, I could talk about email marketing until the cows come home. It's such a big area and there's so much to cover. I will release some future episodes that kinda goes a bit more into detail so so that we cover this at a greater depth. But, hopefully, what I've given you today is enough to at least get you thinking about getting started or hopefully biting the bullet and getting started because this is what's gonna move the needle in your business. This is what's gonna help you to build your own audience. Now social media is great.
Karen Davies [00:32:11]:
It's free. You can leverage it and use it to engage people and to communicate with an audience. The problem is we do not own social media. We do not own platforms like Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter. We we have no ownership, which means that we don't have any control over them. Earlier this week Facebook went down. I don't know why but it went down And that would have caused a massive problem for people that solely rely on that platform. Now the great thing about an email list is that it's your asset.
Karen Davies [00:32:51]:
You own it. You have full control over it. So be on social. Engage on social, but set up a strategy that brings people into your world so that you can build a list, an audience that's right for your business. And you can be really selective with that list. Now that's powerful. That's how you start to really take control over your audience and what it is you're sharing with them. And it's going to really help your marketing efforts as well because it's a direct cost effective and highly engaging way to connect directly with your people.
Karen Davies [00:33:35]:
You get to build relationships whilst promoting your offers which is going to significantly contribute to the overall success and growth of your business. So if you haven't been thinking about list building then I really do encourage you to start thinking about it and to get started. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to today's episode. I hope you found this episode of value and of course please feel free to share it with others who you may think will also benefit from listening to today's episode. If you are feeling inspired and would like to know more about getting started with creating an online business, then don't forget to go and sign up for the Digital Creators Hub by going to www.pink-lemondigital.com/hub. It's completely free. There's no charge and you'll access a treasure trove of resources to help get you started.
Karen Davies [00:34:33]:
I will be back next week with another episode but until then have a great week. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the digitally she does it show. Don't forget to check out the show notes for all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. New episodes drop every week on a Wednesday. So, why not rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Thank you for tuning in today, and I will see you next time.