Email marketing helps you connect with your target audience and convert qualified leads into loyal clients. It’s one of the most cost effective marketing strategies and it can be automated to save you time. If you’re wondering if email marketing is still effective, then just look at the statistics.
Email marketing is the best way to find your ideal client as long as you implement a strategy that works for your business model. One that only brings qualified traffic to your page and converts clicks into clients. There is no one-size fits all approach to email marketing, but there are a few tips and best practices you can use.
How to build your email list
The first step is to build your list. You will need an email marketing opt in that makes your website visitors want to give you their email address. Remember, this is a high-value exchange so your lead magnet needs to be enticing - something that your ideal client needs.
Some high-converting lead magnet ideas are mini guides, webinars, ebooks, checklists, and templates. Whatever format you choose, make sure the content is related to your flagship offer. Your lead magnet should give your subscribers a peak into your expertise, what you do, and how you can help them.
Canva is a great tool for creating a lead magnet for your email marketing strategy. It’s free to use and you get access to thousands of templates, design elements, and resources. You can use our affiliate link to try Canva Pro for 30 days (the standard trial is only 14 days).
How to get started with email marketing
The purpose of email marketing is to connect with your audience and drive them closer to purchasing your offer. The best strategy is to use your sales funnel to create email campaigns that convert. We recommend the AIDA model (awareness, interest, desire, action) - you can create email content for each step of the funnel to share all the information your audience needs to take the next step.
You can also use content pillars or content buckets to organize your ideas. Just make a list of 3-5 topics you can talk about to build awareness, interest, and desire. The content buckets will help you create consistent content that your audience wants/needs to consume.
Once you have your sales funnel and content buckets, you can start building email campaigns. Just remember the purpose is to build connections - not every email is about making a sale but every email is about selling your brand! Your email campaigns should include promotional, educational, inspirational, and personal content.
Best practices for email marketing
As mentioned above, there is no “right” way to implement an email marketing strategy for your small business. It’s about knowing your audience and building connections - which no one can tell you how to do. BUT, there are some tips and best practices you can use.
Tip 1: Be authentic. Email marketing is a personal form of communication that requires you to be authentic and share from your personal experiences. Your email list is full of potential clients who want to get to know you before taking the next step - so be real. Treat your email campaigns like conversations with a friend who you’re trying to help out. Show your subscribers you understand their pain points and you know what to do.
Tip 2: Valuable content. Email marketing isn’t just about growing your list - it’s about connecting with qualified leads. The content you share through your email campaigns should all be centered around your flagship offer. Every email you send should have a purpose and include valuable content that benefits your audience. Sharing valuable content that’s relevant to what you do will help you connect with your ideal client.
Tip 3: Effective copywriting. Copywriting drives conversions - it’s what tells your audience who you are, what you do, and who you serve. The copywriting in your email campaigns should be clear and make your subscribers excited to learn more. The length of your content doesn’t really matter as long as it’s good content, and that’s why copywriting is so important. It should leave the reader wanting more and drive them to click to your website, social media, blogs, and landing pages.
Tip 4: Clear calls to action. The purpose of email marketing is to drive qualified leads to your flagship offer. Calls to action are an important part of driving traffic because they tell your audience exactly what to do next. They show your subscribers how to find more value and move them further down the funnel. Every email should include at least one CTA that keeps your audience engaged. Just don’t add too many CTAs - it can be overwhelming and confusing - and remember to be very specific.
Tip 5: Stay engaged. Email marketing engagement looks different for every entrepreneur. Some need to send daily emails while others see better results with weekly or monthly emails. You can play around with the volume of emails you send to figure out the level of engagement your subscribers need. Staying engaged will help you build trust and encourage your subscribers to take the next step. Look at your conversion data to see what works for you.
Tip 6: Periodic cleanup. This tip is an important one that too many entrepreneurs ignore - clean out your subscribers! You should periodically send out 1-2 emails asking your subscribers if they are still interested in receiving content and give them the opportunity to opt out. This seems like the opposite of what you should do to grow an email list, but trust us, this is going to save you a lot of time and sanity. Your email campaigns are supposed to help you connect with qualified leads which means you will need to periodically clean out the ones who will never convert (or worse - the ones who convert and shouldn’t).
Email marketing can help you connect with clients and grow your online coaching business. And the best part… it can be completely automated! You can set up email campaigns, email sequences, and triggered emails to help you drive traffic to your online courses - and we’ve got the first step covered for you with our Welcome Email Sequence templates.
The free email templates are designed to help you welcome new subscribers and build connections. Each template has copywriting prompts to help you personalize your welcome email sequence. Visit our free resource library to get yours!
Need help finding an email marketing service/platform?
There are a lot of email marketing services to choose from so make sure you look at the options. We highly recommend Kajabi for online coaching and course creators. It has all the tools you need to plan, launch, and promote your courses - including email marketing. You can set up pipelines with triggered emails or send out single broadcast emails. Email marketing is included in your Kajabi subscription and can be completely customized and automated.
You can try Kajabi for free for 30 days by using our affiliate link (the standard trial is only 14 days). You can also learn more about Kajabi from some of our other blogs.
Or learn more about the benefits of email marketing:
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