Email List Building for Beginners [Step-by-Step]

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Today, we are talking about your email list. I got this question from a previous video that I did all about growing your email list. You can check it out right here. They wanted a specific video on what goes into starting and building your email list. So I'm going to break it down for you step by step in this video. Whether you already have an email list and you want to make sure all of your gaps are filled or you're just getting started, this video is for you.

My goal is to help entrepreneurs, not only have a phenomenal brand, but get that brand seen and paid. And one of the ways to do that is through email marketing. Before I jump into the step by step, I'm going to throw some awesome stats at you because if you're not yet convinced that email marketing should be a main focus of your marketing strategy for your business, these stats will definitely convince you that this is the right path to take. 

Did you know that you have a great ROI with email marketing? In fact, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you will make an average of $36 in return.

You might be thinking, but do people really purchase from email? Yes, they do. 60% of consumers say that they make purchases based on the emails that they receive from businesses.

And you might also be thinking, oh, I don't want to annoy my audience. I don't want to have to email them, but this belief is actually holding you back because 61% of email respondents state that they like receiving promotional emails weekly. Yes, weekly. 

So if that doesn't already convince you that email marketing should be where you are focusing your energy and attention this year, I've got nothing else for you. If you want to get your brand seen and paid, email marketing is exactly how you do it.

First things first: IDEAL CUSTOMER

I've got six steps to get your email list started and ready to rock and roll. And at the end, we're going to talk about promotion. But before I do that, we've got to talk about a very, very important part of your email list growth. And that my friends is your ideal customer. 

You need to be crystal clear on who you want to fill your email list with because it's not just about having big numbers. It can't be about, I want to hit 10,000 email subscribers, and you're not being intentional with the subscribers that you are attracting. This is incredibly important because as you're going to see in some of the later steps, we're going to be creating messaging and gifts to pull your ideal customer in. And if you don't know who your ideal customer is, you can't create those things that's going to pull them in.

You need to understand who your ideal customer is at their core. If you have not done this work, I have a video for you all about market research. Make sure you watch that because it is going to be essential in following these steps to a T and making sure they actually work for you and not against you. 

I have clients who come to me with big email lists and aren't making any money. And the first thing we look at is who are those subscribers? If they're not your ideal customers, they won't buy from you.

Build your email list step #1: LEAD MAGNET

Let's get into the very first thing that you need to do to start building your email list. That is to create some sort of freebie, lead magnet, or free gift. They all mean the same thing, interchange the words however you want. 

It essentially means that you are creating something that you will give to your ideal customer in exchange for their email address and their name. Very, very important. So when you're starting to think about your freebie, your lead magnet, you want to know your ideal customer. Because you want to create something for them.

I often tell my clients to think about the email exchange as a $1,000 purchase. So for every single email that you get, you're making $1,000 in currency. When we change this focus, it requires us to create something of high value for our lead magnet.

Now that's not to say that you need to create an entire mini course, or you need to record eight videos. But you want to solve a very specific problem for your ideal customer. So while you're doing your ideal customer work, and you're starting to think about your lead magnet, I want you to write down three main problems that your audience is facing. Then create some sort of lead magnet that's going to help them solve a portion of that problem. 

Now, with your lead magnet, it's important that you're not trying to solve all of their problems. You want to make this very micro. So I'll give you an example.

I have a free class which you can watch right here, that's all about how to create a better brand that gets paid and seen. In the class specifically, I am breaking down the importance of branding, what is needed to build a better brand, and then how to get that brand seen, and some of my top strategies for marketing. 

I'm not teaching all the nitty gritty of exactly how to do each of those steps. That is taught inside of Roadmap to Freedom. But in order for my audience to understand the value of Roadmap to Freedom, they need to understand the importance of these steps first. 

So not only am I positioning my product as a great next step for them, but I'm also solving a core problem that they have, which is what am I supposed to be doing? What am I supposed to be focused on when building my brand and marketing it to my ideal customer? I'm going to give you another example.

Let's say that your ideal customer's problem is that they have low engagement on social media. You could share with them a brand guide to help increase engagement. You could share five prompts that will get great engagement, that they should work into their weekly social media schedule. And you could even, as a third option, share with them a messaging framework or a template that they can use to craft their social media posts to get optimal engagement. 

You wouldn't share all three of these, but you would share one of them. That's how micro I want you to be with your freebie and your lead magnet. 

So the first thing that you want is your freebie lead magnet, free gift, whatever you want to call it. Some examples of this can be PDFs, quizzes, a video, a class, whether that's on demand or a live class, meditation or an audio recording. 

One thing I want you to keep in mind is you want this lead magnet to be evergreen, meaning that it's not requiring you to show up at a specific time. We always want to have one lead magnet that someone can grab at any time, any time of the day, any time of the year, any time. And then of course you can sprinkle in live events like a free class or a free challenge or something on top of that. But we always want to have a way for your audience to join your email list.

Build your email list step #2: LANDING PAGE

The next thing that you are going to need to grow your email list is a landing page, a place for your audience to opt in, give their name and their email address to you in exchange for that free gift you just promised them. 

Now, your landing page is so crucial in the success of your email list building strategy, because it's essentially where your messaging is going to shine. So I recently did a podcast episode, episode 34 on the Brandmerry Podcast, where I share exactly what you want to have on your landing page to increase conversions. So make sure you check out that podcast episode, but here are a few things that I want to touch on that you absolutely need on your landing page.

TITLE
Number one is a crystal clear title. What is your freebie and how is it going to help your ideal customer? With my class that I spoke about before, which of course you can watch here, I'm saying, I will teach you how to build a better brand that gets seen and paid consistently. That is key. I'm very, very clear on what I'm going to teach you and exactly what you're going to walk away with and how it's going to benefit your business.

BULLETED LIST
The second thing you want to have is a bulleted list. Now you can choose to do actual bullets or maybe they’re blocks, whatever it is, I want you to clearly tell your audience what they're going to get when they give their name and their email address. 

What I mean by this is don't just assume because it's free, that someone is just going to sign up right now. Remember, email is currency, and we need to start thinking about it in that way. So you want to clearly communicate to your ideal customer how your lead magnet, what they're about to get from you is going to benefit them. How is it going to solve their problem? What are they going to learn? What will they be able to do with the information that you are giving them? 

Clearly communicating that will help them see the benefit and your conversion rates will be much higher on your landing page.

AUTHORITY BUILDER
The third thing that you need on your landing page is a small authority builder. How do we build authority? Storytelling. Yes. So I always recommend that my clients have a small bio about who they are, their hook statement, just really positioning themselves as an expert because the idea is that you're getting this lead magnet in front of people who know nothing about you. So we need to position that authority by sharing a little bit more about our professional bio, some of our accolades, and what we do.

STRONG CTA
The fourth thing that you need is a strong CTA. So those are those amazing buttons, that area where they're going to put their name in the or email address in. And I recommend being really deliberate with your buttons, saying things like, "Sign up now, get the download, watch now, grab the training. Those are really, really strong CTAs that are going to increase your conversions. 

As I mentioned, I have an entire podcast, episode 34 on the Brandmerry Podcast, which breaks all of this down step by step. So make sure you tune in for this particular step on your landing page.

Build your email list step #3: CONFIRMATION PAGE

The third thing that you need is a confirmation page or a thank you page. So this is essentially a page that your audience will land on after they have given their name and their email address. 

So they land on your landing page. They say yes, heck yes I want this. They put their name in, they put their email address, they hit a little button and voila. It takes them to a page that confirms that they have submitted their information.

This is incredibly important because we want to think about the times where we've put in our information online and there's been no confirmation message, or we get nothing. And we're like, oh my gosh, did it go through? I don't know. Let's just make it easy for our ideal customer.

This confirmation page can be as simple as saying, "Thanks so much. Your download is on its way. Your video is on its way. Go check your inbox now." You can take it even further and make a small offer on the backend. But I recommend if you're just starting out, keep it simple, get them to their inbox so they can grab that email right away, open it and click through. 

PLATFORMS
So let's pause for just a second and talk about platforms that I love for these different steps.

So the platform that we use over here at Brandmerry is called ConvertKit. We also recommend Flodesk to many of our clients as well. That's another great platform that we have a lot of our clients have success on. 

So essentially what you want is a platform that is going to allow you to create landing pages, it's going to allow you to create some sort of form, where they're going to put their name and their email address in, and it's going to allow you to automate what comes next. So all of those emails that you want to send that say, "Hey, your download is here. By the way, this is who I am." So on and so forth. You want those all to be automated.

So we really love ConvertKit and Flodesk. There are a lot of different options out there. So of course find the one that works best for you. But if you're anything like me and you're like, I just want a really, really great program. And I don't want to spend hours looking for it on Google, I highly recommend ConvertKit.

QUICK RECAP

So let's recap. You've created a freebie that your audience absolutely needs. You have now created your landing page, where someone is going to land to give their name and their email address for this awesome freebie that they've got to have. After they've submitted their information on this page, they are then going to land on a confirmation page. Now that confirmation page can just be a single low, easy, no design needed page on your website. 

Build your email list step #4: Confirmation Email

And now what happens. They're going to their inbox to grab their welcome email. This email is something that kicks out immediately after they put in their name and their email address.

So let's use ConvertKit as an example. ConvertKit gets that information, they tag them in the system and they shoot out this confirmation email. In this email, you want to make it short, sweet and to the point. You essentially want them to click through, grab that download, take that quiz, watch that video and get to work. 

You want to make sure when you're building your email list, that it's not complicated, that it's not a lot of steps because at the end of the day, you want your audience to have a win. We want to help solve a problem, but we don't want it to take them 72 days, because then that's prolonging how long it might take them to purchase your product or your service. 

So we want these steps to happen very quickly from the moment that they land on your landing page to getting that confirmation email. We're talking like 10 minutes max. So automation is key. Keeping that email short and simple. Hey, you wanted this. Here it is. Click here to grab it. I'll be back with another email soon. Keeping it really, really easy.

Build your email list step #5: EMAIL FUNNEL

Then the next thing that's going to happen is your email funnel. Your email funnel does not have to be terrifying. If you want an entire video on your email funnel and the top things that I recommend, let me know and I will make you that video because let's be honest, this is a lengthy piece. There are a lot of different details in it. I teach all of this inside of my program, Roadmap to Freedom, but you came here to learn how to grow your email list and that's what we're going to talk about right now.

So we already talked about the very first email. The very first email is very simple. It says hey, this is your freebie. Grab it. Now, they're getting to work. Within 24 to 48 hours, I lean on the 24 hour side, you want to send the first email of your automated sequence. This automated sequence will be set up inside of your email platform. 

Email One
If you're using ConvertKit, as I recommend, you will set it up inside of sequences and choose the timing between the emails. Maybe you're going to send an email every day for three days, you'll set it up, you'll link it to your form and voila. This is all happening on autopilot. 

When you're designing your email funnel, I want you to think of it as a handshake. It's essentially your introduction to someone that knows nothing about you. So what do we want them to know about you?

We want them to know your story. So the first email that you send should be really focused on the work that you do, who you are, and positioning your brand as an authority, as a brand that they absolutely want in their inbox on a regular basis. You can also set the tone for the type of emails that you might be sending weekly via your newsletter.

Email Two
The second email that I recommend you create is another bonus tip. So let's say that you created a freebie all about social media engagement and you shared with them five social media engagement prompts that they could use. Well, in the second email, you could now say, okay, you have your prompts. I gave those to you in your freebie, but I'm coming in with another sweet bonus. In this email, I'm sharing with you a sample template to structure your social media post. 

You don't have to create another freebie. You can deliver it directly in the email. You could also link to a really popular blog that you have, or a video that shares amazing information about something that's really valuable for your audience. You're just further positioning yourself as the authority and as the expert, someone who is going to support them in solving their problem.

Email Three
Then the third email, and again, I'm talking about a very basic email funnel right here, you could present your offer. Now, if your offer is over $47, I recommend putting a few more emails on the backend. But at the bare minimum, you can just have a very simple three email funnel, and then they would go directly into your general newsletter.

Now, one of the things that I teach at Brandmerry is the importance of this consistent communication. As we heard in the very beginning of this video, your audience wants weekly correspondence from you. 61% of surveyed consumers want to hear from their brands weekly. So I always recommend that my clients make that a routine in their marketing strategy. 

Now someone is on your list, they're familiar with who you are, you've set the tone, you've given them some amazing advice, you are now the authority. Now they will leave that automated funnel and they will get those weekly general broadcasts from you, which could be anything from your YouTube, your podcast, your blog, your promotion, anything that you are going to be sharing with them every week. The handshake has happened. And now we're all in relationship building.

Again, inside my program, Roadmap to Freedom, we understand the importance of email marketing. Everything that we teach and do inside of that program is focused on building your email list so you can get seen and paid. So inside of Roadmap to Freedom, we teach our clients how to set up their email funnel in as little as three days. We've got a sweet bonus called Funnel in a Weekend. If you want to learn more about Roadmap to Freedom and you want to see if it's the right fit for you, watching my free class by going to brandmerry.com/class is a fantastic way to learn more about the program, learn about my approach to marketing and how it can benefit you in your business and snag that sweet bonus.

Build your email list step #6: PROMOTION

Now we're moving into the sixth part of this process. This is the most important part. This is the part that is ongoing. Those other pieces, you might set them, you might be able to forget them for a little while, but now you're into your marketing. How do you get your new freebie seen? How do you get it in front of your ideal customer? 

This is where you are going to want to focus on two types of promotion. Yes. Remember I said, email is currency. Think about growing your email list as a form of promotion. You need to be talking about it consistently.

There are two categories that I love my clients to focus on: active and passive promotion.

PASSIVE

First, we're going to start with passive. What does passive mean? Passive is that banner on your blog that you set that says, "Grab my free quiz." They click it and voila, it opens up a box. It takes them to the landing page. They get to sign up for it. It's having that call to action on your homepage. It's a popup. It's having the link in your bio on your Instagram. These are all things that you're going to set up on the different platforms that you're on, on your website, maybe your banner on Facebook, you get what I'm saying, where you're linking to your freebie and you're setting it and you really don't need to worry about it. 

So if someone lands in any of those different areas, they're really interested in hearing more about you, they're interested in joining your community, they have what they need. They go to the landing page and the process starts for them.

ACTIVE

The second category is active promotion, and this is the one that's going to take more time and energy on your part and is something that is going to help you with getting your brand seen and paid. Now my favorite ways to grow my email list are through SEO platforms. Things like Pinterest, YouTube, Google, blogging, things like that. And I also love to talk about my freebies and my lead magnets on social media as well. But as you know, here at Brandmerry, we do not put a lot of pressure on social media. We are more focused on SEO strategies. So having those in place will create that consistent stream of leads coming into your email list without you having to post daily.

I talk more about this strategy on marketing inside of this video. Go watch that. That is going to really help you with the strategy behind growing your email list and the types of things that I recommend. 

Again, I teach all of this inside of my free class, where I'm teaching you how to build a better brand that gets seen and paid consistently. You can go to brandmerry.com/class to watch that completely on demand.

I hope this was really helpful in breaking down the step by step needed to start building your email list. At the end of the day, your email list is a fantastic asset. It is what you can take with you. You can download it as a spreadsheet and upload it somewhere else. We cannot rely on social media as a way to grow our communities. They are a nice little way to market if that works for you, but they are not a space where you control the narrative. Email marketing is where you get to do that. And as we saw in the beginning of this video, it can help you increase your ROI.

PS: Roadmap to Freedom doors are opening soon! This live group program will help you create an online business that allows you to create a life of abundant experiences and impact. This high-touch program helps you simplify the process so you can make more money on your terms. And, the 2023 cohort is going to be better than ever with updated content, lifetime access, new bonus content, and more! Join the waitlist and be the first to join in January 2023.

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DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Email Marketing Copywriting Tips for Entrepreneurs

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

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Email marketing is one of the greatest digital marketing tools for online entrepreneurs.

Recently, I shared an episode on My Top Email Marketing Tips for 2022, which included the steps needed to build an email list of ideal customers.

Truth be told if you don’t have an email marketing strategy as an online entrepreneur you’re losing leads every single day.

If you’re getting website traffic, posting on social media, or even have a Youtube channel with views, but aren’t collecting your engaged audience’s information then how do you expect to convert them into paying clients?

It’s going to be really hard!

However, with an email marketing strategy, you’re able to take that website traffic and turn it into revenue for your business through your email marketing efforts.

That’s why in today’s episode, I want to help you improve your email marketing efforts, by talking about your email copywriting.

In episode 38, you’ll learn:

• The importance of keeping a healthy email list and why aiming for a high number of subscribers should not be your only goal.

• 4 core elements to focus on when building your email campaign and my top tips to improve each one.

• How I really feel about the “pretty” photo-filled emails we often get in our inbox, or shall I say Promotions folder.

Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.

P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website

3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

So you have a website, but little to no traffic. The struggle is real, and something so many entrepreneurs, including myself have experienced.

It took me monthly to build my website and an additional year before I realized that my website meant nothing if I wasn’t getting people to actually view it. Now, just a few years later, I’m getting thousands of organic website visitors every month using the strategies I’m sharing today.

So if you have a website, one you probably spent a lot of time and maybe even money on, and no one seems to see it, today’s blog on 3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website is for you.

WHY YOU NEED A WEBSITE

There are a lot of online educators and course creators saying that you don’t need a website and I disagree. If you’re running an online business you NEED a website, for one main reason...people are searching for your services online and if you don’t have a website, well they won’t find you.

In addition to showing up in search results, websites serve as a valuable resource for your business.

CENTRAL LOCATION: People want to find what they need and having a central location with the information for your business and services is a great way to do that. Someone doesn’t want to search through your Instagram profile or your Facebook page to learn more about you, they want a one-stop-shop, this is where your website comes into play.

FIND WHAT THEY WANT RIGHT NOW: In addition to having your information in one central location, people also want what they want right away. So if someone is looking for a particular service or resource you want to give it to them, that’s where your website and a collection of resources come in.

A PLACE TO REFER PEOPLE: I don’t know about you, but I love having a place to send people that I know is going to support them at the highest level. This is my website. My website is a resource for anyone interested in learning more about my brand, business and services. Having the information available and in one space makes it easier for me in growing my business.

METHOD #1

HOW TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE FOR FREE

One of the most effective and simple ways to drive traffic to your website for free is by using our friend Google.

Think about it, when you have a question or a problem you turn to Google. So every single day your ideal customer is doing the same, looking for your product or service and a solution to their problem that you solve.

If you’re not taking the time to set up Site-Wide SEO (not specifically talking about blogs here) you’re missing out on free traffic.

Today, we’re getting hundreds of organic traffic from Google thanks to landing on page one for multiple keywords.

The best part about Site-Wide SEO is it’s something you can set up for your business on the backend, or hire someone to do it for you, and you don’t need to touch it every single week like you do content.

Today, I blog every week which helps rank for multiple keywords, but in the beginning, I only had optimized my main page SEO and still landed on page one.

If you want to learn more about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) check out this blog.

METHOD #2

MY FAVORITE WAY TO DRIVE CONSISTENT TRAFFIC TO MY WEBSITE

I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it. If you’re not already aware of how Pinterest can improve your online marketing, you’re in for a treat!

Pinterest is how I’m consistently driving traffic to the content on my website. 

While the main purpose of my Site-Wide SEO was to rank my home page for specific keywords my audience is searching for, think Personal Branding Consultant, Branding Coach, etc...I’m using Pinterest to drive traffic to my blog.

Pinterest, like Google, is a search engine, so while many people think Pinterest is a social media platform like Facebook and Instagram they are wrong. Pinterest was designed to get people off the platform, not to stick around and socialize.

Because of this, it’s great for every online business, as it’s experienced experimental growth over the past few years.

The key to Pinterest is content, which I create in the form of my blog posts. Every blog post gets pushed out to Pinterest and using our Pinterest Strategy from inside Brandmerry Academy (http://brandmerryacademy.com) we’re consistently driving traffic to my website (even blogs from 2017 still get consistent traffic today).

So you can see why Pinterest is such a valuable tool in driving traffic to your website and the best part, it’s free (although there is an option to promote pins on Pinterest as well).

**Did I mention Pinterest also helps you rank on Google? Well, it does! When Google sees that you’re getting traffic to your content they love it and it tells them it’s valuable so they’re more likely to move it up.

METHOD #3

HOW TO DRIVE TARGETED TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE

You’ve probably already guessed I’m going to talk about blogging, but we’re going to get a little bit more specific here. It’s not enough to just blog random topics and to just post content without doing a little research.

In fact, taking just a few minutes to map out your blog content ahead of time and think strategically about what content you want your ideal customer to have their hands on will help with website traffic drastically.

So Method #3 is Do The Research. One of the best ways to improve traffic to your website is to create quality content your audience is searching for. This is why I love Ubersuggest and use it in my own business.

Ubersuggest allows you to do thorough keyword research, as well as see what people in your industry are creating content around.

Taking this time before you start writing your content will help. I suggest mapping out 90-days worth of blog topics with keyword research and repeat every 90 days.

SEO, Pinterest and blogging doesn’t have to be overwhelming, we show you how to do it step-by-step inside Brandmerry Academy.

CONCLUSION

Driving traffic to your website should be a top priority. Let’s face it relying on social media to build your business is inconsistent and unreliable, but optimizing your website and using tools like Pinterest can not only bring in the consistent traffic, but also save you time as well.

Inside Brandmerry Academy, we teach marketing strategies that don’t rely on social media. It gives you VIP access to monthly marketing courses on Email Marketing, SEO, Pinterest, Blogging, Video, Podcasting and more.

Learn more about Brandmerry Academy at brandmerryacademy.com.

P.S. I’ve got some other cool blogs and videos for you, that I’m linking below. I mean you’re already here you might as well keep reading.

HOW TO BUILD AN EMAIL LIST

3 MARKETING MISTAKES TO AVOID AS AN ONLINE ENTREPRENEUR

WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Social Media to Build Your Email List

Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Social Media to Build Your Email List

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

The goal of marketing your business should be to build your email list/ inner circle.

There I said it. Why is this your main goal? Because when you have a community you have people to sell too - Community = Profits.

Yet, so many entrepreneurs don’t put enough attention to doing this daily. The reason for this is because of social media. Social media is an amazing business strategy, but in terms of marketing your business, it’s not the best strategy.

If you’re relying on social media to build your email list and make sales for your business and are feeling overwhelmed and inconsistent you’re not alone, but there is another way.

Here are three reasons we shouldn’t rely on social media to build our business and what to do instead.

#1 SOCIAL MEDIA IS MEANT TO BE SOCIAL

The reason the purpose of social media is important is that it was designed to be social. The purpose of these platforms is to keep people on them and engaged for long periods of time, so they’re not ideal for sending people to your website or landing page for your free gift.

While platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn make it easier than Instagram to post external links, the platforms have released statements saying that they favor content that keeps users on the platform.

So while social media might be a great way to engage with your audience on social, it won’t give you the same conversions as other strategies when it comes to building your email list.

#2 YOU DON’T OWN SOCIAL MEDIA

You know this right? Well, if you don’t realize that building your following and community on social media is risky let’s remember the times when Instagram and Facebook went down.

There have been many times in my business when I wanted to go live on Facebook and I couldn’t. Or Instagram was down for everyone making it impossible to post.

Now, while this might be an inconvenience for me it doesn’t really matter because I lead my social media followers to my email list.

Imagine if the only place you can contact your community is social media and this happens during a launch or promotion? Not good! 

And, while you don’t own your email platform either, you can download the name and email address for subscribers making it easy to move somewhere else.

#3 SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A SEARCH ENGINE

There’s a reason platforms like Google, Pinterest and Youtube work so well at attracting new subscribers and eyes on your brand; they are searchable.

What do I mean? We’ll if you type something into these platforms, often a question, you’ll get resources and solutions to your problem; social media was not designed in the same way.

Sure, you have hashtags and a search feature, but they aren’t optimized for search results and you’re not always getting the most accurate or prominent at the top.

If you’re running a business one of your daily goals should be to attract new people to your brand and business and that isn’t efficiently done if you’re relying on social media.

SO, WHERE DOES SOCIAL MEDIA FIT IN

Let’s talk about the 3 Tiers of Marketing - Know, Like and Trust.

Tier 1: Is the Brand Awareness stage, this is where people get to know you.

Often, this is done by creating content that you put out into the world and using tools like Pinterest, Google or Youtube so people can actually discover your content.

Tier 2: This is the Attraction stage and where you lead your new fans to your email list. You’re attracting them with a lead magnet or free gift in exchange for their email results.

Tier 3: This is where you focus on building trust with your new community members. This is where social media plays a vital role. You want to use social media to nurture your audience, educate them and share more behind the brand and your story. This is when social media makes the most sense.

However, as we’ve mentioned so many people are relying on social media at Tier 1 and are missing out on consistent leads and sales.

CONCLUSION

Social media is great, it’s one of my favorite ways to show up for my audience, but if you’re relying on social media to attract new subscribers and grow your list of potential leads it’s going to be a slow climb.

Using resources like Google, Pinterest, Youtube and more can not only speed up the process but optimize your time and energy in a much better way.

Check out this recent post I did on driving traffic to your website for some additional ideas.

P.S. The foundation of a great marketing strategy is your brand. I made you a free Brand Roadmap that you can download here. The Roadmap will give you the 5-Step Roadmap to build a better brand + 3 mistakes you might be making now!

WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

3 Ways to Improve Your Email Funnel (when growing your email list)

3 Ways to Improve Your Email Funnel (when growing your email list)

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

You know you need an email list when running an online business, but what about the funnel? An email funnel gives you a chance to onboard each new subscriber the same. 

Today, I’m sharing 3 ways to improve your email funnel. 

Your email funnel is important and although we typically think of the funnel as a way to sell a course or small-priced offer, it can also be used to get your ideal customer on the phone with you or signed up for your high-level offer.

There are a lot of possibilities with your email funnel, but a few things to keep in mind.
Your funnel should introduce you, the brand, your mission and position you as the expert that can solve their problem.

You can do this in a variety of ways by sharing stories, referencing past blogs or videos, offering inspiration or tips inside the emails and of course making an offer (aka a solution to their problem).

Let’s start at the beginning before we dive into the tips.

WHAT ARE EMAIL FUNNELS?

An email funnel is a staple in marketing your business. When you offer a lead magnet/freebie/free offer, the email funnel is what happens after their email is added to your system (automatically with Convertkit and other platforms).

The email funnel is a predesigned series of emails that takes your new subscriber from not knowing anything about you to ready to invest.

If we think of social media as the handshake, then the email funnel is the happy hour!

It’s where you, the marketer, introduce yourself, tell stories, build trust, position yourself as the expert and offer your product as a solution to your ideal customer’s problem. 

After the funnel ends (typically over the course of a week or two, although 6-month funnels are NOT unheard of) your subscriber goes into your newsletter list and receives real-time emails from you weekly.

HOW TO CREATE AN EMAIL FUNNEL

Before we can dive into the email funnel, we have to talk about what happens BEFORE someone even gets into the funnel.

In order to grow your email list, you want to have:

1. Free gift or Lead Magnet: an incentive for them to give you their email

2. Email Provider + Landing Page: we use *Convertkit in my business, but *Flodesk is another great option

3. Landing Page or Opt-In Page: where they learn more about the free gift and provide their email and name

4. Thank You Page: where they will land after adding their information to your opt-in

5. Welcome Email: this is where you’ll send the free gift or lead magnet

Email Funnel Starts!

This photo gives you a visual of the email automation process.

Ok, on to the tips!

IMPROVE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING FUNNEL

TIP 1: LOOK AT YOUR NUMBERS
So many entrepreneurs begin by focusing on their subscriber count. While that's a great marker for your growth it’s not the only one and sometimes it can give you a false view as to how your lead magnet is funnel working.

Entrepreneurs, myself included, have a tendency to see a low subscriber number from a lead magnet and think, “Well I guess it’s not working!”

Then we scrap it and create something new and 9 times out of 10 it’s not the lead magnet it’s the marketing.

So how do we determine where the holes are and what we need to fix? So glad you asked!

Additional analytics to look at:

• Landing page views

• Landing page conversion (number of views/ divided by opt-ins)

• Open rates of emails in the funnel

• Click-through rates in emails with a CTA (call to action)

Once you have these numbers you can make decisions for improving your funnel.

For instance, this is a screenshot of my lead magnet that is to a cold audience.

This is pretty dang good for a cold audience, considering the industry average is 30%, but let’s say that I had a large number of people visiting the landing page (7,620) and my opt-in number was much lower (currently 4,918) that would make my conversion % lower and tell me that people are interested, but my page is losing them.

I could improve the landing page.

Let’s flip it. Say the page isn’t getting much traffic at all, that would tell me I need to improve my marketing because it’s not getting people interested enough to visit the landing page.

Once they’re in the funnel, looking at the open rate can tell us how our “Subject Line” is performing.

See how having this information can help you optimize your lead magnet and funnel without throwing it all out the window. 

Only paying attention to the number of subscribers is a small game and with marketing, we have to play bigger.

TIP 2: ADD STORY TO YOUR EMAILS
I’m the brand story queen in case you’re new here, in which case WELCOME!

I’ve built my entire business on the power of story and incorporating it into everything I do. The reason for this is that your content is 22x more likely to be remembered if you use story.

Storytelling is also how we build trust with our audience. Because storytelling is vulnerable and often brings up an emotional connection, it allows us to pull our audience in and relate to them and their journey.

Adding storytelling to your email funnel is the step so many entrepreneurs miss...don’t do it!

If you remember from the beginning, your funnel should introduce you, your brand and mission. This is a great time to share stories and paint a picture for your audience.

If your funnel sounds like everyone else and doesn’t focus on the connection people aren’t going to want to buy from you. Remember, they don’t know you! Your lead magnet is meant to attract new people to your brand so you’ve got to take some time to connect.

People buy based on trust and GREAT marketing is always built on storytelling and human connection.

Use your funnel to build trust. 

TIP #3: STOP ATTRACTING THE WRONG PEOPLE TO YOUR EMAIL LIST
So many entrepreneurs are feeling stuck in their funnels which are falling flat because the people in the funnel aren’t right for the message.

I want you to remember that great marketing should attract and repel, that’s why your lead magnet needs to be super-specific for your business and your ideal customer.

Your lead magnet is not for everyone.
Your funnel and messaging and stories aren’t for everyone.
And your offer isn’t for everyone.

If it is you’re going to run into problems if you haven’t already, the key to successful marketing is being specific.

I’ll use my free guide as an example. I created a free Brand Roadmap, which you can snag right here. 

For this guide, I wanted a very specific person to opt-in. I didn’t just want someone who was looking for a quick logo or their colors or a company brand guide. I wanted someone interested in building a personal brand.

So I created a Personal Brand Roadmap and inside the funnel, I’m sharing my top tips for building a personal brand online in order to create a revenue-generating business.

If I made a general brand guide or just shared logo tips, I might attract corporations or people looking for just design.

You have to be specific and you have to create for your ideal customer.

So get specific with who you want to attract to your brand and business, it’s step 2 in my Personal Brand Roadmap and essential in building a profitable business.

CONCLUSION

Building an email automation funnel can be so much fun when you look at it as a way to introduce yourself to each and every new member to your community.

And with these three steps, you’re going to get started with the very best foundation.

Again, you want to start with a solid brand and choose an email provider. You can download my FREE Personal Brand Guide here and look into *Convertkit (the platform we use) here. Note: I’m an affiliate because I love it!

P.S. I’ve got some other cool blogs and videos for you, that I’m linking below. I mean you’re already here you might as well keep reading.

THE THREE KEY PIECES FOR A HIGH-CONVERTING SALES FUNNEL

HOW TO BUILD AN EMAIL LIST

THE TRUTH ABOUT GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST (GETTING SUBSCRIBERS THROUGH YOUR FREEBIE)

WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.