3 reasons you should use email marketing to grow your business.
*Disclaimer: Some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. That being said, I only share about companies that I think you'll love.
So, you’ve got a website, but could it be doing more to get potential customers into your sales funnel so that they want to work with or buy from you? An effective website will automate your business processes and save you time so that you can focus on actually running your business… And that’s where your website and email marketing go hand in hand. If you haven’t thought about integrating email marketing into your website, then keep reading. You could be missing out on a great opportunity for capturing the hearts of potential customers. If you’ve already got an email list - well done! You’re already off to a great start, but let’s see how we can take your standard email list and turn it into an automated lead-generating machine!
I want to help you to get the most out of your website, so that’s why in this blog post, you’ll find out how setting up your website to get customers on your email list will be a game-changer for your business. Plus I’ve thrown in a recommendation for my favourite email builder (with a great discount code) and why it’s the only platform that has felt right for my business.
So, let’s get to it, with 3 reasons why you should get potential customers to sign up for your email list on your website:
An email list automates your sales funnel
I get it, you’re busy and you don’t have time to be writing and sending regular emails to potential new customers all the time! This is where I have found automated email workflows to be an absolute game-changer so that you can put your business at the top of your customers mind:
Here’s an example of how an automated workflow could look for you:
A potential customer finds your website through a blog post that you’ve written and they decide to sign up to your email list in order to receive your free checklist (this is called a lead magnet).
Once they’ve signed up, they’re automatically taken to a thank you page on your website, thanking them for signing up and telling them to check their inbox for their freebie. At this point, you could also show them an exclusive offer.
The email automations will also be triggered:
Email 1: They head over to their inbox to open the email containing their freebie.
Email 2: On the next day they receive a welcome email, thanking them for signing up and explaining a little bit about your business and the purpose of the newsletter.
Email 3: 3 days later, they’ll receive another email, adding some extra tips or advice that is relevant to the freebie that they download. For example, it could link to other blog posts that would also be useful for the reader.
Email 4: In this email you could share the reason why you started your business and who you are trying to help.
Email 5: This is where you could sell your product or service
Email 5 trigger: If the user clicked on the link in the previous email, this could trigger an action so that they receive a follow up email a few days later with a list of reasons why they’d benefit from the previous offer.
After the series of welcome emails, they’ll automatically move to your regular email list with the rest of your subscribers.
This will look different for every business as the timeline and actual steps will depend on what you’re trying to achieve and the needs of your target customer. But, this does give you an example of how many possibilities there are to automate your business. This workflow could even happen when you’re asleep! Don’t get me wrong, crafting your email automations does take planning at first, but once it’s up and running, you’ll be amazed at how it can help you to warm up potential customers and increase your conversion rate.
Email marketing can increase connection with your audience
When you email your subscribers, you’re talking to a more engaged audience. They’ve shown interest in your business and have agreed to give you their email. Now, that might not sound like a big deal, but it shows that they have put their trust in you by sharing their email. After all, no one wants loads of spam emails filling up their inbox. This is your opportunity to deliver on that trust and provide valuable information to create a loyal customer base that are more likely to work with you.
You have control over your email list
The true value of an email list is that it’s yours, so you’re not only reliant on social media to grow your business. I don’t mean this to worry you, but we’ve all seen cases where a small business owner has lost access to their account - and it’s horrible to see. Building an email list means that you won’t lose all of those potential customers that were interested enough to sign up to your email list. Plus, if you have a big update or are launching a new product or service, you can create a series of emails to help warm up your audience and get them excited about it!
Goldilocks and the three email builders
So, you might be thinking, what platform should I use to build my email list? I personally switched to Flodesk* after previously trying both Mailerlite and MailChimp. The first one I tried was Mailerlite, but the designs were limited, meaning that my emails weren’t looking nearly as professional as I’d like, which is a big negative for a design studio. On the other hand, although Mailchimp looked great, it wasn’t user friendly and the interface was confusing - which says a lot about the platform as I’m a website designer and even I struggled with it.
But Flodesk was just right.
The reason why I love Flodesk is because it’s easy to create beautiful emails and has pre-made automations. Since setting up Flodesk I’ve been able to streamline my email workflows and nurture my email list with on-brand automations. It’s saved me so much time as it enables me to connect with my subscribers while giving me more free time to run my business.
Plus it has a fixed price, no matter how large your audience grows, meaning no unexpected price changes. But, if you’re like me and you like a discount, click the below link to get 50%. For full disclosure, this is an affiliate link and I get a small payment for sign ups, but I am huge fan of Flodesk and only share resources that I absolutely love.
