Tag Archives: email marketing

Using Facebook to grow your email list

Growing your email list is one of the best ways to grow your business. I know that most of us use social media, and that is one of the ways to promote your email list. In this blog, I’m going to talk specifically about growing your email list on Facebook.

Before you start

Before you begin to promote your email list, I would suggest that you create an engaging incentive. Most of us spend a large percentage of our time every day reading and answering our emails, so people don’t want to be sent an email, just for the sake of it. They want to be sent an email for a reason. One of the best reasons you can give is to have an exciting and engaging lead magnet that provides tons of value and therefore will encourage people to join your email list.

Incentives could be:

  • A discount code
  • An e-book
  • A workbook
  • A free course
  • A quiz

Whatever you choose, it will help you get more subscribers than if you just asked them to sign up for your newsletter. Everyone loves a freebie, and if that freebie delivers value, then even better.   

Once you have your lead magnet sorted you are ready to promote your email list. Facebook is a great place to do this, so here are a few ideas to help that promotion along.

Create a new Facebook page cover

This sounds obvious, but so many people don’t do this. If you have a lead magnet to promote, create a Facebook cover image to promote it. I use Canva, which is a fabulous site which gives free templates for this kind of thing and it’s super easy to use…best of all, the templates look very professional.

Once you have your new cover created and on your page, make sure you update the button on your page to link through to your lead magnet landing page. This just makes it easier for your visitors to navigate and they don’t have to go searching for the relevant link.   

Create a post

You can also create posts in Canva, so spend a bit of time creating a promotional post or graphic to promote your lead magnet. In fact, it’s a good idea to make several, with different captions – make sure that the captions talk about the pain point or problem that your lead magnet will solve. For example, my lead magnet now is a free list of 102 Facebook post ideas, which gives people great ideas without them having to think about it. I know that some small businesses struggle with coming up with ideas of what to post, and as I help small businesses with their social media and marketing, it made sense to create this to help them out.

Once you start posting your promotional posts, you will soon see which caption works best and you could use it for future ad campaigns.

As well as a promotional post, you can also create posts that simply invites people to join your email list. Don’t forget to tell your visitors how your newsletter or emails will help them – what benefits you provide and the value they will get from it.  

Use your About section

Your Facebook page has an About section, so ensure that you are using this to its best advantage. Once you have your lead magnet, you can include it in your About section, telling visitors what it is and how it helps them, with a CTA (call to action) to invite people to join your email list.

Join Facebook groups

You will know who your target market is and, if you have a business page, probably already belong to groups where they are members. If not, search for groups where they are likely to be and join. It can be tempting to join Facebook groups that are full of people who do similar things to you, and as these groups and networking in them, can take quite a bit of time, I wouldn’t advise being in too many of them!

The only way you’ll know if a group is right for you is to join and network. Join in tasks and fun competitions or silly posts. Engage in all the business posts and keep your eyes peeled for questions members might ask that you can answer and show that you are helpful and knowledgeable about your subject. Obviously, you give this information away for free! People are more likely to respect and build trust with you if they can see that you give value and are genuine … not just doing a sales pitch.

If you have a business page, you will also have a personal profile on Facebook. So, make sure that you have your work information on there, so people can click through and follow you, or have your website address link, so people can check out what you do…and have another opportunity to join your email list.

Run and ad campaign on Facebook

You can also run an ad campaign to grow your email list. The benefits of an ad campaign are that you can directly target your ideal customer, so you know you are reaching the right people.

There are two types of ad campaign…a conversions campaign or a leads campaign. If you choose a conversions campaign, you can measure how your ad is performing, and if you have the Facebook Pixel on your website, you can measure which of your ads ends up with people signing up to your email list.  

A leads campaign will simply collect email addresses on a landing page on Facebook. You will most likely generate more volume with a leads campaign, but you’ll get a higher quality of lead with a conversion campaign. You won’t know what works best for you until you try both.

Promote your blog

If you have a blog, then Facebook is the ideal place to promote your blog articles. Make sure that your blog post has a call to action to sign up to your email list or newsletter.

  • You can simply post a link to your blog in a Facebook post.
  • You can put a link to your blog post in a Facebook group, if you’re answering a question about something you’ve written about.
  • You can also create a promotional graphic, which includes your blog title on it and include a link in the caption.

If you produce evergreen blog content, re-share some of your older content every couple of months as you will pick up new followers from them too.

Run a contest

Running a contest on Facebook can really boost your engagement rate and can also help you with new followers. You give away a simple prize that is related to whatever you do. There are loads of different types of contests, such as:

  • Like a post to win
  • Comment on a post to win
  • Like and comment to win
  • Caption competition
  • Fill in the blank competition
  • Photo contest

The list is endless, so you can be creative here. The prize can be given by either doing a draw – you put all the names of the people who have liked, comments etc., into a draw to win. Then you do the draw ‘live’ on Facebook and can create some hype and a real buzz around it.

You could also give everyone a prize. For example, if you’re a service-based business, you could pull together a valuable checklist that helps do a particular thing. Everyone who enters, gets the PDF with a link to subscribe to your email list.

It’s up to you how you host your contest.

If you have a website…

If you have a website with a subscribe button, when someone signs up for your email list, redirect them to a thank you page with social media share buttons. Invite your new subscribers to share the valuable lead magnet they’ve received with their friends and family.  

Finally…

Don’t forget…

…to track the traffic that comes from your Facebook page to your website or to your email list. Then you will know what works and what doesn’t. If you use Google Analytics, you’ll be able to see what traffic is coming from Facebook. This is so valuable as you can see what kind of posts are the most popular and what drives people to sign up to your email list.

Good luck and if you need help setting up a lead magnet and email sequences, get in touch and I can help.

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54 ideas for email content

Email marketing is a fabulous way for your customers or potential customers to find out more about you and your business…the brand, products, or services they care about. The great thing about email is that people have to opt-in to receive your emails in their inbox, so they are choosing to have communication from you on a regular basis.

So, let’s start with a few facts…

  • In 2025, the number of email users is expected to reach 4.6 billion (Techjury)
  • 37% of individuals have two email accounts (Statistica)
  • 63% of people who open up an email try and find a discount (LXA)
  • 99% of email users check their inbox every single day (Hubspot)
  • 60% of consumers reported that they have made a purchase as a result of a promotional email (OptinMonster)
  • Automated emails can generate 320% more revenue than emails that are not automated (Campaign Monitor)
  • Mobile devices account for nearly 60% of all email opens (Luisa Zhou)

Also, according to The Radicati Group, “Email remains the most pervasive form of communication, while other technologies such as social networking, instant messaging, chat, mobile instant messaging are also taking hold, email is still the more ubiquitous form of business communication. In addition, email is integral to the overall Internet experience as an email account is required to sign up to any online activity, including social networking sites…”

How do I produce new ideas every month?

This is the big question that I’ve been asked several times, so after a bit of research and hard thinking, I’ve produced a list that I think will help you tailor your email to your audience, to keep them engaged and to keep them coming back for more, month on month.

But, before I give you the ideas, think about these three questions first. You shouldn’t just throw any old content out there – it must fit your brand and your target audience.

  1. Will your email hit the spot with your target audience?
    You know your customers, so you need to make sure that any content you publish is right for them and will add value to them and their lives.
  2. What are your goals for your email?
    You need to know why you’re setting up an email list. It could simply be that you want to have more engagement with your business or to help you increase sales. Once you know what your goal is, think about how you want your audience to respond. It’s important to pick content ideas that will help you achieve your goals.
  3. Does your content fit with your brand?
    In the same way that you pick the content to target your audience and help you achieve your goals, you also need it to fit with your brand. Does the content align with the core values of your business?

I always bang on about the 80/20 rule when I talk about content for social media posts. That is, all content should consist of 80% engaging, entertaining, educating and inspiring your target audience, and only 20% sales.

The same applies to content for your email marketing. So, with this in mind, I’ve created a list for you, under those separate headings.

What content can I put out there?

Engaging ideas

This is where you can share things that help your audience to get to know you and your brand. Be authentic and show your personality. This helps your audience relate to you, feel cared about and valued, and to find out what your brand stands for.

  • Share things that you love – this could be images, music, articles, or stories that you come across.
  • Introduce yourself and tell your audience about your business. What is your ‘why?’ Why did you start your business and why do you do what you do?
  • What inspires you? This could be individual inspiration for particular products or services that you offer.
  • Show behind the scenes videos or photos of your business. You could video you making a product, packing an order to a customer, or unpacking an order and showing each individual item to camera.
  • Share a ‘day in the life’ and take your audience through a typical day for you.
  • Tell your story and share a list of things you wish you’d known before starting your business.
  • Share something that didn’t work for you, (we’re all human), and how you rectified it. Or share an obstacle you’ve come across and how you resolved it.
  • Write about your children or your pets and how they make you happy or mad (!) and tell a funny story about them.
  • Share a charity you support and why it’s so important to you.
  • Share your most popular posts from social media.
  • Talk about any courses you’ve done or any certification you have. You might have done something to upskill – share it!
  • Ask your audience questions – if you’re thinking of a new product or service, ask their opinion.

Entertainment ideas

These things help show your fun side. Make your audience laugh, think, or test them in some way. Content that you share to entertain doesn’t have to link directly to your business or your products/services. It’s about showing the authentic you. Although it doesn’t have to link to your products/services, it is important that it will appeal to your target audience.

  • Holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas. Share funny stories or facts.
  • Memes and jokes – share something that makes you laugh – just be aware of things that could offend your audience.
  • Contests – share a contest through your email list, set out what it is and what they must do – and tell them the winner will be announced in your next email. This will ensure they open and read the next email you send!
  • Quizzes – set up a quiz with a set of questions and offer a small prize for the winner…to be drawn at random. You can publish the results in your next email.
  • Share a case study of one of your products from the perspective of a customer. Ask a customer if you can interview them and feature them in your email as a case study.
  • Host a poll – ask a question and have multi-choice answers.
  • Share the link to an article or post you’ve read that you have found interesting/entertaining.

Educating ideas

There will always be something that you can teach your audience. Whether you’ve been in business for years, or just a few months, you will know how to do something that others don’t. Your business will be unique, even if you do a similar thing to other businesses, because you are unique and have your own set of values, interests, and ways of doing things!

  • Provide hints and tips to help your audience
  • Create a video showing your audience how to do something
  • Create a series of videos or photo shots, showing the creation of a product or service, from start to finish, with an explanation for each stage.
  • Give tips on what NOT to do, related to your business.
  • Create a template or checklist that your readers can download for free.
  • Create a beginner’s guide to something you know all about. It can be in PDF format and doesn’t have to be a book!
  • Share an infographic.
  • Share trends in your industry or interesting articles about your niche.
  • If you see a new legal thing that impacts your type of business, share it for others to see.
  • Share any blog posts you’ve written that month, or any articles that your business is featured in.
  • Share facts.
  • Share an actionable idea that will make your audience’s life easier.
  • Tell your audience how your products or services can make their lives better – what problems do you solve for them?
  • Share a book you’ve read and why you like it, especially if it’s something that teaches your audience how to do something.

Inspirational ideas

There are lots of different definitions of inspiration and what that means. Here’s just a few from some of the bigger dictionaries.

Another way to describe inspirational content is motivational. This is the way I tend to thing of it. If something motivates me, it inspires me to do something different or something new – or just makes me think!

So, with all of these in mind (wow!), here are a few ideas:

  • Share inspirational or motivational quotes.
  • Share a case study that you feel is inspirational.
  • Do you have testimonials about your products or services? Share them!
  • Tell a story about how you overcame something. It could be an illness, a sports injury (and your journey back to health), an obstacle in your business or something from your childhood.
  • Show what inspires you. It could be a photo of your favourite place…it could be something or somewhere that makes you feel safe.
  • Talk about the things that help you stay inspired and why. It could be that you do daily meditation or yoga. You might enjoy getting out in the fresh air and hiking or the kind of exercise you’re into.
  • Talk about your hobbies – for example, if you love taking photos, share the ones that inspire you and say why. Share your passion with your audience.
  • Share your bucket list – you could have serious or silly aspirations on your bucket list!

Sales ideas

Finally, you can talk about your products or services from a sales perspective.

  • Share an offer or discount
  • Talk about new products and how/why you created them.
  • Link to your website, price list, online shop, or blog.
  • Give the link to your subscription page and ask them to share it with their friends and family – or anyone they think would be interested in your products or services.
  • Give an incentive to buy your products – do you have a loyalty card like they give in coffee shops? E.G. Buy 10 coffees, get one free.
  • Give a freebie as part of a competition – or just give a freebie because your readers are loyal customers/followers.
  • Focus on one product and tell your readers all about it. What are it’s features and more importantly, what are its benefits? How will your product make their lives better or easier?
  • Share images of your products, maybe share a best seller, with price.
  • Create a video of some of your best-selling products and share it in your newsletter.
  • Share any media coverage or articles written about your business.
  • If you attend an event, write about it and how well your products sold.
  • If you have a stall at a local market, share photos and experiences.
  • Ask customers to send you photos or short videos holding or using your products.

I really hope that this blog post has helped you think of new and innovative ways to get content into your email. Thank you for reading and I hope you are inspired to get started with email or give yours a good re-vamp.

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How to write email sequences

An email sequence is a series of emails, usually automated, to go out a few days or weeks apart. They are usually set up to follow up on someone who has subscribed to your email newsletter via your website or opt-in. The content of the emails must make sense to whoever signs up for it, and be engaging in order to entice them to open following emails from you.

The benefits of having an email sequence is that it:

  • Makes it easy to nurture your subscribers with your content
  • They help you to pitch to your subscribers and sell your products or services at the end of the sequence
  • Helps you create a relationship with your subscribers and build that all important trust
  • Aids in highlighting your best content on your own terms and in the order you want to send it

Before you start, you need to know what your goals are in setting up your email sequence – what do you want the end result to be at the end of the sequence?

What’s your goal?

It might be that you want to get a sale at the end of the sequence; it could be that you’re looking to turn them into a regular client; you might want them to join your course or join your social media group; you might want them to sign up to your masterclass

Whatever you want that goal to be, make sure you are very clear about it. If you set up a sequence without an end goal, you could be wasting your time…your subscribers won’t know what to take from each email and where and what you’re trying to get them to.

If there’s no direction with your sequence, it shows in the copy or content that you create, and can feel disjointed.

You want your emails to establish your authority on a particular subject, maybe want them to join your community and you definitely want to establish yourself as an expert and build trust with your subscribers.

How many emails do you need?

Think about your goals and how many emails you need

This is really quite a personal thing…I’ve seen blogs and articles that say you must have seven emails – others that you must have five or three. It depends what your end goal is and how long it will take you to direct your subscribers in that direction, so there’s not a standard answer to this question…in my opinion!

All I would say is that each email in the sequence needs to inch your subscriber closer to the end goal you have in mind. And it’s up to you to provide them with all the relevant information and resources they need to make that informed decision by the time they get the last one.

Before you start writing

There’s always preparation work to do, so this is what I would suggest you write down before you start…let’s use an example to help. Your goal is to have subscribers sign up to your course – ‘How to market your business on Instagram.’  

  • What are the pain points of your subscribers? What do they struggle with in relation to marketing on Instagram?
  • What words do they use to describe those pain points? You can get this by researching what questions people ask online…or from your own experience with feedback etc. You might see comments on business groups stating they don’t understand the algorithm, or the insights or maybe how hashtags work. This gives you answers to what you need to include in your emails, when describing what your course will achieve.
  • Write down any experiences you have regarding marketing on Instagram. What turning points did you discover when marketing your business? What failures did you have and how did you overcome them? Do you have any success stories from people using your course?
  • Mistakes that people make when marketing on Instagram – or mistakes that you made
  • And why are you the best person to teach them all about this subject and what will your course give them that they didn’t have before?

Now you have the goals of your email sequence and what you need to include in your emails, you can begin writing – the following are just suggestions of what you might do….

How do you start your email sequences?

Email 1

This is always a welcome email. If your subscribers have signed up for your email in return for a freebie, include the link to the freebie in this email.

The first email should always include WHY you are the best person to help them with this subject.

You can also write a very short introduction to yourself – NOT long and involved and telling them your whole life story! Just a couple of sentences.

Email 2 and all others you send

I always use email 2 to write a bit more about me and my experience in relation to the subject I want to sell them at the end.

I include five facts about me – not related to business, to show my human side.

Then start weaving in various stories, experiences etc., linked to your subscribers pain points.

Each email you send should include a main point, or teach your subscribers something, or give them one strategy.

Don’t go straight in for the kill and talk about your end game (the Instagram course), but rather lead up to it, teasing and intriguing them and hinting about what you’re inching them towards.

Close each email with a question or an intriguing lead into what the next email will cover. For example, using our Instagram course, the question could be.

‘Do you know the #1 mistake people make when marketing their business on Instagram?’ Look out for the answer in my next email.

This keeps their interest and they’re more likely to open the next email if they want to know the answer.  

Frequency of email sequence

How often should I send an email?

OK, so you have your goals, your plan and your emails written. Now it’s time to decide how far apart you’ll send each email. Again, this will depend on how many you’re sending.

Subscribers will always get the first email when they sign up for your freebie – the welcome email. It’s a good idea to send the second one within a couple of days, and then the rest depending on how much content is in each email and how many they are. You don’t want a sequence of 10 emails being sent 1 day apart. It will clog up someone’s inbox and they’ll soon get fed up with seeing yet another email every day. So, try and space them apart. For example, you might be giving exercises or workbooks/worksheets for your subscribers to complete, so you’d need to leave a good few days, or even a week, for them to have time to complete them.

The technical side

Now, you’re ready to actually set up your email sequence. There are loads of providers out there. I’ve used MailChimp, Convertkit and Mailerlite and they all have their merits.

These sites give you the option to set up an opt-in for your course (or whatever you’re doing). An Opt-in is a box where your subscribers input their name and email address, stating they want to receive your freebie in return for joining your email list. Using a site like those mentioned above, once you set up the opt-in box, they’ll ask if you want a double opt-in, which is where an email is automatically sent to your subscriber, asking them to confirm their subscription prior to receiving your freebie and first automated email. This is a great idea as it’s compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations, (GDPR).

When you set up your sequence, you’ll be asked to load your freebie and then you set up the emails. Each platform (whether MailChimp, Convertkit or Mailerlite), all have excellent training modules to help talk you through each stage of the set up or they point you to videos, where someone will show you.

Then you’ll set up the automation, so the platform knows when to send each email in the sequence.

This might sound complicated, and whilst it takes a bit of learning, it’s completely doable!

When sending an email sequence, it is also part of the GDPR rules that you offer each subscriber a way to unsubscribe if they so wish. This is automatically done for you at the bottom of each email if you use one of the platforms I’ve mentioned (and I’m sure, any other platforms that do the same).    

Now you’re all set to share the link to the opt-in on your social media pages, blog, newsletter, social media group, or any other email list you might already have. And you’re now set up and ready to market your opt-in to get people into your email sequence and hopefully, at the end of the sequence, your subscribers will buy your product or service, sign up to your social media group or course, or do whatever it is you’re trying to get them to do.

If you need help with setting up an email sequence or opt-in, or need help with writing your email sequence, this is a service I offer, so am happy to help. I can also coach you regarding writing your emails and doing the set up yourself.

contact me for help

Customer Engagement – Newsletters

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It has been said that marketing your business with the use of newsletters are a bit ‘old hat’ and are losing their value, but I don’t agree. With other forms of marketing, such as adverts, people will see your advert and look at it if they’re interested in the subject, but it will bypass lots of people. But a newsletter is a powerful tool and goes right to the heart of your business, reaching all your customers. You know they are interested in what you do as they’ve bought your products or services. As well as keeping your customers informed about what’s going on in your business, you can include special offers and highlight some of your products.

calendar-1990453_640Whether you choose to send your newsletter out in print format, or as an online version on e-mail, it’s important to decide the frequency. Most of my clients send out newsletters by email on a monthly basis, so they can be a bit longer than if you are sending out something each week. The most important thing is that the content is timely and relevant, adding some sort of value to your customer. For example, I send out a monthly newsletter for a garden centre – as well as including any news about new stock and special offers, we also include monthly hints and tips on jobs that need doing in the garden that month. We’ve also run a series of articles over a few months on planning the garden for 2014 – this encourages customers to take a good look at their garden, decide what worked well last year and what didn’t, and gives advice on plants and shrubs without doing the ‘hard sell’.

Goals of your newsletter

So you’ve decided you want to send out a newsletter for your business – now you need to think about what you want to achieve. Is the purpose of your newsletter to send traffic to person-1245959_640your website; increase engagement to your brand; create a buzz for a new product or service? The type of goals you have will help you create a more effective newsletter. For example, if you want to send more traffic to your website, you could include an excerpt from an article that will generate interest in your products and then direct them to the full article on your website, or you could just send an introductory paragraph from the newsletter, but keep the full newsletter on your website, so customers have to go to your website to read the full article. Similarly, you could give them a taster of a special offer, but point customers to your website for full details.

Content

The content of your newsletter needs to be engaging – if you don’t keep the attention of your customers and make the content relevant to them and add value, they will either hit the ‘delete’ button or will unsubscribe. A good headline will pull your customers in, so try and make it interesting – not just ‘January’s newsletter’. It’s crucial that you use good grammar and that there are no spelling mistakes and that it is easy to read so ensure that, if you do the newsletter yourself, that it is thoroughly proofread.

question-mark-1751308_640Of course, a newsletter is only one of the marketing tools you can use and it’s always best to use a variety of tools to engage your customers. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the role of newsletters. Do you use them for your business?