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I remember clearly when I first started exploring email marketing eight years ago, it was very overwhelming. I didn’t know what I was doing, and it just felt too complicated.
As a busy mom of two, I know how hard it can be to juggle family, work, and everything in between.Email Marketing is one of the most important things we can do for our businesses, but where do we even start? I’m here to break it down into simple steps to help you grow your community and subscriber list. Stick with me!
1 Why Email Marketing Matter
Building an email list allows you to directly engage with your ideal customers on a regular basis. You can promote new products, services, launches, events, and more through emails to people who want to hear from you. This keeps your brand top of mind with subscribers and builds ongoing awareness. An email list also provides a way to get targeted feedback straight from your best customers through surveys and questions. You can find out exactly what they like, don’t like, and want more of from your brand. Developing trust and loyalty with an audience that has already opted-in to your emails is essential. Don’t miss out on the chance to communicate directly on a consistent basis with fans of your brand!
Email marketing still has one of the highest ROI of any marketing channel, so focusing on list-building early on is so important! Take the time to build those relationships now and it will pay off for your business in the long run.
2 Pick Your Email Marketing Service Provider
The first step in your email list building journey is choosing the right email service provider (ESP) to host your list. Here are some of the most popular options to consider:
Mailchimp is free for up to 2,000 subscribers, making it a great choice when you’re just starting out. They offer beautiful templates, easy-to-use automation, and excellent analytics. The reports help you track engagement and optimize your efforts.
ConvertKit is a favorite for bloggers, creators, and influencers. They make it simple to integrate your email forms with WordPress sites. ConvertKit has powerful segmentation options to target content.
Ontraport is on the more advanced end with a focus on marketing automation. This can be beneficial if you need complex sequences, tag management, and sales funnels. The learning curve is steeper but it’s worth it for the robust features.
Drip is user-friendly, especially for ecommerce brands. Integrations with shopping carts make managing customer data easy. Drip offers great tools to track transactions and customize workflows.
I recommend most mom entrepreneurs start with Mailchimp. It’s the most newbie-friendly while still offering excellent deliverability and analytics. The free plan is generous, allowing you to build an audience of up to 2,000 subscribers before upgrading.
Focus on picking an ESP that feels intuitive to you then dive in!
3 Set Up Your Opt-In Form
Once you’ve chosen your email service provider, it’s time to set up your opt-in form! This is the key part of your website where visitors can subscribe to your email list.
First, make sure to place your form prominently in the header or footer of your website so it’s visible on every page. You want to make it easy for people to find and sign up.
Next, think about offering a compelling freebie like a printable checklist, ebook, guide, or other useful resource in exchange for someone’s email address. For example, a mom blogger might create a “30-Day Meal Planning Bootcamp” guide.
Make sure your form itself is short and sweet. The only required fields should be name and email address. Don’t ask for too much info or people may abandon signing up.
Finally, use an attention-grabbing headline on your form like “Join Our Community!” or “Free Printable Kitchen Organization Checklist!” A clear CTA button is important too, like “Send Me the Guide!” or “Sign Me Up!”
My personal tip is to offer an irresistible freebie related to your niche. I’ve found an ebook, workbook, or checklist converts really well! Who can say no to something useful for free? This helps generate excitement and incentive to subscribe.
4 Promote Your Form
Now that your opt-in form is set up beautifully, it’s time to spread the word! Here are some of my favorite ways to get the word out about your form:
- Share it prominently on your social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ask your current followers to sign up and help support your business!
- Include the opt-in form link in your email signature so it’s at the bottom of every single email you send.
- Run a social media contest that requires signing up for your list as part of the entries. You can get lots of new emails this way!
- Reach out to other bloggers or brands that serve the same audience but don’t directly compete with you. Ask them to help promote your opt-in form or email list to their followers. This is an effective way to tap into engaged new networks.
- Run Facebook and Instagram ads driving people to your form. You can target these very precisely to only your ideal customers. I recommend starting with a small budget to test which messaging works best.
The key is getting the word out far and wide! Don’t be afraid to ask partners or brands you admire to help support you by sharing your opt-in form. Most will be happy to as long as you don’t compete directly.
5 Create High-Value Email Content
Now for the fun part – creating helpful and engaging email content to send to your new subscribers!
Start by sending a warm welcome email introducing yourself and your brand. Give subscribers a feel for your personality and what to expect from future emails.
Share short, useful tips and resources related to your niche. For a mom blogger, that could be quick recipes, parenting hacks, time-saving tricks, etc.
Offer exclusive discounts or early access to sales just for your email subscribers. People love to be in the know!
Send educational content like how-to’s and DIY tutorials. Teach people something useful related to your specialty.
Ask for feedback on new products, content ideas, or anything else you’re working on. Listen to what your subscribers actually want more of!
The key is providing exclusive value that makes people look forward to opening your emails. Focus on useful, engaging content that builds relationships, trust, and loyalty with your list.
6 Automate Your Emails
As much as I’d love to sit and send super personalised emails to every subscriber, that just isn’t realistic as a busy mom entrepreneur. That’s why automating your emails is so essential.
Use your email service provider’s automation tools to set up sequences that send automatic welcome emails when someone signs up or subscriber-only newsletters that go out each week.
Set up reminder sequences to promote launches, events, or sales. These can automatically send out info and discounts leading up to the big day.
Drip campaigns that send a series of related, educational emails over time are highly effective. For example, a “30 Days of Lunchbox Ideas” campaign with one new idea sent each day for parents.
Take advantage of automation to provide consistent value on your schedule. This saves you time while still allowing you to build relationships and credibility.
7 Track and Optimise
Now for the most important part – looking at your email stats to see what’s working well and where there’s room to improve.
Carefully review your open rates and click-through rates. See which emails get high engagement versus which ones get ignored.
Send occasional follow-up surveys and ask subscribers for honest feedback on your emails. Find out what they want more or less of.
Tweak your email copy, design, content frequency, and more based on the data and responses. Continually fine-tune things to maximize results.
Take advantage of your email service provider’s analytics. Use the data to constantly test and optimize your approach. Improve open and click-through rates over time.
Well, I hope this gives you a great starting point and lots of tips and tricks for building your own email list as a busy mom entrepreneur! Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m happy to help with your email marketing journey.