What to do with your email list once you’ve built it
Hey, you followed our advice from last time; great! But now that you’ve built yourself an email list, you might be wondering what’s next.
Here’s a list of some tips on how to make the most of your email list, from sending out general newsletters, enhancing customer journeys, or running campaigns.
Send regular newsletters
Stay in touch with helpful updates, recent work, or insights your audience would care about. Emails are a great way to let your customers get to know you. People are more loyal to brands they care about. If you tell your story and create deeper connections with your customers, they’ll be more likely to offer you support over your competitors.
Set up a welcome sequence
Introduce new subscribers to who you are and what they can expect from you. People like knowing what’s coming next. If they sign up for your email list expecting weekly messages, but end up seeing you in their inbox three times a day, they’re likely to unsubscribe swiftly. Be open about what they’re signing themselves up for.
Build automated drip campaigns
Share value over time. Educational, sales-driven, storytelling-based. Whatever you’re sharing, sometimes breaking it up is best. Don’t send too much information at once – it can be overwhelming and make your audience click away early. Separate information into more digestible parts, and leave them wanting more.
Segment your list
Group subscribers by interest, behavior, or where they are in their journey so you can speak more directly to them. More personalization is always better. Why send your customers something they’re not interested in when you could send them emails tailored to their likes and dislikes?
For example, if you’re a health and wellness company, don’t bother sending women in their 20s emails about a special on hair loss treatments for male pattern baldness.
Create customer journeys
Think about how someone goes from first contact to becoming a client or customer, and use email to guide that path. If they gave you their email address for a discount code they still haven’t used, consider sending them a reminder before it expires. Send them an email about the product they viewed or items like it. If you have a rewards program, send them an email about how to register to earn points.
Plan intentional promotions
Use your list for offers, launches, or time-sensitive messages when it makes sense. Get your audience excited for the launch of a new product by sending out an email before it drops. This has the same air as giving them the “inside scoop” and builds suspense. If you’re running a sale, make sure your email list knows about it. You already know they’re interested in your business – maybe this promo will push them over the edge and make them hit purchase.
Re-engage inactive subscribers
Reach out to people who haven’t opened in a while with a light touch or reason to reconnect. Consider a discount code like “missyou” or a message about reordering a product they purchased and may be running out of. Don’t be pushy, but don’t disappear into the ether.
Track performance
Pay attention to open rates, click-throughs, and unsubscribes so you can refine your approach over time. The best way to make sure you’re utilizing your email list well is to make sure you’re responding to the data you get from your campaigns. Your audience’s actions will show you what they like and what they don’t.
Up Next
Finished with these tips and ready to dig into metrics? Stay tuned for our next blog on email marketing, where we’ll walk you through case studies and explain what different stats say about your overall performance.
