Guide to Email Marketing for Bloggers
If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you probably know that we encourage new bloggers to build an email list from the beginning! This strategy is the foundation of email marketing which connects your blog to reader inboxes. Let’s break down email marketing for bloggers with a guide for getting started today!
If you have any past experience reading blogs or blogging yourself from the “early days” of blogging platforms, you’ve probably noticed how things have changed significantly. Blogging is no longer simply writing a journal-style post and hitting the publish button. Now, it is a multifaceted venture that requires strategic effort in several areas (email being one!) in order to run a successful or profitable site.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a strategy for connecting with a customer or subscriber base as a means of promoting content or product. In the case of blogging, bloggers will “market” their site as a resource for niche-specific information, entertainment, or any other content! Bloggers use email marketing by sending messages to their email lists of subscribers who have opted in by providing their email addresses.
Email marketing is also a technique available to bloggers for building relationships with your audience in a more personal way. By delivering content straight to readers’ inboxes, bloggers can ask questions, offer promotions, send newsletters or other subscriber-only content, and build trust that keeps readers coming back to their sites.
Why is email marketing important for bloggers?
Most bloggers will agree that a top priority in the industry is finding ways to bring both new and recurring traffic to their blogs. Email marketing can be a very effective strategy!
Email marketing, or sending a sequence of messages over time, is so important for bloggers because it keeps an open line of connection with the people who are truly interested in what you have to offer. Remember, they signed up to receive your emails!
You may or may not be marketing an actual product, but you can use email to market your expertise or experience in a specific niche. Using your emails to engage your readers is a way to keep the audience you already have versus constantly looking for new eyes to come across your site.
Unlike social media apps, with email you have direct control over the content and can even monetize it with promotional offers, affiliate links, or other resources! Additionally, bloggers can see the ROI (return on investment) from email messaging by analyzing stats from the email server such as click rates, opens, and unsubscribes. This helpful data allows you to receive feedback on your messaging and efforts moving forward.
Once you begin your system and setup, you can expect a bit of extra time investment up front as you learn an email marketing platform and create automations. This effort to set up messaging on auto-pilot will save you time (again and again) and allow you to store and repurpose email content as you gain new subscribers and deepen connections with longstanding ones.
Guide to Email Marketing for Bloggers
Email marketing can accompany your blog with the very first post. Take our tips as a guide to getting started in building relationships with your audience and establishing yourself as a familiar friend in their inbox.
Start on Day 1.
Or now if you’re just now discovering this action step! We recommend using social media to help you gain email subscribers. Develop a great opt-in and promote it on your apps to collect email sign-ups from multiple places.
Your time is so valuable when you are getting started so spend it where it will pay off! Check out ideas for beginning your email messaging here: 7 Nurture Email Ideas for Your List.
Choose the best platform.
We recommend and love Convertkit for its intuitive platform and affordable options for beginning (and established) bloggers. Learn more about recommended platforms for email marketing in podcast episode 47, Email Marketing with Allea Grummert.
Deliver value.
Your readers likely receive plentiful emails in their inboxes daily. What will make your emails stand out among the rest? Consider: What can you offer that is extra or exclusive to those who have signed up for your list?
Think about how to repurpose content you already have in new ways instead of starting from scratch with every message. Above all, put yourself in your readers’ shoes and think about the value you can add by offering what people need and want.
Be consistent.
One goal of email marketing for bloggers is to develop familiarity with your brand or name. As you develop your email sequences, make sure readers know when to expect content and stick to your timeline as much as possible.
Here are just a few ideas for creating a consistent schedule of email messages:
- Themed days of the week
- Specific categories of blog posts on certain days (Foodie Friday anyone?)
- Sending a weekly or monthly newsletter
- Scheduling seasonal greetings or resources
Make connections.
Consider your email messaging as a direct way to establish connections with your readers. How can you dive deeper or provide a look behind the scenes of your blog? What personal stories can you add to deepen the connection?
In these ongoing emails, encourage people to reply with thoughts or questions. Be sure to answer any replies whenever possible!
Develop your strategy.
In order to connect with your audience and remain a consistent feature in their inboxes, make a plan for your email messaging. Calendar out your email schedule and decide how much time to invest (alongside your other blogging duties). Just like your content plan for your site, take time to establish your goals for email marketing as well!
Follow best practices.
There are so many tips and tricks to learn that can help you with efficiency and effectiveness. Like most areas of the internet, email marketing strategies are ever-evolving! Keep up with email best practices and trends to avoid your emails being flagged as promotions or listed as spam.
Signing off
Email marketing for bloggers doesn’t have to be a complicated “later on” task in the blogging journey. Start where you are and invite your readers along for the ride with you!