This article originally appeared in the Military Spouse Entrepreneur Guide, 4th Edition, with Stars + Stripes. Read more here!
What if you woke up tomorrow and your accounts are hacked? You no longer had access to your email, your Instagram account, or your Facebook account. What would you do?
If you had an email list, you would be able to notify your email list, they would all come over to your new account, and you’d go on—business as usual.
But if you didn’t have a list, you might find yourself in the hurt locker.
Nowadays, having an email list isn’t enough. Having an email list that you’ve never sent anything to (or worse, only email when you’re trying to sell something) is bound to get your account marked as spam or moved to the junk folder.
Build Your Email List
One of my favorite ways to capture emails is to ask for them. It seems easy enough, but a lot of people miss out on this.
If you have a Facebook group, use one of your three questions to ask for emails. Make sure you collect the email before you let them in your group, or you will lose them forever. The best thing I ever did was install Group Leads, an app to manage my Facebook groups, and it automates the acceptance and email collection process for you. Total lifesaver.
If you sell a product or a service and offer a free trial or discount code, get an email first. Instead of simply dropping it in the comments like a business card, ask them for their email or drop the link to your landing page to have the client enter it.
Example: “We can send you a free trial/discount code. What’s your email address? Or for a more casual approach, you might try, “If you’d like to try a free____, drop your email, and we’ll send it right over.”
My other favorite way to collect emails is to offer a valuable item in exchange for their email. Anything from a checklist, cheat sheet, report, case study, or coupon will work. This allows you to provide a level of value to them, and the exchange of an email seems like a fair trade. This can be done automatically through a landing page and an autoresponder. My favorite autoresponder is Mailer Lite.
Send Emails Consistently
How often do you need to send emails? A good rule of thumb is weekly. Only 1 out of 4 should include something you are trying to ask them to do or sell them. Please don’t feel like you will spam them; they’ve signed up to be in your space because they felt like there was some value.
Imagine your emails list as close friends- what would you email a close friend about? Here are a few ideas on what to send:
A monthly calendar of events with a message. “I hope to see you there!”
A funny life story that made you think of them. “Has this ever happened to you…”
They might enjoy an update or a complimentary article or tutorial based on what you’ve already given them or sold them.
Now, if the thought of figuring out what to say, when to send it, and crafting email titles overwhelms you, here are my best tips for engaging your email list:
Treat them like a friend: Regardless of how many people you have on your list, be friendly and not too formal. Sending them regular emails will train them to open your emails and their inbox to prioritize those emails.
Don’t go heavy on the images. This tells most email providers, “I’m spam,” and usually sends it right to the junk box. Instead, use GIFS to add fun and exciting movement to your emails.
Ask your list to respond to your emails. Even if it’s just a “hi” or a thumbs up, having them react with information helps build rapport. It also tells the algorithm, “I want to see these emails!”
Use their name in the email subject line. As humans, we love to hear and read our names. It’s science! It also leans into that friendly, personal feeling you are trying to nurture.
Bring the value. Give them advice, tips, tricks, and free info. This is your opportunity to bust through the algorithm and have a captive audience during their toilet time. Come on- we all know everyone checks their phones on the toilet! Just don’t let your emails be the ones they swipe into the trash.
Share your failures, your trials, and the hard stuff. Your audience wants to know that you are human. This makes you super relatable, and people will begin to know, like, and trust you more.
Ask how you can help them. Some of my best responses are when I send out an “Are you okay?” or “How can I help you?” email. You are there to support your clients.
Reuse your social media posts. On average, roughly 4% of your community ( followers, group members, and page likes) see your social media posts at any given time. So go ahead and reuse your long social media posts. Turn it into an email! Studies show people need to hear and read information many times to take action.
Building your empire on borrowed, land-like platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Etsy is a gamble. When you don’t have control over what happens to your account, capturing the emails of your followers or supporters is the only way you can assure communication if something was ever to happen to your account.
Use these tips to build that email list and grow, baby, grow!
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Sara Copp is a Combat Veteran, Military Spouse, and Marketing Strategist with over 6 years of marketing experience helping hundreds of businesses grow and scale! She owns SCC Virtual Solutions, a licensed marketing agency in Franklin, Indiana. She is also AMSE’s Membership Success Specialist and works hard to ensure that our members are receiving the benefits they need through our dashboard, events, discounts, and more.
