Email might seem old fashioned in the 2020’s. Isn’t everyone on social media?
Does anybody even read their email anymore? And won’t it be spammy to be emailing my contacts all the time?
And even if I did have a mailing list what would I send them? Why would they want to hear from me?
1. Most Online Users have Email
While email may seem old school, it is a very cost effective and convenient way to stay in touch with your target audience and most people – around 96% of all online users – have at least one email address.
Even it is an old @hotmail address or a more recent @gmail address, most people will have one and will generally be reasonably happy to share it with you in exchange for something – usually information that will help them with whatever it is you help them with.
2. Instant (almost guaranteed) communication
While social media is current, it doesn’t stay current for very long. Pop up a post on your business page and see how long people engage with it for. Maybe 2 – 3 days unless you create something that goes viral – and that can be very hard to achieve every single time!
Sending an email means you know your communication has at least arrived in someone’s inbox. This doesn’t guarantee they have read it, but within a few minutes from you sending it, it arrives in your readers’ inboxes. Getting them to click on it is another matter and that will be the subject of a separate blog!
3. A Mailing List can be Personalised
Email can be personalised to your specific readers.
With mailing list tools like MailChimp, MailerLite, Convertkit, ActiveCampaign etc (there are lots of them out there!) you can target your audience according to all sorts of activity, what they buy, where they go on your website, their personal preferences and where they signed up.
4. Clickable
You can add calls to action with links to the next thing you want them to do, making it easy for them to interact with your brand, book a call, purchase a product, sign up for a course or book a quote.
All things you want them to do so you can assist them.
5. Having a Mailing List Builds Credibility and Trust
By developing great content that you can send out to your audience, not only are you reminding them that you are still in business, you are demonstrating your knowledge, building your credibility as an expert in your area of specialty and creating trust through consistently and regularly showing up.
Even if they don’t read your email, when you send them something through your mailing list, they will see your name in their inbox – that might be enough to keep you in mind next time they need what you are selling.
Need ideas about how to create that content? I wrote about that here.
6. A Mailing List can be Cost Effective
Compared to the cost of paid social media or Google ads, using a mailing list can be relatively cheap. If you are time rich but cash poor it can be a great way to build an audience, promote your brand and engage with followers. And who doesn’t love something that is potentially free, except for a bit of effort and time?
A Word of Caution ...
You do need to be aware of the various legislations that control email spam and use of your Mailing List, so familiarise yourself with the relevant rules and regulations.
In Australia, The Spam Act (2003) dictates that you must first have permission to send email from the person who will receive them. So you can’t just pull a list of email addresses and go for it!
And once you have permission, you need to send emails that:
- identify you as the sender
- contain your contact details
- make it easy for them to unsubscribe
It’s also important to store those email addresses securely, so that if you should be hacked, they can’t be stolen easily.
By using a mailing list app like MailChimp or MailerLite it is simple to comply with the legislation as well as ensuring you don’t share other subscribers’ emails with each other. They can also help you to track who opens your email (without the annoying “read receipt”), find out who clicks on the links, and who unsubscribes or doesn’t open your emails.
I promise it's not painful
While using a mailing list for your marketing may seem arduous (there are plenty of ways to automate it), old-fashioned (it’s not!), or irrelevant (not that either), there is plenty of good which can come from your list too.
By segmenting your audience, targeting according to behaviour, ensuring clickable calls to action and enticing headlines, you can engage with your target audience without being pushy, salesy or annoying.
And if they don’t like it, they can simply unsubscribe. No offence taken.
If you don’t have an email list for your business, what are you waiting for? Get started with a Google Sheet or spreadsheet and at least keep first name and email address. Choosing the right app can take some time, but for now at least start collecting names and addresses.
Interested in finding out how to make the most of your email list?
Get in touch using the big orange button below and we can talk about how we might work together to build your list, your credibility and the trust that your audience has in you.
P.S.
Found a spelling or grammatical error in this post? Then contact me as soon as possible and let me know. In return for your super proof reading, I will offer you a free 30-minute review of your digital presence and some fresh ideas you can try out for free.