5 Reasons Email Marketing Will Help You Grow Your Impact
What’s your email marketing strategy? Do you send out broadcasts here and there? Or are you a dutiful twice-a-month newsletter writer?
If you’re like most mindfulness teachers, you probably publish an occasional newsletter to announce an upcoming class, programs, or a new service. But if you don’t have a real strategy behind your emails, you’re missing out on a key opportunity to grow your reach and impact.
According to Gigaom research, “Marketers consistently ranked email as the single most effective tactic for awareness, acquisition, conversion, and retention.”
When used in line with a solid marketing plan, email marketing can be more effective in helping you get more bookings and sign-ups than ads, social media, or other marketing channels.
It all comes down to cultivating relationships
Those who visit your website or see your post for the first time are unlikely to sign up for your services immediately - as much as both you and I would love for them to! The truth is that it takes time to build a business relationship.
Think about your own online browsing experience. When you come across a product or service for the first time, do you sign up immediately or does it take you some time to warm up to the individual or business?
When it comes to something like learning how to integrate mindfulness into their lives, most people will probably want to feel comfortable with you first. And how can you help them get more comfortable with you? By cultivating a relationship through email marketing!
So why is email so powerful and what can you do with an email list?
1. Email Marketing Multiplies Your Investment of Time and Money
The return on investment for email marketing is larger than almost any other marketing channel.
For every $1 spent on email marketing, you get $40 in return
You’re 40x more likely to take action on a message in an email than clicking on an ad you see on Facebook or Twitter.
These stats are the reason why you receive sooo many emails every single day (unless you never subscribe to anything).
Even if you’re not buying ads to grow your subscriber base or paying a copywriter to write your emails for you, you are investing the most precious thing you’ve got - your time.
If you can allocate more of the time you spend on other ways to create content and channel it to being strategic with your emails, you’ll be making an investment in the future growth of your clients.
As a mindfulness teacher, the largest opportunity to help your clients transform their lives is when they actually sign up for your core services - whether that's your live classes, workshops, or coaching sessions.
If you’re worried about sending your list too many emails, I hear you. But don’t worry – there is a way to nurture your email list without flooding their inboxes. We’ll talk about that soon.
But first, let’s take a look at what to do once you get a new subscriber on your list so you can cultivate that relationship.
2. Emails allow you to establish trust and expertise
Your future clients and students are most inclined to read your emails and take action during the days right after they subscribe to your list. This is a precious time for you to build rapport with your audience so take advantage of it!
To establish trust and expertise, it’s essential to start with welcoming your audience with valuable content.
Because of their high open rates, welcome emails are 86% more effective than standard newsletters, according to Marketing Sherpa.
A welcome sequence is a series of 5 - 7 emails aimed at welcoming your new subscriber and building a relationship.
Typically, a welcome sequence:
Introduces your subscribers to you, your brand, and your expertise
Spans about two weeks
Is automated so that it goes out to new subscribers according to a pre-set schedule
Once you've you got your sequence written out, you can use an email marketing provider such as MailChimp or ConvertKit to do the heavy lifting for you.
Welcome emails are an opportunity for you to introduce yourself in-depth. They allow your reader to slowly get to know you as you share your mindfulness story and to begin to trust you as you offer helpful tips or advice for helping them integrate mindfulness into their life.
After the welcome sequence, your new subscribers will join the rest of your email list who receive your nurture emails once (maybe twice) a week.
These nurture emails matter because…
Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads (the Annnuitas Group)
A lead is someone who has signed up for your email list but hasn’t taken the step of signing up for your services yet. After your leads have gone through your welcome sequence, how often are they hearing from you?
You must nurture your leads by sending relevant, timely, and valuable content into their email inbox. The time and energy you put into writing and scheduling your emails can directly affect how much of an impact you can have on their lives!
So how often should you be nurturing these new relationships? One email a week is typically the sweet spot but I encourage you to experiment to see what your audience responds to most. Think about your own experience - you probably don’t mind receiving weekly emails that are related to something that you’re truly interested in right?
3. Email Is the Best Way to Develop Relationships
When someone gives you their email address, they give you access to their inbox 24/7. They allow you to speak directly to them in the comfort of their own home.
It is a privilege to have someone’s email address and they expect you to act responsibly.
So it’s important that you use your emails to add value to your subscribers' lives. Use email as a way to introduce yourself (not just your business) and allow your readers to feel connected to the human side of you.
The general rule of thumb is to send three value-adding or relationship-building emails for every email you send promoting your services. You already know that getting too many emails from someone can become a nuisance - and I know that's the last thing you would do.
But as as long as you're providing valuable content in your emails, your subscribers will be excited to see your emails pop into their inbox. Remember — they signed up for your list for a reason: they want to hear from you!
4. Email Has Few Regulations Means You Can Be More Authentic
Another beautiful aspect of email marketing is that you have greater freedom with what you say and how you say it. There are no algorithms to worry about as there are with social media. And no search engines to optimize content for.
The lack of regulations and algorithms means that you have much more freedom to speak to your reader in a way that is 100% authentic to you. This gives you an opportunity to get personal and allow your subscribers to see who you are as a person — not just as a business.
The goal of your email marketing strategy should be to allow your subscribers to feel like they really know you. This familiarity will, over time, turn into trust.
And 81% of customers say that they need to feel like they can trust a brand before they’re willing to buy anything.
So take advantage of the freedom that email provides to be genuine, honest, and personal with your audience.
5. Email Campaigns Support Your Website’s SEO
If you're still on the edge about being more proactive with your emails, here's another reason to embrace email marketing. Let’s talk about email’s power to boost your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).
If ranking higher in Google search results sounds appealing, email is a quick way to drive more traffic to your website.
You can do this by publishing valuable content on your website and then linking it within your emails. Give your readers a little preview of your latest article or blog and then insert a link that takes them to the full article on your website where they can read more.
If the article is helpful or interesting, you’ll have subscribers sharing it with their friends and family. Your website traffic will be up and you may even receive a few more subscribers for each helpful post.
And when you do send emails that promote your services (remember the 3 to 1 rule) always direct those leads to the page on your website where they can learn more rather than using up your whole email to talk about your latest offering.
What Makes a Strong Email:
So, now that we agree on email’s importance, let’s go over the important components of each email:
Subject line: this is the most important element (and the toughest to get right). It determines if your email gets opened to begin with! The average email open rate is around 20% so don’t worry that not everyone you’re sending an email to is opening it!
Pre-header: this is the little blurb that you see in your inbox before you even click open the email. It gives your reader a preview of what’s inside and helps increase open-rates.
Body: You got your readers to open your email with an enticing subject line and pre-header. Now you need to keep them reading with personable body paragraphs. The intent of each sentence is to get them to read the next one until you get to communicate your key point to help them take action.
PS or PPS: The most precious real estate in an email is the first few lines and the last few lines. People often skim the middle in an effort to save time. So don’t forget to include a PS or even a PPS helps to re-communicate the core of your message in a new way.
If you're saying "All of that sounds great Simona, but how do I actually get more people on my list??" here's the answer: a strong lead magnet or a list-building freebie. Learn more about what a lead magnet is and how to use one to grow your email list.
If you'd rather have me create your email newsletter or email sequences for you, schedule a complimentary discovery call to discuss how we can work together.