Once your website and blog are in tip-top shape, it’s time to begin (or continue) building a quality email list. A quick search for email marketing online will produce tons of advice; it’s a topic that’s regularly trending on the web, and for good reason. Every smart marketer will tell you that building your email list is critical to your marketing/sales success.
Why is email better for your author marketing?
- Email is more personal. You can directly target your list, personalize first/last names, and be delivered directly to the inbox of recipients vs. them “running into you” on a social media stream.
- More people use email than social media, and social media is spread across a multitude of platforms.
- People check their email more regularly than their social media.
The Email Challenge
The problem of course is that it can be more difficult to grow your email list. People are busy; they don’t want to be inundated with emails. So they tend to protect their email from anything but sources from whom they really want more info.
Which means if you want readers to sign up for your list, you’ll need to be relevant, and you’ll most likely want to provide some sort of incentive.
Incentives that offer the greatest success are those that offer something of value to your reader. That can be a free list, advice, book chapter(s) or even a whole ebook (useful for example, if you’re marketing a second book, and offering a limited time free access to first book).
The bottom line: put yourself in the place of your reader. What would get YOU to offer up your email address?
Below are several EXCELLENT articles on the challenges and art of email marketing, followed by a useful infographic on the anatomy of email outreach. Spend some time exploring this topic from these experts before you decide how you’ll continue to build your own list!
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9 Irresistible Incentives That’ll Grow Your Email List Like Crazy
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Acquiring Customers With Email (free download, too)
Source: OnlineCourseReport.com