Email marketing - connecting with your audience and nurturing those relationships

Because connection builds trust and leads to more sales

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It can be scary to email a bunch of folks you’ve never met before, talking about your business, what you know, and even (gasp) offering things for sale.

If you don’t email your list—if you don’t nurture that relationship between yourself and folks who literally said they want to hear from you about your business—they’re gonna forget who you are.

(Quick note:  If you don’t have a list started because you’re not sure which email marketing software to choose, get The Beginner’s Guide to Choosing Your Email Marketing Software here. 
It’ll narrow down your choices and help guide your decision to choosing a platform that works for your business and your current situation.
K, back to the article…)

Nobody likes seeing that person in their inbox only when they have their big offer for sale again. It feels spammy, right?! If you don’t like seeing those emails in your inbox, don’t be that person in other people’s inboxes.

The benefits of nurturing your audience through email marketing

Besides folks either forgetting who you are or ignoring those spammy-feeling emails, there are plenty of advantages and benefits to nurturing your list with regular, good content.

It keeps you top-of-mind

When you consistently send helpful or entertaining content to your subscribers, they’ll start to think of you as a friendly expert in your field. So when they need the product or service you offer, they’ll think of you first!

It’s cost-effective and lower-effort

Compared to other forms of marketing, like paid ads or organic social media efforts, email marketing is relatively inexpensive and easier to reach your audience. Plus, since you’re reaching people who have already expressed interest in your brand, you’re more likely to get a return on your investment.

It lets you be creative

With email marketing, you have a lot of freedom to be creative with your content. You can experiment with different formats (like newsletters, product updates, or special offers) and see what resonates with your audience.

It builds a community

By encouraging subscribers to engage with you (through replies for example), you can create a sense of community around your brand. This can lead to loyal customers who not only buy from you, but also recommend you to their friends and family.

Overcoming writer’s block when you don’t know what to email about

I can hear you thinking “okay, I know I need to nurture my list, but staring at that blinking cursor seems to make it hard to think of anything to say.” So what can you do?

I personally love having a note on my phone where I can save email content ideas as they come to me during the day. Some days I get a lot. Some days little to none. Then I go scrolling through that list when I want to write an email.

To help get your creative juices flowing, here is a list of 11 ideas for email topics to write for your list:

Your most recent life lesson: Share something new that you’ve learned that could help your audience in some way.
A recent challenge you faced and how you overcame it: It could be something small or big, but tell your subscribers about it and how you got through it.
A new project or opportunity you’re excited about: Share what you’ve been working on and why it excites you.
A roundup of your favorite products or tools: Share the items that you love and use on a regular basis and why they’re helpful to you.
An idea or thought-provoking question for your subscribers: Get your subscribers thinking with a question or prompt that’s related to your business or industry.
User-generated content from your customers: Share feedback, reviews, or testimonials from happy customers.
Your favorite book of the year: Share the book that has inspired you the most recently and why you recommend it to others.
Behind the scenes of your recent project or launch: Give your subscribers a peek into the work that goes on behind the scenes of your business.
A funny or heartwarming story from your week: Share a personal story that will make your subscribers laugh or feel good.
An email survey: Ask your subscribers for feedback or their opinions on a specific topic.
Your origin story: Share the story of how you got started in your industry or business, and how it has evolved over time.

Still stuck? Rather than deciding between being forgotten or coming up with something random to send, I want to introduce you to Liz Wilcox’s email marketing membership.

For a whopping $9 per month, (not a typo, only nine bucks!!) she gives you an email template every week, along with a video explanation on understanding it so you know how to edit it for your business.

She even gives examples on how each template can be used for very different businesses, every week with each template.

Liz’s approach to emails, and the templates she shares with her members cover all of those aspects mentioned above.

Even if all you’re wanting to do right now is build your list, and if you even remotely struggle with what to say or emailing regularly (1x per week) then I’d recommend Liz’s $9 monthly membership to you.

In conclusion – nurturing your audience

If you aren’t nurturing your email list or your audience in general, there are many benefits that you may be missing out on.

Email marketing in particular is a cost-effective, lower-effort way to stay top of mind, be creative and build a community.

If you struggle knowing what to say to your audience, check out the recommendations in the article above.

If you have any questions or want to chat, DM me on IG or TT @msclarissawhite.

“The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply,”
Stephen Covey

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Email marketing – connecting with your audience and nurturing those relationships