66 – Debunking 7 Email Marketing Myths
I am about halfway through leading a 7-week group coaching program in which I’m teaching and mentoring a small group of writers as they create four items essential for growing an email list: a lead magnet, signup form or landing page, welcome message, and content calendar.
Since email marketing training is one of my core service areas, I am diligent about keeping up-to-date with the latest, greatest. I listen to podcasts, read blog posts, and follow Facebook group discussions pertaining to email marketing.
I have discovered – not surprisingly – that misinformation and bad advice about email marketing abounds.
During Episode 66, I’m going to give you some tough love. I’ll debunk 7 myths about email marketing, all of which I’ve seen during the past few weeks.
Myth #1:
No one reads emails anymore.
Massive action step:
Open your email marketing platform (such as MailChimp, ConvertKit, AWeber, Mailerlite, etc.).
What percentage of your subscribers opened your most recent five messages (aka, newsletters, broadcasts, campaigns, emails)?
If fewer than 25% of your subscribers opened those messages, that’s means it’s time to clean your email list. Learn how to clean your list in episode 24: List Cleaning Gets Rid of Deadbeat Subscribers.
Myth #2:
You must have a website before you can start building an email list.
Massive action steps:
Don’t have a website yet?
- I will help you craft the core content that’ll go on each page of your website.
- Get started with my FREE cheatsheet and video training: The 7 Biggest Website Turnoffs.
- Begin planning the content that’ll go on each page of your site with my FREE Website Page Planner.
Myth #3:
Never attempt to market or sell anything via email.
Massive action step:
List three specific ideas for how you will nurture the “know-like-trust” factor with your subscribers.
Myth #4:
You need to have 10,000 (or 20,000, or 50,000, or 100,000) subscribers on your email list before a publisher will offer you a book contract.
Massive action step:
Ask yourself: What is the main purpose of the email marketing I do? Is it to sell or to show up and serve?
Myth #5:
Authors should give away one of their books as an incentive (aka, lead magnet) to entice people to subscribe.
Massive action step:
Ask yourself: What can I give my new subscribers instead of an ebook?
Myth #6:
People shouldn’t have to give you their email in order to receive your free gift (aka, lead magnet). Give them the gift first, and then invite them to sign up for your newsletter if they like your gift.
Massive action step:
Ask yourself: What can I do, starting today, to help prospective readers and subscribers taste-test my writing and my storytelling abilities?
Myth #7:
Authors should send a newsletter to their subscribers four times per year. The newsletter needs to include at least 5 different sections.
Those sections should include:
- What’s going on in the author’s life
- A recipe
- Words of inspiration
- News about the author’s WIP or upcoming book
- Tips for how to improve some aspect of your life
Massive action step:
Answer these questions:
- Who is my ideal subscriber, reader, audience, client, or customer?
- What type of content will best serve that person?
- Does my ideal reader want to read a multi-section newsletter (they might!).
- Would they prefer that I tell a story or share a brief anecdote?
- Would they rather receive a 2-sentence tip from me?
- What parts of myself do I feel compelled to share with my subscribers?
Then, get out a yearly calendar and pencil in specific dates when you will email your subscribers from now through the end of the year.
The Secret to Successful Email Marketing
You know your subscribers better than anyone else. You know their needs. You know the ways that you are best equipped to help them take the next step in their journey.
Ignore the advice that says you have to do things a certain way, and do what works best for your subscribers. Deliver the content that resonates most with them.
Similar to any relationship that you want to thrive, commit to selflessly nurturing that relationship over time.
Be relentlessly helpful to your readers.
Make email list building a habit, not an interruption. Over time, the little decisions you make every day to stay committed to serving and nurturing your readers will add up and will result in a significant impact.
Free Email Course
If you’re eager to get started with email marketing, or to ramp up the email marketing you’re already doing, I invite you to sign up for my free course: Email Marketing for Writers: 7 Days to Launch Your List.
This course is one of my lead magnets, so I’m asking you to provide your email in exchange for receiving this course.
Why? Because I am confident that, if you commit the time to going through this 7-day training and doing the action steps, you will lay a solid foundation for the email marketing that you’ll do now and in the future.
Debunking Myths Mini-Series
Here are links to the next two episodes in this mini-series:
Episode 67: The Problem With Vanity Numbers, Half-Truths, and Swollen Egos
Episode 68: Why You Need Contracts