When it comes to reaching my audience, email marketing is hands down one of the best tools in my business. Why? Because I get to talk directly to my audience without depending on social media algorithms *cough cough* Instagram. Plus, I like to consider the people on my email list warm leads because they've already shown interest by signing up and trusting me with their email. This gives me the chance to connect in a more personal way by using the first name tags where I’m able to speak directly to the reader and build a better relationship with them.

What Platform I Use for My Email List

I use Flodesk for my email marketing. It’s super easy to use, and I love the beautiful templates they offer. I like to consider it as the “Canva” of email marketing because of its drag and drop feature. I, also, find their pricing is pretty affordable for growing email lists for businesses like mine. 

How I Grow My Email List

One of the easiest ways I’ve grown my list is by offering a Freebie Library. Basically, I provide free resources like swipe files, templates, ebooks, and trainings in exchange for people’s email addresses via gated content (or a page on my website that is not easily accessible). It’s a great way to offer value up front while building my list at the same time. In order to access my Freebie Library, my audience has to sign up to my email list on my website and they will soon be directed to the library once they submit their information. I typically like to make First Name, Last Name, and Email Address required. You can check out my Freebie Library at https://selfmadebabe.com/pages/freebies to see how I do it. Ready to see real results from your website? Check out our blog post, ‘Creating a Winning Website: Essential Planning Tips That Deliver Results for Your Business.’

Another strategy I use is to ask for email addresses in my Facebook group’s ‘Become a Member’ questions from future members. It’s a simple way to obtain emails from members looking to join the female entrepreneurship community and step into the world of what I have to offer. Some people skip it, but it still helps me grow my list with people who are actually engaged. I phrase the questions like so “What's your e-mail? Don't worry we won't spam you. We'd love to give you access to our freebie library, this community, and send you helpful tips along the way straight to your inbox. You can unsubscribe anytime.[MANDATORY]”

Finally, when someone makes a purchase from my website, their email is automatically added to my list thanks to Flodesk's integration with Shopify. It's an easy way to keep building and nurturing my email list without having to do anything manually.

Tracking the Effectiveness of My Emails

Once you’ve got your list of email subscribers, it’s time to start tracking how well your emails are doing. For me, the key metric I’m focusing on is click-through rate (CTR). This tells me how many people are clicking on the links in my emails. In all of my emails, I have a call-to-action that directs my email subscribers to either view a product, download the latest freebie, take advantage of a sale, read a blog post, or direct them to an affiliate link. If the CTR is high, I know the content in my emails are doing a good job of getting people interested and driving them to take action. My goal is to have a clickthrough rate between 1-2% to mark it as a successful email blast.

Along with CTR, I also keep an eye on open rates. This tells me whether my subject lines are grabbing attention enough to get people to open my emails. If my open rate is low, it means I need to improve my subject lines or rethink my approach. On Flodesk's blog, you can read about the Key Components of Effective Email Design here.

Conclusion: The Importance of Tracking and Testing

At the end of the day, email marketing is all about building a relationship with your audience. But to make sure your emails are really connecting, you’ve got to track the right metrics. Whether it’s CTR, open rates, or engagement, those numbers can tell you if you’re on the right path. And if you're not seeing the results you want, testing and tweaking your approach is key.

If you’re ready to take your email marketing to the next level and turn your list into loyal customers, Detailist is here to help. Let’s work together to create emails that don’t just get opened but get results.