Email is such a huge part of growing your business. An email list allows you to grow a tight-knit community and loyal customers, and increase your sales. If you have an email list but haven’t reaped the benefits of it yet, this post will help you know what you need to shift to get that growth! Here’s how to start growing your email list by the thousands.

 

If you missed my last post, I had a super intriguing interview with Zack Zeller, email marketing mastermind. He shared several tips on getting your social media audience over to your email list and getting them ready to buy your products. That post covered a lot, so in this one, I am diving deep into some key points that will help you get started right away with your email strategy! 

Over the last year, I had a huge focus on not only growing my Instagram followers but my email list as well. I know that Instagram is a fickle friend and while it’s been good to me, I want to make sure I’m getting people to my email list so I can deepen my relationship with them. One of the best and easiest ways I have found to do that is through ManyChat.

ManyChat is an automated responder that can respond to DMs or comments. I’ve grown my email list by thousands and thousands this year and it’s because of ManyChat. Check out my post HERE to learn more about how ManyChat works. If this is something you’re interested in trying, go check them out HERE and use my code “MICHELLE” to get your first month free!

 

 

3 Actions to Help You Start Growing Your Email List by the Thousands

 

Action #1: Find your siren call.

Finding your siren call is something Zack mentioned and it’s where you really understand the problem you solve and the solution to get your people there. To understand the problem you solve, you must understand your people really well. When you speak in generalities no one really hears you, right? The more specific you are, the more people will listen. 

Too often you’re solving too broad of problems and not getting specific enough. This can confuse your audience and make them question if you are someone who can help them. If you are super specific then the right people will find you and commit to your content right away because of the problem you solve for them and the solution you’re promising them. 

 

Action #2: Avoid “CUB”

CUB is an acronym that stands for confusing, unbelievable, and boring. These are the three reasons why people are not accepting your offer. This applies to email marketing, but it really applies to all content marketing. If you are coming across as confusing, unbelievable, or boring people are going to walk away. Take a look at your recent content and see if any of it falls under these categories. If so, think about how you can switch it up to be more exciting, clear, and believable for your audience. 

 

Action #3: Create content that shows how your solution is the opposite of their problem. 

Think about the problem that your person is going through. How do they feel about the problem? Stuck, confused, lost, etc? Those are the problems. How can you make a solution from that? You create content that gives them clear direction and a step-by-step plan. Doing so will get them excited about showing up and taking action. 

 

 

The First 3 Steps to Take If You’re New to Email Marketing

 

Step #1: Create an onboarding sequence. 

Your onboarding sequence should include a welcome sequence and it should establish you as the expert of your business–no matter what industry you are in. Another piece to include in this onboarding sequence is to frame who you are. This is a space for you to let your audience get to know more about you. What are your insights? What have you learned? What are the thoughts that make you unique and will make people want to come back and read more?

In this sequence, you also need to be super clear about how people work with you. I love the way Zack put it–he said if you are not asking your audience to purchase and giving a clear path for them to buy then you are friend-zoning your audience. You do not want to friendzone them! You want them a part of your inner circle and you want them to purchase your products.

 

Step #2: Create a value newsletter.

Once people finish their onboarding sequence with you, you can set it up for them to start receiving a value newsletter. This is something that can be sent anywhere between 1-3 times per week. (It’s OK if it’s less than that, just start where you’re at and continue to add when you can!) 

This value newsletter could have different themes. Maybe one day you send the highlights of some content you’ve created and another day you send some personal insights. And the third day could be selling a product. These are just ideas, so you can decide what you want your value newsletters to look like! 

 

Step #3: Create behavior-based triggers. 

Behavior-based triggers are when you write an email advertising one of your products and after giving a little sneak peek on it you can invite people to opt-in to a special group where they can learn more about that product. Those who opt-in will be a part of another email sequence that sells them more deeply on that product. Using this strategy will help you market specifically to those ready to buy your product rather than sending it to your email list as a whole. 

The biggest benefit of this strategy is that you are building your community in a very intentional way. Remember that your followers are in different phases of a relationship with you. You’ve had some following you for years and some that just started following you today. You want to sell to the ones who are ready. Selling too soon to your new followers may be turned off by you. Set up these email triggers so you only sell to those who are ready to buy and you can keep nurturing the ones who are not ready yet! 

 

 

How to Start Growing Your Email List by the Thousands

Now that you’ve learned how to start growing your email list by the thousands it’s time to get an email list and start. If you’ve already done that then get your onboarding sequence ready to go. This is something that can be running in the background of your Instagram. Once you create the content and set it up on automation through ManyChat and your chosen email marketing system, it’ll run for you 24/7 without having to do a thing! And don’t forget to use my ManyChat code “MICHELLE” at checkout to get your first month free! 

If you loved what you learned here and want to keep getting valuable information that will help grow your Instagram and your business, make sure you’re following me on Instagram @iammichellegifford. I can’t wait to connect with you!