Is email really dying?
The media has been saying that since 2002, and since then, people have made BILLIONS of dollars using email as the main channel.
In the next decade, millions of people will leave their traditional jobs and start working for themselves — leading a truly independent life, setting their own rules, doing what they love and making more money than ever before.
How can you do this today?
Build an audience.
[Related: Essentials of Online Business Class]
An audience who trusts you, listens to you, looks to you for advice on your topic, and eventually, happily pays for your product.
And the best channel, or platform, to build an audience right now, in 2018, is email.
Here’s why…
1. Reach
Finding new readers and keeping them engaged are two chief goals of any blogger. Social media is a great place for both, because everyone is on it, right? Well, there are a few “but’s” there.
First, many people are on social media, but not everyone. Second, people are dispersed among the many social networks that are out there. Some of your fans are hanging out on Instagram, while a good chunk spends most time on Snapchat, while another is obsessed with Vine. You can’t qualitatively be everywhere. And, as you probably know, “build it and they will come” principal doesn’t work on the Internet. You need to be where your potential readers like to spend time and make it easy for them to follow you.
And yet, virtually everyone has an email address. You must have an email address to sign up as an Facebook user, and while there are almost 1.5 billion monthly active Facebook users … there are nearly 3 times as many email accounts.
Email is the foundation of all other channels. Every Internet user in the world has an email account. And, everyone checks their primary email account every day (3.8 times per day, to be exact).
Email = reach.
2. Personalization
Social media is social. Email is personal. It’s a one-on-one channel, where you can build a close, personal connection with your readers that pays off.
The blogger-follower relationship on social media is a Tinder game. Readers swipe tirelessly until they find an image that catches their attention, they look at it for two-three seconds, and they swipe on. Blog posts are more of a Coffee-Meets-Bagel experience, which only gives you one match per day. Most likely, however, you are not the only blog they’re following, or not the only thing they are doing online at the moment, so before you know it, they close off the window.
However, sending them an email is like coming to their door and taking them out for a date. You have their undivided attention if your pick-up line (a.k.a. subject line) is good enough.
A person who subscribes to your email list is a higher quality reader than a person who subscribes via RSS. They’ve given you their email address, and with it, their attention and permission to visit their virtual home.
Simply put — people pay more attention and a higher quality of attention to their email because of the state of mind they are in while reading messages.
3. Conversion
Email converts better than any other channel.
According to a study by McKinsey & Company, email conversion rates are 3 times higher than social media, with a 17% higher value in the conversion. Moreover, email is almost 40 times better at acquiring new customers than Facebook and Twitter (according to the same study).
Email marketing is what will turn a blog into a business and will let that business scale and grow in all directions. Growing Instagram following is still important, but it’s when social media and email marketing work together that the magic happens. Because while a blog is the best place for getting found on Google, and social media is good for getting attention … email communication helps bloggers build trust with the audience, connect with them on a more intimate level, and gives a tool for making relevant offers to the audience.
When conversions matter, bloggers turn to email marketing.
4. Retention
After spending so much time and effort on acquiring new readers and keeping them engaged, you realize: it was just the start. Now comes the real challenge — turning those readers into long-time followers.
Email is the best channel for retaining followers, and it gives multiple new ways for maintaining a loyal readership. On top of allowing to build a personal relationship and catch readers at the times when they pay most attention, email lets you be strategic with your content. You can showcase your best work to each new subscriber (through automation), so your followers see posts they might not have discovered otherwise. Email is highly trackable, so you can also check in with the “dormant” subscribers and bring them back to your site.
Bloggers who’ve got their readers on an email list are keeping their value for longest.
The Winning Equation
When you multiply reach by personalization (and thus, engagement), by conversion, and by retention, you get exponentially escalated results ($$$). Bloggers who know that are obviously winning.
BONUS
Wanna get a comprehensive list of the latest email marketing stats from the industry leaders? Click this link OR the image below to get instant access (it’s free).
Are you using email marketing as a blogger? If not, why? If yes, what are your biggest challenges with that? Leave a comment below and let’s chat! I’d love to get to know you.