How to Effectively Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Blog

If you’ve been in the marketing space for anything more than a few days now, one major phrase you’ll have heard is that the money is in the list.

The reality, though, is that even though the money is in the list, it isn’t just in any list.

Growing your blog with email marketing requires you to be smart, while at the same time knowing what you’re doing.

I’ll be sharing a few tips with you on how to effectively use email marketing to grow your list.

Focus on Value, Not Numbers

When it comes to list building, the number one mistake most people make is the mistake of focusing on building up numbers instead of value. A lot of people are so obsessed with growing the number of people subscribed to their list that they don’t care how they do it, but the reality is that the key to successful email marketing is to have quality subscribers, not just having a lot of subscribers.

You could have a list of a million subscribers that could care less what you’re talking about, and you can have a list of just 10,000 people that crave to hear from you; in both cases, I can assure you that the smaller list that craves to hear from you will be more effective on the long run.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t focus on having a lot of subscribers; numbers matter, but quality matters more.

If you can build a list of tens of thousands of people who want to hear from you, by all means go for it. The most important thing is to never sacrifice quality for quantity.

When it comes to getting quality subscribers that want to hear from you, it is important for you to realize that the source of your traffic matters a lot. Here are a few traffic sources that can help you add quality subscribers to your list.

1. Guest Blogging: Promoting your newsletter via guest posts.

2. Inbound Marketing: Using your blog to market your newsletter.

3. JV and Partnerships: Partnering with bloggers and internet marketers with a big list to promote your stuff.

4. SEO and PPC: Investing in some organic or PPC traffic might be well worth it on the long run.

Reinforce Your Brand with Each Email

When it comes to email marketing, every single email you send to your subscribers should make them love your stuff more, not piss them off.

The reason why email marketers get high unsubscribe rates isn’t because their message isn’t good enough, it is because they don’t have good personal branding.

A great way to reinforce your brand with each email you send is to use a customized HTML template for your emails; in other words, instead of just sending plain-text messages all the time, settle down for a customized template that reminds people of your blog.

Build Relationship with Constant Communication

Don’t just build that big list and keep your subscribers waiting; the more you can communicate with them, the higher the chances of them doing what you ask them to do.

The difference between someone you know and trust and someone you don’t is communication; constant communication makes us know a person, and knowing someone is essential to trusting them.

While your readers might not have seen you personally, sending an email to them on a regular basis helps familiarize them with your style, while at the same time ensuring they never forget you.

Create Autoresponder Series to Drive Passive Traffic and Income

Automation is a great tool in the arsenal of a smart marketer.

Of course, healthy automation has its limits, but there are situations in which automation is a no-brainer. One great example is email marketing.

You can increase potential traffic and income to your blog, without doing anything, by setting up Autoresponder series for your email newsletter. The main aim of the autoresponder series will be to add value to your readers, to get them to visit your blog, and to get them to buy your product or an affiliate product you’re promoting.

The good thing about using an autoresponder series is that each subscriber gets the message; in other words, your message will be getting into the inbox of your subscribers even years after setting up the autoresponder series, and traffic and income will also grow with this.

This article was written by Bamidele Onibalusi the author of  “The Writer’s Handbook-How To Write For Traffic And Money. See here to get a free copy.