Blogger vs WordPress Blog

Even if you're not selling anything on your blog, you still need an email marketing strategy to grow your readership. According to Quicksprout, your blog content is 3.9 times more likely to be shared on social media by email subscribers. Statistics also reveal that emails also have solid click-through rates across all industries – beating any other channel in traffic generation efficiency.

With emails, you can communicate with your audience on an almost personal level. Thanks to mobile technology, their inbox can be kept right in their pockets.

Below are the steps that can help you develop your email marketing strategy from the ground up.

1. Find the Right Platform

There are plenty of email marketing platforms available out there, but there are three that stand out – Aweber, GetResponse, and MailChimp.

All three platforms are complete with the necessary features you need to create professional-looking emails, manage your email list, and schedule your broadcasts. They also feature autoresponders that allow you to automate interactions with your audience.

For example, you can setup an automated "Thank You" message whenever someone subscribes to your email list, sends you a direct inquiry, or visits a particular page. GetResponse is a bit ahead in this department, but other platforms offer easy-to-use and flexible autoresponders as well.

You can refer to this post to learn more about each platform. However, the best way to decide which one is best for you is to try each one for yourself. MailChimp can be used for free as long as you don't exceed 2,000 subscribers. GetResponse and Aweber, on the other hand, offer free trials.

2. Develop Your Drip Campaign

Successful email marketing takes much more than just promoting new blog posts a few times per week. To maximize engagement, you need to craft an entire journey that will provide your audience with the right content from start to finish.

In an email drip campaign, you create a series of emails that are sent on a schedule. These emails should eventually lead to the audience taking action – whether it's making a purchase, sharing a page, or answering a survey. Naturally, drip campaigns should be tailored specifically for your audience, which is why you can't just roll out a single campaign for all your leads.

Here is a post from ConversionXL with all the steps needed to develop a successful email drip campaign.

3. Optimize Your Opt-In Forms

Whether you like it or not, you need a well-designed opt-in form to attract more subscribers. But it's not just the looks that count – you also need to pay attention to other elements that make up your audience's experience.

An opt-in form must have a catchy headline, a concise description, and a compelling CTA. But most importantly, it must be integrated within your users' experience in an unobtrusive way. Remember that timing means everything. You can't just slap the audience with your form the very second they arrive at your site.

At the very least, you should give them enough time to absorb your headline and introductory paragraph. Of course, the form must be visually appealing so that you won't put off your potential subscribers. If you're using WordPress, click here for a list of tools that you need to consider for your opt-in forms.

4. Set up Your Opt-In Bribe

To generate more opt-ins, a proven strategy is to set up a bribe. Keep in mind that giving up their contact details is already a big deal for the online audience. Providing an incentive in your opt-in proposals will surely make it easier for them to entrust you with their information.

Ideally, the bribe must be free and highly valuable to your target audience. It must not be something that they can easily get anywhere else. For example, packaging thin content as an eBook and offering it as a bribe will make your audience trust you less.

If you are to offer an eBook, you need to make it in-depth, actionable, and worth the exchange. For more irresistible incentive ideas, you can refer to this post from Smart Blogger.

Conclusion

Building an email marketing strategy is never simple, but it should be manageable as long as you focus on one step at a time. If you follow the list above, you'll be crafting your first email in no time. Good luck!

Related posts:

10 Email Marketing Tools That Can Save Your Campaign

Email Marketing Basics: Building a List, Creating Responsive Emails, and More!

Source: How to Build an Email Marketing Strategy for Your Blog