Email List for Marketing: Top Tips to Start & Grow Your List

If you’re looking for new marketing strategies, email list marketing is well worth considering. Not only do 87% of brands say email marketing contributes to their success, but the average company sees $36 for every $1 spent on email marketing. 

In this article, we’re diving into how to start and grow your email list. I’ll discuss what email marketing is and if it’s effective. I’ll also share an email marketing template and answer common questions about how to start and grow your list.

What is email list marketing?

Email list marketing is when you build an email list and send regular emails to your subscribers. The purpose of email marketing is to increase brand awareness, connect with your target audience, and generate more sales.

Is email list marketing effective?

“Email marketing boasts the highest ROI (return on investment) of any digital marketing strategy,” says Amanda Nicholson, an email copywriter and strategist. “People choose to opt into your email list, making it more intimate than other marketing strategies like social media.” 

“Through email marketing, I've been able to help clients increase sales by up to 20%, maintain open rates between 22%-55%, and increase engagement and click-through rates,” says Nicolson.

How to Start Your Email List for Marketing

To create your email marketing mailing list, you must choose an email marketing platform, get people to join your list, and send a welcome email series. Continue reading for my go-to tips and resources to help you do this.

Choose an email marketing platform

There are many email marketing platforms where you can create, send, and track emails sent to your subscribers.

Email marketing software also lets you create forms for subscribers to opt into your list instead of your regular email account, where you would have to do everything manually. You also don’t want to use your regular email account for email marketing because there are many limitations, and mass emailing isn’t supported.

Here’s an overview of popular email marketing platforms:

MailerLite

• Pros - customizable design, good customer support

• Cons - difficult to integrate with other tools, not the most user-friendly, can be glitchy

• Cost - $0 to $340 monthly, depending on number of subscribers 

ConverKit

• Pros - easy to use, multiple ways to manage and segment list, ecommerce features, customer support

• Cons - basic editing features, lack of personalization, limited analytics

• Cost - starts at $0 and increases with the number of subscribers (i.e., The recommended plan is $25/mo for 1k-3k subscribers or $41/mo for 3k to 5k subscribers)

MailChimp

• Pros - beginner friendly, imports emails from other platforms, A/B testing, survey feature for emails

• Cons - limited email sends per month, lack of customer support

• Cost - starts at $0 and increases with the number of subscribers (i.e., The recommended plan is $10/mo for 500-1.5k subscribers or $30/mo for 1.5k to 2.5k subscribers)

Flodesk

• Pros - easy-to-use, aesthetically pleasing templates, ecommerce capabilities, user-friendly analytics feature, consistent pricing even as your list grows, customer support

• Cons - lacks complex features for analytics and customization

• Cost - $35/monthly (rate stays the same, no matter how many subscribers you have)

I’ve been using Flodesk since 2022 and love it because it’s easy to learn how to use and affordable.

Make a freebie opt-in

For email marketing success, you need to build your email list by giving people a reason to sign up. The best way to do this is with a helpful freebie.

A freebie, also known as a lead magnet, is a free resource you offer your target market. It should be directly related to your service(s) or product(s), provide value, and give your audience a reason to trust your expertise.

Your freebie can be a PDF guide/list/template, ebook, video training or lesson, or quiz. You can start with one freebie and create more over time. I have several freebies I’ve created over the years for business owners, my target audience.

Examples of freebies for various niches include:

• Cooking blog - 10 Ingredients Every Kitchen Needs

• Skincare business - A Guide for Choosing the Best Skincare Products

• Coffee shop - What coffee drink matches your personality best? (quiz)

• Travel Blog - How to Pack Like a Minimalist

• Brand design - A Template for Creating Your Buyer Persona

• Business coach - 15 Journal Templates for Overwhelmed Business Owners

If you want to create a digital freebie, Canva is an excellent option for designing PDFs, ebooks, and quizzes. 

Here’s one of my freebies:

Create opt-in form(s)

Once your freebie is ready, you need a form for people to sign up with their email address, as you see above. When they opt-in, they’ll be on your email list, and your freebie will get sent to their inbox.

You can create your opt-in form on your email software (i.e., Flodesk). There are several types of opt-in forms you can create:

• Link in bio - to add to your social media

• Popup - pops up for users on your website

• Inline - a form you can insert anywhere on your website (e.g., in a blog article or at the bottom of your homepage)

• Full page - a landing page opt-in form (ideal if you don’t have a website)

You can create multiple opt-in forms for one freebie to serve a different purpose. For example, I have a pop-up and inline form for my SEO tips freebie for my website and a full-page form I share via LinkedIn posts and Pinterest.

Write a welcome email series

Your first email to a subscriber should be your freebie. Then, you can deliver the rest of your welcome series, which are emails you write and set up for automatic delivery when someone enters the series.

On Flodesk, an email series is a “workflow.”

My workflows: Welcome Sequence, Positive Business Affirmations Freebie, Blog Checklist Freebie

I have multiple freebies, each with one email that delivers the freebie. After the initial email, the subscriber enters the welcome series/workflow. 

My welcome series consists of five emails, delivered every two days.

Here’s what you might include in a five-email welcome series:

1. Introduce yourself and what your subscribers can expect from your emails, which should be related to your offers and what your target audience is interested in.

2. Share a story that will help your subscribers connect with you. For example, I discuss what led me to become a business owner in my second welcome email.

3. Offer a free resource (e.g., a helpful blog article, social media post, etc.).

4. Share your high-value offer or an offer you’re marketing right now.

5. Share a lower-value offer. If you only have one offer previously shared in email 4, tell more about that offer and share a client/customer review or story.

After your subscribers complete the welcome series, they can be added to your regular email subscribers to receive future emails. You might segment subscribers for various types of emails. 

Share your freebie

When you have your freebie and welcome email series ready, you can start sharing your freebie and getting people to access it by signing up via your opt-in form(s).

Here are some ways to share your freebie:

• Social media (i.e., LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok) - Create content for your target market on social media with a call to action for your freebie.

• Facebook - Follow Facebook pages where your target market hangs out. When people ask for help your freebie can provide, share it. Check page rules to ensure you’re allowed to do this.

• Blogs - Write SEO-friendly blog posts to reach your target audience and include your inline opt-in form where it makes sense in the article.

• Pinterest - Share Pinterest pins that lead to your opt-in form and blog articles that include freebie forms.

• Website pop-up - Add a pop-up form to your website that visitors see. Flodesk gives timing options for this. I tested it and found it most effective to show your pop-up after visitors have been on your page for 30 seconds.

Nurture your email list

When people opt-in to get your freebie(s), they get on your email list. Since the purpose of building an email list for marketing is to connect with your audience and increase conversions, you must stay in touch with and nurture your email list.

To nurture your email list:

• Be consistent - Decide how often you’ll send emails. Most companies send a weekly or monthly email but choose a reasonable frequency for you and your audience. My email list usually expects an email from me every Tuesday.

• Don’t be spammy - A consistent email schedule lets you nurture your audience, but don’t spam inboxes with endless emails. If you’re launching a new offer you want to tell your subscribers about, you might send more emails than usual. Ideally, you’ll give your audience a heads-up on this and avoid sending more than one email per day.

• Offer value - Email marketing isn’t about being salesy. Many companies get this wrong. People are busy, and if you want them to take the time to read your emails, share value.

• Be mindful about selling - It’s okay to share offers, but be mindful. A brief CTA at the end of your emails is okay, or you might only “sell” in every few emails.

• Don’t hold back - Sending regular emails can feel intimidating, but if people are subscribed to your list, they want to hear from you. If subscribers decide they’re not interested anymore, that’s okay, and they can unsubscribe.

• Make it easy to unsubscribe - Nurturing your email list also means making it easy for people to unsubscribe from your list. You’re legally (and morally) obligated to have an unsubscribe link at the bottom of all marketing emails. Most email platforms automatically include this.

What to Write in Your Email Newsletters

To nurture your email list, you’ll want to send regular emails to stay in touch with your subscribers. But what do you write in your emails?

Nicholson says email newsletters are a chance to:

• Give your audience a sneak peek at new offers or promotions

• Update your community about events and news

• Invite engagement for people to get to know you better

• Ask questions that help you learn what support or solutions you can offer

“Keep your content informative and engaging. People don't want to be sold to 100% of the time, so propose ideas or give your audience ways to apply knowledge to a task or situation that will help them get what they want,” says Nicolson.

Other Kinds of Emails to Send to Your List

A welcome series and regular newsletter (e.g., weekly or monthly) is an excellent place to start. Other types of emails you might send are:

• Winback or re-engagement - touch base with subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in a while to ask what they’d like to see more of and give the option to unsubscribe

• Launch - share information about an upcoming offer to warm your audience up and sell to those interested

• Abandoned cart - remind customers they have items in their cart (can share a coupon code)

• Transactional - follow up after a customer buys something to share the next steps on shipment or accessing the item and ask for a review

• Holiday - check in on holidays, including birthdays, to increase connection and build relationships with your audience

• Upsell - reach out about further support with a higher offer after a subscriber purchases a smaller offer 

Email Marketing Templates

Email marketing platforms offer pre-made, customizable templates that make creating emails easy. For example, Flodesk has various email marketing templates for different purposes, including welcome series, saying thanks, and sharing inspiration with your subscribers:

Flodesk has customizable templates based on the goal of your email

Nicolson also shares this easy-to-follow email marketing template:

Opening:

Personalize your greeting and make it relevant to the current time/something you're promoting.

Body:

Incorporate a story into a topic your audience would find helpful, like tips, resources, or products/offers you have. 

Your newsletter copy can also hint at an in-depth, long-form piece of content you can share (e.g., a blog post, podcast episode, or YouTube video), which is an excellent way to repurpose content.

Features:

Your emails can also include:

• Links to your own content or other people in your industry

• Photos, bullet points, and short paragraphs to break up the copy and improve readability

• A call to action to encourage your audience to take the next step (e.g., book a call with you, sign up for a program, buy an offer, etc.) 

Email Marketing FAQs

Successfully start and grow your email list for marketing with answers to common questions.

Do I need a website to do email marketing?

While you don’t need a website for email marketing, it helps to have one. You can entirely run your email list with your email marketing software. However, an SEO-friendly website and blog can help you reach more people to grow your email list.

Can I earn money from email marketing?

You can earn money with email marketing by marketing your offers via email, selling affiliate products, and displaying ads. 

With my email marketing strategy, my goal is to make connections and avoid being salesy. I send weekly emails that connect with and offer value to my audience. In some emails, I also discuss my SEO blogging service and courses to earn money.

Although I don’t sell affiliate products or display ads through my emails, you might do this if it makes sense for your business. For example, if you’re a travel influencer, you could share affiliate links and display ads related to travel experiences.

What is a good email address for marketing?

If you have an email address for your business, you can use this for email marketing. Your email software, like Flodesk, will let you connect your business email address. If you don’t have one yet, you should create an email with your company or brand name.

You can keep it simple by using Gmail to create your business and email marketing email address: [businessname]@gmail.com.

For a custom domain name with [yourname] or [hello]@[yoursite/business].com, you’ll need to use an email hosting service like Bluehost to create your own domain name. Then, go to workspace.google.com to set it up.

Should I buy my email list?

You should never buy your email list because it’s spammy and inauthentic. With proper email list marketing, you send emails to people who have chosen to sign up for your list. When you buy an email list, you’re sending unsolicited emails, which can ruin your brand reputation and doesn’t lead to authentic sales.

How can I authentically grow my email list?

The best way to grow your email list is by offering a valuable lead magnet freebie to encourage your target audience to sign up. You can market your lead magnet on social media, your website through SEO optimization, and Pinterest.

Email List for Marketing: Conclusion

I hope this email marketing beginner’s guide has helped you feel confident about and inspired to start and grow your email list. With an email list, you can build connections and grow your business to earn more. 

Sign up for Flodesk, my favorite email platform, to get 50% off and start email marketing today.