Have you ever felt clueless about something when it comes to email marketing?

I know I have.

Truth be told, I used to pray that someone approaching our booth at an expo would talk to any of my other coworkers manning the booth with me. I feared someone would expose my lack of knowledge in a certain area.

Eventually, I realized I was able to help the majority of the people at those events and that it was OK if, and when, I had to say I was unsure of something or if I had to consult someone else to learn more. Then, I’d be clued in the next time that question came up.

We all become less clueless when we’re open to learning.

That’s why we’re launching Clues for the Clueless Email Marketer.

It’s a daily podcast to teach you something new about email marketing with every episode.

We know you’re busy and that you have plenty to focus on every day. Many business owners and marketers are forced to wear multiple hats and shoulder different responsibilities. We get it. That’s why each episode is limited to five or so minutes (save for a few special ones here and there).

Allow us to accompany you on a coffee break or binge us while you’re stuck in traffic.

You can find these daily mini-episodes every weekday on iTunes and Spotify. We’ll also be posting a digest of the week’s episodes every Friday.

In this first episode, we introduce the podcast and begin discussing the importance of having an email list and why you should work to grow it.

Transcript

00:22 Andy Shore: So, welcome everybody to Clues for the Clueless Email Marketer. This is our first ever episode, one of very many to come we hope, and it’s me and Daniel, who you all know from the Heart of Business Podcast.

00:37 Daniel Miller: Hey, everybody.

00:38 AS: And we actually just launched an episode of the Heart of Business with the director of product management from CRM, Paul Rijnders. And we announced the CRM version of this, this is the email version. We’re gonna be releasing daily episodes, little five-minute mini-sodes that focus on one little section or tip or maybe even stretch one topic over multiple episodes so that we’re just always delivering content to you that’s gonna be practical strategies that help you get your email marketing done. Welcome, we’re really excited about this, we’re excited for your feedback, we’re not calling you clueless, it’s all about that becoming not… Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It’s all about becoming the one who isn’t clueless. We all have things to learn, there are gaps in all our knowledge and we’re here to fill ’em in when it comes to email marketing so that we all feel like pros by the end of this. So welcome, we’re gonna get started on our first topic. Do you have anything to add to what I said, Daniel?

01:37 DM: I think we’re all set, let’s get going. I’m excited.

01:39 AS: Yeah. And so, this first topic we’re gonna talk about is why your list is so important for email marketing and how you start growing that list and why it’s important to grow that list. So why is a list so important for business, Daniel?

01:56 DM: So let’s talk about what a list is, right? And I think, in our interview with Chad White when he wrote that book, The Rules of Email Marketing, there was a really interesting quote that I thought was very worthy, I guess, ’cause we talk a lot about lists and buying lists and creating lists and harvesting lists and building organically your own list. And one of the things that he said is that, “In no way, shape or form does anyone ever own their list. Owning a list is like owning a number of handshakes with your friends, family and coworkers.” And I kinda agree with that, but at the same time, one thing that absolutely is certain is that building your own list of subscribers really gives you full control over what you can and can’t send to them. Whether they give you consent or not afterwards, or they decide to no longer receive your emails, you’re still in full control, as opposed to going on a social channel like Facebook or Instagram or something like that, where first of all, you gotta beat the algorithms and then on top of that, they have full control over what is the content that all the users see. So when we talk about our list, we’re talking really about the list of customers, the list of subscribers, the list of potentials that you have at hand for your marketing and sales team to connect and reach out with.

03:19 AS: Yeah, and you reference social media a bit there and Facebook seems like that ever-present thing in our daily lives and it may continue to be that, but it could go away one day. Think about MySpace, your top friends don’t matter anymore, they’re barely even there. I don’t even know if you can still access your old pages and all the networking you did there is all for naught ’cause it’s irrelevant now. But email’s here, it’s here to stay, it’s not going anywhere, and you’re not gonna just lose an entire network that you built because that social media it comes and goes or something else… Some other trend passes. And like Daniel said, you have full access and control over it.

03:58 DM: And that’s actually a really good point that you bring up, I have a lot of friends that have told me that they’ve deleted their Facebook app, that they’ve deleted their Instagram or they’re no longer on Twitter ’cause they don’t quite get it or whatever else and that’s something that when it comes down to email, we may ask a millennial, “Hey, do you have an email?” Until they get a job, they’ll say, “No.” But once they get that job, once they get into the real world to where when you’re signing up to things you really try to get that fairly early. You’re like, “Oh, crap. I need an actual email address for these kinds of things.” That’s when you start to realize that email is unique. And not only that, but it’s something more secure than a social platform that could just be a phase and let’s not… Facebook has been around for, I think, a little over 10 years now, but it’s still… They fight day and night to make sure that people still come online, that they may not be there tomorrow, so it’s always something to keep in mind.

04:50 AS: Yeah, and think about it, you pick up your smartphone every morning when you wake up, you check your email, maybe it’s on a commute on the way to work first thing when you get there. Everyone’s checking emails. So your list is important because that’s the way you’re reaching people on their person at any time of day or night, not just when they log into a social media account. So you talked about why a list is important, why is growing that list important?

05:12 DM: Oh, man. Okay, so we’ve talked about in regards to having an organic list, how valuable that is to a company. Aside from that, when you look at… And I hate to keep going back to social media, but I do believe that email in a way is part of the social channel, there is a back and forth communication. When you send an email out, them opening that email, reading it, clicking on links is them telling you whether they like your content or not. So that’s why I think it is a two-way communication channel. So when you start to grow your list you’re able to create different profiles inside of your own list to then match that to the subscriber and send out really relevant emails to where when you’re sending a message on a social channel, you’re really just posting for the entire channel and there’s not as much, I guess, personalization that you can really dedicate saying, “Hey, this is what was left in your shopping cart,” something like that. So, growing your list and not only growing it but keeping it well segmented is essential for email marketing.

06:18 AS: Yeah, totally. Plus, there’s some list churn that’s gonna happen automatically, that people change jobs, they stop using email addresses, whatever it may be, that people are gonna leave as people come in and if you don’t keep growing it, that list is just gonna deteriorate in quality as time goes on, so it’s important to actively grow that list, sign up forms, different things. We’re gonna get into all the great ways that you can grow your list next. So say tuned, guy… Guy, guy. There’s one listener. [laughter] But we’re gonna get on to it. So, I just wanna wrap up a little bit, talking about why it’s good to grow your list and it’s about expanding your reach, too. You don’t wanna just talk to the same people, your business doesn’t grow that way.

07:03 DM: Exactly, and it’s something that really having the thought process and I guess the strategy behind your email marketing process to where you’re really looking to continue see it expand and being able to really manage your list really kinda tells the heartbeat of your business. It’s a really easy way to kinda gauge what your subscribers are really into, and as you see drop-offs and growths, you really know what’s working and what’s not, right? The more strategies that you see, that you’re getting higher open rates, click through rates and people start to share those emails is a very valuable… I guess a piece of working with your list in email because at the end of the day, people that sign up, they’re potentially your core customers. You want more of those type of people, so the more you can make those people happy, the more you’re gonna get.

07:56 AS: Absolutely. And if you’re doing all those things you just mentioned well, you’re gonna get that return on investment, which depending on who you ask in the space, ranges anywhere between $38 and $43 for every one dollar you put into it. And with that undeniable ROI, why not grow your list and reach as many people as possible? That is it for our first episode, guys, stay tuned and we’re gonna start talking about all the great ways you can grow your email list. Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you tomorrow.

Need to Get Clued In On CRM?

Feel like you’re also a bit clueless when it comes to CRM or that you could stand to learn a little more?

We’re also launching Clues for the Clueless CRM Marketer. Here’s our first episode of that as well:

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