Email marketing: a golden avenue of possibility
Email marketing a land of building momentum
In 2021, I started taking email marketing seriously. I started using Mailchimp and it was a whole new world. It was a great platform to discover how it works, they had tutorials, and an interface with loads of things to take account of.
I found it tedious to post and as I like writing, the backend work became a real bother. Then I had an AHA moment when I discovered Substack (thanks to a podcast on Youtube) and the game changed! A whole new playground.
What I learned from switching from mail chimp to Substack
When you find a platform that works for you, stick to it and try to grow from it. Substack revealed and pushed through my writing practice and joy. I find it easy and exciting to write a new issue. I have a Notion planner I use to organise myself. I infuse it with new ideas and prompts for several months ahead. As I get inspiration and ideas, I pop them into my Notion and write.
The tool won't make your writing better. Writing will make your voice more acute and ready to rise.
I never thought I would enjoy the platform as much as the vision and community. Email marketing is powerful. I say this as a consumer. I chose to read or receive a specific letter from a brand or personality, and it's my choice. For some companies, there is a catch: a free guide, a free tool, in a nutshell, quality information that hops me into the funnel. For other Brands, it's their Branding and their products that entice me to receive more.
Funny enough, I noticed I receive news of some of my favourite Brands mostly by email. I am not on their social media. I don't look into their YouTube or Instagram, just their email and a link to where they want me to go. We all have busy lives, goals we want to achieve, and time to dedicate to the people we love. We try to curate the information we absorb to spend quality time with ourselves and our families.
When I had that realisation, I also understood how intelligent Brands are because that email is quite a moment of encounter. Within the space of email, you access valuable active attention. Such a currency you can guide towards what you want. There is no distraction within the email process. You have a few minutes to say hi and share valuable information they signed for. We create an experience and guide them through it. Only you, your reader and your email in an encounter.
My hunch to write two letters to share a journey and a process
When I decided to switch to Substack, I asked myself what I wanted to share. If it was to create a newsletter to have a newsletter without a sense of direction, it would not make sense. I looked already at my studio and what I was doing. I realised I wanted to share two key stories.
• My creative and entrepreneurial journey. With all the insights, challenges and lessons I go through. I wanted to tackle a mindset approach towards creativity.
• I also wanted to talk about the process of sharing who I am, and Branding is the vehicle of it. I had already started writing articles on the theme and thought a short format would be interesting. It would provide a mindful space to have fun with the topic and investigations.
It may be a lot when you start, but why not? It made sense for me to speak from the heart and learn by doing all that sharing processes and ideas. So I went for it and don’t regret the aligned move.
You can start as many letters as you want as long as you know what to do with them. Know your target and let the arrows guide you to it.
Promote your letter when you start
I stumbled upon a blog post about email marketing and how to promote it. I thought adding a link was a promotion. No, not really! I realised a whole new paradigm around marketing.
I like letting the universe do its thing. Once you make a move, it will back you up. I used to think like that. Today, through my investigations and building of my personal brand, I witness how important marketing comes into play.
You have to create opportunities!
A great letter with no growth of readers to prove its concept and value is only for you. Quantity does not make the quality for sure! I speak as an example. I have a small audience of readers who chose to read my journey. Each one of them is precious to me. I reached most of them because I did put my newsletters out there. I research tips and strategies I can install to get my letter into more inboxes. The more people join, the more curious I am about why they join. And mostly why do they stick around?
This is golden for any brand! They will confirm the brand value and reveal new perceptions you did not see coming.
Opportunities to partnerships
The first thing I did, was to create a series of assets and copy to present and describe my newsletters. It sets the tone of my letters. I know it will evolve, but for now, it’s enough to state the aim of the letters.
Once this foundation is set, you can start promoting through the magic word: directory. I did not know there was an underworld of newsletter geeks and pioneers. A set of websites that curate their favourite emails and share with many avid curious readers. A golden pathway to reach new people, who may appeal to our words and vision.
My top favourite and most providing of new subscribers is The Sample.
There is no magic after that, they either join or not. I also believe as you refine your messaging and visual storytelling, your aligned readers will come to you. All you need to do is write, write and be where they can discover you.
How can a newsletter seize your dot?
For many years I found it hard to figure out who was my dot. Who was my ideal client, reader, user whatever etiquette you want to use?
I realised the target refines the dot.
My creative letter appeals to creatives and curious people. My branding letter appeals to people who want to know more about branding (newbies to experts). Many criteria entice readers to become more active in what you share. A process of trust and identification that applies until your readers engage more. I realised it has a lot to do with your outside world (what happens outside your newsletter). It refers to your Brand in its entirety).
I guess the possibility for them to share feedback and comments should be present. A link here, a button here. Making these elements available, because when they are in sync and ready they share.
Slow and steady: progress is the currency
With email marketing, it is not a race. The growth of your subscribers can be a pivotal goal. Especially knowing the leverage of marketing it requires. If you are a solo entrepreneur, you don’t need to rush. You decide on the pace and time, with the tools and energy you want to direct to that goal. What is key is the routine of writing and sharing valuable qualitative information. My intention for every issue is to deliver a letter I would be happy to read. A letter that provides a moment of fresh ideas, a moment of playful thinking and a moment of profound questions. An invitation to experience an idea and story. Every issue is a bottle in the ocean with a message to receive on the other side.
Some writing tips
• I start by following the flow and writing what comes to my mind. I also add to my process structure that gives me bricks to fill in. It gives me guidelines for what I would like to share with my readers. I allow myself to follow it or to do something completely different once in a while.
It also gives a sense of what to expect from the letter. I am still working on that structure, now it’s in line with my writing flow.
• I have a collection of ideas and inspiration I add to my Notion planner. A kind of monthly package of what could be interesting to share.
• If I feel procrastination, I write shorter issues.
• I try to make it digestible the best I can.
• Longer pieces of writing have other spaces like my blog or Medium.
• Just write, write and write
It is precious when a reader subscribes to your letter.
You never know who stumbles upon your letters and decides to read you. It is heartwarming that someone wants to read more of your words. I see every subscriber as a gift. It entices me to write more acutely for them.
Find out more about your reader
Look into the data of your email provider. Substack does a great job at showing the backend with statistics of retention, open rate and activity of readers. I don’t check all-time metrics, but I do know it is important to look at them. There are some issues I don’t know what made them so popular and read so many times. Only the readers can say what secret ingredient was within an issue that magnetised them. There is no magic formula there will never be one. I write following my intuition, observations and curiosity. Writing from me is the best asset I have.
Know your metrics! Don’t hold too tight on them, let them loose.
Ready to start a letter? Especially if you are creative.
If you don’t write be visual, it’s your space after all you will find a way to convey your ideas. Play with the tech, the constraints, the format, and ‘‘Do your thing’’.
As I uncover tools, ideas and insights on my email marketing journey, I learn a lot about owning your space. I never thought it would be such a pivotal step.
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