TONS of influencers and marketers preach the importance of having an email list. This is one of those things I always *knew* I should be focused on, but it always seemed to be at the bottom of my to-do list.

Well, all of the sudden, it hit me. If I ever lost any of my social media profiles (which is totally possible considering we do not OWN our social media profiles), I wouldn’t have a way to get in touch with new customers.

If I got my Instagram profile hacked, I would have to start OVER with a new profile and try to get 3,000+ people to follow me again. Getting people to follow you on Instagram is difficult in the first place, so I’m guessing it would be even harder with a brand new profile.

Social media is still a FANTASTIC way to build trust and awareness with your audience. And focusing on building your email list is no reason to be less focused on your social media. But we can’t put all of our eggs in one basket.

Build trust and sell MORE with email

Here’s the thing… Email has the HIGHEST conversion rates out of every other digital platform. Therefore, when you have a new product or service to offer, your audience is much more likely to BUY when they are nurtured through an email sequence. Email continually outperforms other platforms and the open rate is typically higher than organic reach on social media. Even if you don’t have any new products or services to promote, you can still nurture your email list with new blog posts, newsletters, tips, and helpful information that’s designed to build trust with your ideal customers.

Social media posts, blog posts, and videos are fantastic to help you build brand awareness, but simply put, our social media channels are simply “rented land”. We never know what could happen with the future of Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. You can find peace in knowing that your email list is truly YOURS. You own it. If anything ever happens to your social media pages, you should have a thriving email list that is full of past, current, and future customers who are still interested in your products and services.

Mailchimp is free and easy to use when you’re getting started with building an email list! You can quickly get started by adding a pop-up on your website that collects email addresses. The key here is to use it to provide value first. On your pop-up, offer them some type of helpful information. Give them a preview of what they’ll get for signing up for your emails. And don’t hit your audience with the pop-up IMMEDIATELY when they land on your site. It should appear 15-20 seconds after they’ve already had a chance to check out your home page.

What questions do you have about email lists? Let me know how I can help!

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