In this day and age, email marketing has maintained its position as one of the most responsive and effective forms of online marketing. Small and large businesses have successfully utilized this effective and cost efficient marketing technique to increase their client list, build customer loyalty, and increase website traffic.
Now, what about bloggers? In a recent study, researchers found that there were 31 million bloggers in the United States in 2012 – a number which has increased significantly in recent years. They found that out of these millions of people, the small percentage of bloggers who gained notable popularity and readers for their work were also the savviest internet marketers.
Why is email marketing important for bloggers?
Many bloggers use social media via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr to spread the word about their most recent blog posts. But, is that enough? Most people who click links posted on social media tend to be one-time visitors rather than loyal readers. Successful bloggers became successful because they understood how vital email marketing is in directing traffic to their blogs and building relationships with their readers.
Here are a few key email marketing tips that will help bloggers get the most of their email campaigns:
1. Update your mailing list
In a well-designed marketing plan, your first concern should be your mailing list. Having a good mailing list with readers interested in what you are writing about is an essential aspect in effective email marketing. On your blog, provide a call-to-action for interested readers to subscribe to your mailing list for future campaigns.
Another great way to update your subscribers list is by tracking the results of each of your email campaigns. This way you will be able to see which subscribers are active or inactive readers. You will also be able to see who clicked on, read or ignored your campaign. Removing dormant subscribers who are no longer interested in what you’re sending will prevent bad word-of-mouth marketing, which is one of the quickest and easiest ways to get a poor reputation. It will also improve your email deliverability, since your campaigns are targeting an interested and engaged audience.
2. Provide valuable content
The two main ideas here center around content and frequency. A big mistake that online marketers commonly make is sending campaigns without high quality content, or sending campaigns too frequently. The key here is balance. Successful emails have engaging and valuable content and are only sent when it’s appropriate to do so. Moreover, understanding the main purpose of email marketing as a way to better your relationship with your readers and driving more traffic to your site is vital.
Generally, small bloggers tend to send biweekly or monthly newsletters. Bloggers with higher readership and content production tend to send more often. These newsletters commonly highlight specific content that generated the most traffic during the time period. Early on in your email program, try to figure out where you fall on that scale and determine your website’s email marketing sweet spot.
Another major benefit of email marketing is the ability to revive old content from previous blog posts. At the end of the day, good content is timeless and there’s nothing wrong with featuring or promoting that specific blog in your next email newsletter.
3. Utilize social media outlets simultaneously
After establishing a quality mailing list and email campaign, the next step is to market your blog on various social media outlets. Though moderately beneficial when used on it’s own, it’s extremely useful when used in conjunction with an email marketing campaign. When used simultaneously and appropriately, these online marketing outlets will successfully direct readers to your blog and increase the amount of loyal subscribers you have. A major benefit of email campaigns is that they’re ageless. It is less likely that an email would get lost in the crowd as quickly as social media tweets or status updates. Therefore, using your campaigns to market your blog content while using social media as a quick way to advertise your blog itself, is the most useful way to utilize these networking outlets. Use social media to promote your newsletter, encouraging readers to share and subscribe. Don’t forget – email campaigns with social media icons are more likely to be shared and clicked!
Mailify’s WordPress Extension
Creating a good newsletter campaign is only possible if you have the right resources. Mailify’s email marketing software encompasses all the resources a business needs in order to create, send and track a successful email campaign. We understand the integral role email marketing plays for bloggers, so we’re happy to announce our new WordPress extension.
The WordPress extension enables clients to create a form on their website and sync their website’s subscribers directly to their mailing list. This gives our clients a head start on establishing a quality foundation of readers. The most useful and time conserving feature of our WordPress extension, however, is the app’s ability to automatically design and create email campaigns by importing the content and styling of your blog.
Learn more about our exciting new extension by reading “Email Marketing For WordPress Just Got Easier With Mailify’s New WordPress Plugin”, and start marketing your blog with Mailify’s email marketing software today.