There is a very thin line between Email Marketing and Spamming and if not done rightly, you can get your readers to feel that they are being spammed even though you have confirmed opt-ins. So it is important to understand the right strategies to email marketing that actually work and apply the same.
Let me share with you few email marketing strategies that work for me along with pros and cons of each of them so you can choose the one that is right for your kind of audience and build (or improve) on it. These strategy works for all audience but then it is important to understand that it is a not a fit for all kind of thing and you may need to sharpen it according to your needs.
1. Free eBook Strategy
The First and the most often used strategy by bloggers are to provide users with free eBook for getting users to opt in to the list. This strategy is time tested and it works really well.
Pros
- There will be lot of blogs readers who will be willing to subscribe to your blog only for the eBook and it works really well. I used this strategy on my Technical Analysis Blog and it worked really well.
Cons
- People may only subscribe for the eBook and as soon as they get the eBook they unsubscribe.
- Free eBook that you give away for free on your blog should be very related to your targeted audience. It works well for a very niche sites but not for slightly general kind of site.
2. Free Course Strategy
The second strategy to email marketing is to provide value to users with a free course that can be created either from the best content on your blog or it can have some extra content only for emails that are being sent to users for a period of time. Normally the time frame for such emails is a week or two and emails are being sent automatically using an autoresponder. I am using GetResponses’ Autoresponder (Affiliate Link) to deliver the free course here at IMTips.
Pros
- Every email sent in an autoresponder for a period of time acts as a reminder from you for a call to action not necessarily to purchase something and can be a simple way to interact with the blog author.
- If you send top-quality emails it can help build a relationship with readers really fast.
- All users may not be able to find the best content on your site very easily and so you can use the free course to drive traffic to the best content on your blog.
Cons
- Users interest can fizzle out over time and if you take too long to deliver your course, it can work against you.
- Too many emails in short span of time can make readers uncomfortable.
2b. EBook + Free Course Strategy
To provide great value to readers, you can have both i.e. an eBook along with a free course. There can be lot of permutations and combination of combining the free course and eBook. One of them is to have an eBook for each email in the free course; other could be to have a single eBook along with a free course. The options are limitless and you can innovate and see what works best for your readers by making the most of both the above strategies.
3. Waiting list / Invite Only Strategy
Last but by no means the least is the waiting list strategy or invite only strategy. The waiting list strategy is where you have a paid product but not everyone can just be a member by paying and needs an invite to become a paid member. Users can sign up to request an invite or be on the waiting list to be invited.
Pros
- Works well when you can provide a valid reason for not accepting new members.
Cons
- Not allowing readers to become customers may not always work unless you have really good reason to be doing so.
- Before sending invites to join, you have to provide really great value to readers so they lust for an invite to become a member.
Final Thoughts
What email marketing strategy do you use for your website or plan to use? Share your thoughts in comments below.