One of the best ways to grow your email list is to create an enticing freebie in which to receive it they need to give you their Email. This is referred to as a “lead magnet” or “Opt-in”. I am sure you have seen many types of opt-in forms. You probably have decided to give your email in exchange for the freebie that you had to have. Thankfully, people are much more comfortable in giving out their email than they used to be.
However, I don’t have to tell you that spam filters catch more and more emails, particularly if you’re marketing a product or service in them. Add to that the Gmail promotions tab, and it’s a wonder anyone actually sees and reads your emails. I know, you already have your doubts about whether anyone reads your email. Not to fear!
Email marketing is still one of the best ways to grow your business and make sales. Before that can happen you need to build a relationship with your readers and earn their trust. I’m sure you’ve heard that readers have to know, like, and trust you before they consider spending money with you. That’s why it is so important to create engaging emails that start a conversation between you and your ideal clients.
The key to much higher deliverability rates into the main inbox is to get your subscribers to hit reply and email you back. This starts a conversation and in the eyes of email providers makes you a much more legit and trustworthy contact. In other words, the chances of future emails landing in the main inbox are much higher if you can convince your readers to reply to one (or more) of your messages.
Can you take a guess what your most read email message is? It’s the first one you send to your readers after they sign up and, if needed, confirm their subscription. This email is often called the “welcome” email and you usually thank your readers for signing up and deliver your lead magnet or opt-in freebie. Because it is the most opened email and the first message your readers see from you, it’s the perfect place to start engaging with your readers.
If you can get them to hit reply to this email, your chances of getting the rest of your messages into the person’s main inbox skyrocket. Making that happen is a lot easier than you may think. All you have to do is ask your readers a question. Seriously, that’s it. What you ask them depends on your market, your niche, and what you plan on emailing them about.
Keep it simple. Ask them to hit reply and ask a question or share a little something about themselves. Make sure it is relevant to what your emails and lead magnets are about. For example, if you’re building a list in social media and are teaching them about using LinkedIn to get to the CEO in your industry, you could ask them what their biggest frustration is with using LinkedIn.
In addition to helping with email deliverability and subscriber engagement, you’ll also be pleasantly surprised how much you’ll learn about your future customers in these emails. Pay attention to them and learn from them.
Action step: Look at your welcome email and add a call to action to reply to your email.
