Flodesk | Tips & Tricks to Help You Grow Your Email List

Tired of playing the social media game?
Exhausted from trying to keep up with Instagram’s algorithms?
Want a simple, genuine way to connect to your potential clients and like-minded creatives? 
Have you tried creating a mailing list?

Email marketing is one of the most effective and rewarding communication channels available out there. It depends directly on your effort and writing skills, and if a user subscribes to your newsletters – they will see it! There are no tricks or hidden codes that work against you. Pour in your heart, wit, and awesomeness into weekly emails, grow your community of readers, share knowledge and insights with them, and trust us – when the time comes and you ask for their support – they’ll have your back! 

Now, if you’re new to email marketing, or have been struggling to grow your subscribers list, you’ll love this article from our good friends at Flodesk. 

Flodesk is an email marketing service provider that makes the process of creating and sending newsletters, building powerful email automations, and growing your email list easier than ever. In this article, they share a wonderful tip that will help you grow your email list and ultimately build a strong connection with your audience, that will result in sales and business opportunities.

We’ve also included a sweet discount for all Flothemes users who want to try Flodesk and get 50% off, so keep scrolling and enjoy the read!

No matter the size or the industry of your business—photography, e-commerce, or coaching—email can make a significant impact. Email allows you to build a community of your ideal clients interested in what you have to offer.

Maybe you’ve thought, “Growing an email list takes more time than it’s worth.” We get it. Email can sometimes feel like one more thing on your never-ending to-do list. But because it’s super simple to set up and so effective, building your email list is the one strategy that shouldn’t be overlooked.

“Unlike social media, email is a level playing field. You don’t have to compete with an algorithm. You don’t have to spend a ton on ads. You can show up in the inbox exactly the same as some of the biggest brands out there. And you can get the same impact,” said Rebecca Shostak, co-founder and Chief Design Officer at Flodesk.

By using email marketing, you will deepen your know-like-trust factor with your community. You can stay top of mind and ultimately increase sales and clients. So how do you grow your email list? Here are a few of our top tips:

Create a freebie your target audience wants

The key lies in creating a freebie download that provides value to your target audience. People won’t give you their email without reason. Your freebie, designed for your ideal customer base, incentivizes them to enter their email. Think of your customers’ pain points. How could you provide a solution to one of those pain points that’s related to your products and/or services?

If your freebie is unrelated to what your business offers, it won’t work out in the long run. The goal isn’t to gain the most subscribers. The goal is to gain ideal subscribers who will be interested in what you have to offer and deepen their connection with your brand.

Next, choose a catchy title. This gives your potential subscribers a reason to submit their email. Then have a well-thought-out first paragraph. Dive deeper into the problems of your potential clients and empathize with them. Then position yourself as the guide in assisting them to overcome these challenges. From there, show the solution(s) to their problems. This is where you bring in the content that may have been mentioned in the title. An example could be: “5 things to ask your wedding photographer.” Or, “Coaching qualities that will make the difference in your success.”

Your freebie doesn’t have to be a novel of content, but it does need to provide clear value. It should demonstrate solution(s) to a problem that your ideal customers have. This is the first taste and introduction of what you’re giving to your community. After reading through your freebie, you want them to be hungry for more!

As Flodesk University Instructor Amanda Stores says, “Seek to serve others well from the very beginning by offering freebies that sting a little to give away and watch your list of email supporters grow.”

At the end of your freebie, include a Call to Action (CTA). Perhaps you want them to schedule a one-on-one, offer them a free mini-course, direct them to more valuable content, or offer an upsell. You want your CTA to continue the momentum you’ve gained with your freebie.

Market it everywhere

Once you’ve created your valuable freebie catering to your customer base, it’s time to market it. The best place to do that? Everywhere. Consider Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, your website, and even at public speaking events.

How many Facebook groups are you in that would enjoy your freebie download? How many hundreds, thousands (or more) people would love to access the free value you’re giving away? You could reach out via direct messaging or share it on Facebook Live.

On Instagram, you could share it as a story, create a post in your feed, or make a reel talking about it. Post it in your bio. Consider partnering with others in your industry to organize joint live sharing sessions, thus exposing their audience to you and vice-versa.

Embed the freebie link in many spots within your website so that it will be impossible to miss. Then visitors with any slight interest in your product or service will be added to your email list.

Deliver your freebie automatically

Once you’ve created your freebie, there’s no need to worry about sending your freebie email to your new subscribers. Most email and newsletter providers offer automation functionality that allows you to set everything up once, so the freebie gets delivered to your users as soon as they subscribe. With Flodesk for example, you can do that through Workflows. When a new subscriber joins your email list, they’re sent an email with your freebie, as well as any other content you’d like via a series of emails.

First, you’ll need to create a Flodesk account if you don’t have one already. (Not ready to commit? Don’t worry, you can try it out for free all month long.)

Once logged in, go to the Forms menu, select + New form to begin. The full page form is the quickest way to get the form set up live, and you don’t necessarily need to host it on your website.

Once your form is set up, you move to an especially important step. Choose a segment. This is how you organize your subscribers and run analytics. We recommend naming your segment to match your freebie. That way you’ll know anyone in that segment joined your list from that specific freebie.

From there, you can dive deeper into your form customization. 

Once you’re done customizing, you can copy the URL to post the form all over social media. 

Next, we want to create an email that will dish out your freebie to your new subscribers. Flodesk has templates to edit from. Make sure to include an element that links to your freebie, like a “Download the freebie” button. Then on the right-hand side, click Link and paste the PDF file or external URL. Remember to change the subject line to entice your community to encourage people to open it.

Time to create the workflow automation on Flodesk. You can start with a template workflow or start from scratch. Starting off, we recommend keeping it simple. Add a trigger to create the workflow, which is when a subscriber is added to the segment you defined earlier. The second step in the workflow will be to send out the email you’ve just created with your freebie inside. From here, you’re good to publish the workflow as-is. Later, you can add more steps to the workflow with added time delays and other custom emails.

Finally, share the opt-in form with your target audience! Post it all over social media, your website, and your email signature and watch your list grow. 

Ready, get set, grow

Your email list provides a level playing field compared to social media. Your emails can be as stunning as the most prominent brands’ emails. There is no competing with Google or social media algorithms. No need to pay for extra advertisement. Just create a freebie with a solution to your target audience’s problems. Then your soon-to-be new subscribers will have the incentive to give you their email. Keep your freebie short, sweet, and valuable. You’ll form a meaningful connection with them from the start. Market your freebie everywhere you can! Using Flodesk, you can set up an automated workflow to send out a short (or more complex) email sequence, including the delivery of your freebie. And, all Flothemes readers and users, get to enjoy 50% off when they subscribe for the first time. Just follow this link to claim the 50% discount on Flodesk.

Want to learn more? Check out Flodesk University for quick email marketing strategy videos.