The Ultimate Kick-Start Guide to Email Marketing for Bloggers

You’ve done the nitty gritty work of building your blog from the ground up (go, you!), but now you’re wondering how to turn individual readers into a thriving, growing, and engaged community. The key? Email marketing.

Email marketing for bloggers and creators may seem like just another thing to add to your ever-growing list of things you can’t forget (ahem, will likely forget) to do. We see this time and time again: a blogger knows they should be prioritizing their email marketing, but it just keeps getting pushed to the backburner. 

That is, until it becomes absolutely necessary to engage or re-engage your audience, drive more traffic, and increase revenue. AKA, you need to turn this blog into your career — and a profitable one, at that! 

Email marketing is such a powerful tool and when done correctly it can have a transformative impact on the success of your blog! Today my goal is to play matchmaker — blogger, meet everything you need to know about email marketing for bloggers and creators building communities. Ready?

First, why should email marketing for bloggers be a priority?

Email marketing is pretty much a fairy godmother for bloggers! It may not make all your dreams come true, but it does have an impressive ROI of $36 for every $1 invested. (Those numbers sound pretty sparkly to me!)

And to put it bluntly, email marketing isn’t going anywhere. 

If anything, it’s going to become increasingly crucial to your business-building strategy over the next five years at the very least. In fact, email marketing revenue was $7.5 b-b-b-billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $17.9 billion by 2027. 

On top of all that, email marketing allows bloggers just like you to:

1. Talk to your readers (virtually) face-to-face: Unlike social media, where your content may or may not appear in your followers’ feeds, emails land directly in a subscriber’s inbox!
2. Build a personalized experience: You can tailor your users’ experience based on their unique interests and behavior, which builds deeper trust, engagement, and a long-lasting relationship between you and each individual subscriber. Wow!
3. See a nice little return on investment: Did I mention that email marketing brings in an average of $36 for every $1 spent? 
4. More traffic, more traffic, more traffic: Our own client, RecipeTeacher, boosted website traffic by over 35k visits with their super-simple email marketing strategy. It doesn’t have to be complicated to make a big impact!

Emails offer more than just a means of communication; they’re relationship-building tools, which is what makes it so profitable for blogging businesses. People buy from brands they Know, Like, and Trust, the brands they have a relationship with!

Sending emails regularly allows you not only to stay connected with your readers but also provide them valuable content directly into their inbox. This way, creating strong relationships becomes easier and faster.

The pre-work: understand your value before sending a single email

So many of my clients and audience members question the value they bring to their audiences, and my guess is you may be struggling with the same doubts. “Does my audience really want to hear from me?” is a question I get time and time again. 

Here’s the answer: Yes, they do. 

If your audience has already subscribed to your blog, then they believe you provide valuable content! 

Recognize Your Value

Remember, your readers subscribed to your email list for a reason. They see something in your content that resonates with them, that they believe is worth their time. You’re already providing value, even if you don’t always see it. Every insight you share, every story you tell, every solution you provide is adding value to your audience.

Understand Your Audience

Understanding your audience can help you get clear on what your audience wants from you. What are their interests, struggles, and goals? Your emails should address these. The more your content aligns with your audience’s needs and interests, the more valuable it becomes, so be sure to research your audience!

Believe in Your Message

Confidence in your message is crucial. If you believe your content is useful, interesting, and engaging, it will shine through in your writing. Be passionate about your topics and let that enthusiasm translate into your emails.

Maintain Authenticity

In the blogging world, authenticity goes a long way. Your audience wants to hear from you. Not an image you think you should portray, but the real, authentic you — even if that means using GIFs! Share your journey, your lessons learned, and your unique perspective. This authenticity builds trust and connection with your audience.

Embrace Growth

Every email you send is an opportunity to learn and improve. Pay attention to your email analytics (but don’t get absolutely wound-up here). What content gets the most opens and clicks? Which topics generate the most engagement? This continuous learning mindset can alleviate the pressure of having to get it ‘perfect’ every time.

Keep the Conversation Going

Think of your emails not as a one-way broadcast, but as a conversation with your audience. Encourage feedback and interaction. Ask questions, invite replies, and respond to the feedback you receive. This keeps your audience engaged and gives you valuable insights into what they want from your emails.

Shifting your mindset towards recognizing your value, understanding your audience, and embracing continuous growth can make a significant difference. You’re already bringing so much to the table through your blog; translating that value into your emails is a natural next step. So shake off the self-doubt, trust in the value you provide, and start engaging with your email list with renewed confidence!

Now, getting started with email marketing can actually be pretty simple!

We get it — email marketing is shrouded in a bit of mystery. With words like segmentation, personalization, tags, and the like, it can come off a bit, well, complex. 

The truth is.. you can grow your audience in a lot of ways, but email marketing is the best way to activate long-term growth and scaling. 

We know the last thing you need is another intricate plan on your agenda, so let’s simplify that process wayyyy down, shall we?

Step 1: Choose an email service provider (an ESP, for short!)

The first step is to choose an ESP that suits your needs and preferences — we sing the praises of Kit all day every day, but there are many other tools to choose from (here’s an overview of platforms we’ve compared for you!)

When choosing your provider, we recommend giving yourself a specific timeframe in which to research and make your decision. Then, once you’ve made your decision, stick with it! We can spend so much time debating, going back and forth, and trying different tools but the truth is that every platform can work if we make it work for us. (And you can always switch to a different platform in the future — the important things is to not let this decision hold you back from getting started.)

But, again, we choose to use Kit  🙂 (Bonus: You can try it here for free!)

Step 2: Begin building your email list

Remember, quality outweighs quantity every single time. So, it’s better to have a smaller list of engaged subscribers than a large list of disinterested ones. 

Additionally, if you feel self-conscious because you “only” have 5 email subscribers to start with, remember that each individual subscriber has no idea how many other subscribers you have. This isn’t social media where more numbers means more credibility – NOPE! Again, this is a 1-to-1 relationship you’re building here!

Once you’ve chosen your ESP, get your butt to building! Here are the first few things to get in place:

• A Lead Magnet: Offering something of value, like a free eBook or exclusive content, can entice visitors to subscribe to your emails.
• Opt-in Forms: Placing opt-in forms on your website where they’re easily visible will encourage more sign-ups.
• When you’re starting out, it’s okay to create a form and say “Join my newsletter!” until you have the time and energy to create a lead magnet.

Step 3: Determine your One Big Idea

So many creators get hung up on the idea that they “don’t have anything valuable to share,” but this is so not true! It can be difficult to see the trees for the forest, so they say. To help you identify valuable, shareable email content, do some work to identify your One Big Idea.

The One Big Idea concept is all about simplifying your message and focusing on a single, clear, and impactful theme in your content. You can jokingly ask yourself, “Hey, what’s the Big Idea?” and honestly answer it!

What is the big idea, anyway? Do you want to encourage your readers, give them resources, help them with tidbits and advice, what? What is your Big Idea?

Step 4: Write your automated welcome email

Your welcome email is the first impression you make on your subscribers. Kit provides pre-built templates that are both beautiful and easy to customize, too! 

Your welcome email should be automated — meaning, it is automatically triggered to send as soon as someone fills out the form on your website.

In your welcome email, you could:

1. Introduce yourself: Begin with a brief introduction that highlights your expertise, your experience in your niche, and what lights you all the way up about what you do and who you serve.
2. Tell a story that relates to your reader: Share a personal anecdote or store that helps your reader understand that you really get it — you know what it’s like to be in their shoes, face the struggles they battle, and work toward the goal they envision for themselves.
3. Deliver on your promise: Be sure to deliver the opt-in, e-course, or resource they signed up for!
4. Leave them with a little extra something: Don’t just chat and sign off — share your best blog, a helpful resource, or share another lead magnet. They won’t be expecting it, and it’ll make their entire day!

Later on, you’ll want to create a welcome sequence — a series with a few more emails that introduces who you are and what you do, if you have a product, etc — but this one email is all you really, really need to begin with.

Step 5: Craft your broadcasts (aka, “regular” newsletter emails)

Crafting emails may seem daunting, but remember the key rule: provide value. And, you’ve already been doing that again and again on your blog! You can share insights, news, updates, or anything else your audience may find useful or interesting.

Every email should include:

• Subject Line: Keep it short and engaging. Your subject line can make or break your email open rate.
• Body Content: Be concise, easy to read, and provide clear value to your subscribers.
• Call to Action (CTA): Include a CTA that encourages subscribers to engage further with your content or reply back to you.

As you write your email content, remember:

1. Focus on ONE thing: It can be tempting to dump all of your updates, ideas, and insights into one email, but that is often the quickest way to overwhelm your reader. Pick one topic and give it all you’ve got!
2. Keep it concise: In an era of information overload, people appreciate content that gets to the point. A well-structured and concise email is more likely to be read in its entirety.
3. Personalization is key: Personalizing your emails can significantly increase engagement. Use your subscriber’s name in the email, but — even better — create content that is specific to their needs and desires. THAT is the kind of personalization people love and connect with even more.
4. Strong subject lines matter: Your subject line is the first thing your subscribers see. The goal is to intrigue people, but we don’t want to bait and switch them! I tend to be more transparent with my subject lines, simply telling them what is actually in the email.
5. Include a clear Call to Action (CTA): Whether you want your subscribers to read a blog post, make a purchase, reply to your email or share your content, include a clear and compelling CTA that directs them on what to do next.
6. Proofread Twice: Ensure your emails are free from typos and grammatical errors, which can harm your credibility. Also, check that all links are working properly! (I’ve messed this up before — it’ll happen to all of us sometime! Just send out a correction email, and you’ll be good to go.)

Step 5: Stay consistent!

How you say something is just as important as what you say! Stay consistent in the tone and personality as you write. If your goal is to educate your email list on certain topics, perhaps your tone will be more informative and helpful. If you’re offering encouragement, your tone will be more personal and down to earth. And if you’re sharing opportunities and resources, you might take a more upbeat tone!

It’s important to stay consistent in tone and schedule! Whether it’s weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, pick an email rhythm that works best for you and your current schedule. Maybe in this season you can realistically only email your list once per month, but in the future you’d like to email them weekly! It’s totally fine to alter your goals in the future, as long as you stay (say it with me!) consistent!

Step 5: Track your results

Once you’ve sent your emails, it’s important to track your results. Thankfully, this isn’t as complicated as it sounds because ESPs provide you with easy-to-understand analytics on key metrics like open rate, click-through rate, and bounce rate. These insights help you understand what’s working, what isn’t, and where you can improve.

Remember, the key to successful email marketing is consistent learning and adaptation. Experiment with different email formats, subjects, and CTAs to find out what resonates best with your audience. As you progress, you’ll find email marketing is not as complex as it appears and can be a highly effective tool in your marketing arsenal.

Step 6: Become the MASTER

At the end of the day, become the master of your unique area of expertise. Know your message, and focus on communicating it better and better every time you sit down to write. Don’t get hung up on the numbers — they’re great, but they aren’t the whole picture! 

Focus on creating your power-house value, getting the thing sent out, and mastering your own intellectual property. Feel free to have fun, try things out, and see how you want to do things. This is your unique space to see what feels good and feels easy and see how people respond to your content (no algorithms here, just plain ol’ fashioned engagement)!

And remember — always give yourself a pat on the back for creating and sending the thing! Because you can always, always come back later to check and see how things have performed. Your email list is your content playground!

Take your email marketing strategy one step further. Ready?

It’s not just about sending emails; it involves understanding your audience’s needs, strategically crafting valuable content, maintaining consistency in sending emails regularly and personalizing the email content to resonate with each subscriber on your list.

Understanding your audience’s needs

Understanding your audience is like having a magic wand in your email marketing strategy — that’s the power of audience research, baby! No more guessing or “maybes.” With a clear picture of what your readers want, need, and love about your work, you can confidently deliver just that. And guess what? Your sales pitch suddenly feels like a friendly offer rather than an awkward intrusion. This insider knowledge shapes your welcome and nurture emails, taking the guesswork out and putting the sure-fire hits in. Say goodbye to doubts and hello to nailing it every time!

Strategically crafting valuable content

As a content creator or blogger, three key email strategies can supercharge your web traffic. First, a compelling welcome sequence forges immediate connections with new readers at peak interest. Second, consistently delivering live content maintains a healthy, continuous dialogue with both new and loyal followers, boosting their connection to your brand. Finally, the secret sauce – an evergreen nurture sequence, offers a consistent flow of timeless content to keep your audience engaged even during your breaks. These strategies ensure each subscriber, old or new, gets a well-rounded and valuable introduction to your brand.

Personalizing your emails with segmentation

Segmentation is your secret sauce to happier email subscribers. By allowing subscribers to self-select their interests early on, you serve them content they truly care about. This not only keeps your readers sticking around (hello, higher open rates!) but could also lead to more sales. In my world, I love learning about my readers’ work fields, helping me dish out tailored content. So, start thinking about the kind of goodies you’d send to your different segments. Remember, it’s not about quantity but quality. Happy segmenting!

In Kit, I use tags to personalize emails, which enables me to segment my subscribers based on their interests so they receive content that resonates with them the most.

Planning your email content by leveraging your blog content

How do you plan and create great content? My favorite way to get started is to use the wheel you already have — don’t recreate one! 

Here are some ways you can create content using the blog content you already have (that your readers already love!):

1. Break down your content: If you’ve written a lengthy, in-depth blog post, start by breaking it down into smaller segments and sharing these across multiple emails sent to your list. This way, you offer valuable insights in bite-sized, digestible pieces, keeping your audience engaged over a series of emails! This is also way easier for YOU to write and send the email, since it’s more simple and direct than crafting a big ‘ol newsletter.
2. Update or add to old content: If you have an old but popular blog post, you can revisit the topic in your newsletter with new insights, updates, or a fresh perspective. This can breathe new life into your content and keep your audience updated on the topic.
3. Send a “Best Of” newsletter: Create a curated list of your best or most popular blog posts and share it in your newsletter. This not only showcases your top content but also directs new subscribers to these posts. Tip: Tell your readers to save the email for future reference!
4. Answer reader questions: Look at the comments section of your blog or back through old reader messages or emails. If a question or topic comes up frequently, address it in your newsletter! 
5. Follow simple themes: For example, here at Duett our emails follow a certain pattern of topics — educational, tech-focused, promotional and sales. This helps us plan our topics for each month’s content calendar! By following a theme or topic pattern like this, it helps you categorize all of your topic ideas and organize them into an actionable plan.
6. Share seasonal or timely content: If you’ve written blog posts around holidays, seasons, or current events, these can be repurposed into timely newsletter content that you can send out as a roundup.
7. Create a content calendar that is easy to use: In fact, you’re welcome to steal ours for free!

Once you’ve got the basics covered, here’s how to keep growing your email list

The foundation of successful email marketing lies in a robust and engaged list of subscribers. But how do you grow your subscriber base?

1 ) Offer valuable insights and perspectives

Keep providing your unique value, the value that resonates with your audience. Use your blog as your anchor and keep creating high quality content that answers your audience’s biggest questions. Quality over quantity, my friends. If you are truly focusing on helping your readers achieve their goals, you are providing the very quality and value they are looking for.

2 ) Send emails regularly and consistently

You could email your subscribers weekly or monthly — it doesn’t matter, as long as you stay consistent! Consistency builds trust, and trust builds relationships, and relationships build loyalty — and loyalty builds sustainable brands!

Remember: always ask permission before adding anyone to your list; spamming can damage relationships rather than build them.

3 ) Ask your readers to forward your emails

A simple ask, but without it you could be leaving brand awareness brownie points on the table! We often include a little bit near the end of our emails requesting readers send the email to a friend who would love our content.

4) Collaborate with other bloggers

Cross-promotions or collaborations can expose your blog to a new audience. For example, Kit’s Creator Network is a free (yes, free!) way to exponentially explode your brand’s reach and awareness. 

How does it work? It’s simple! When a new subscriber joins your list, they’ll also see a “newsletter recommendation” type widget pop up with a few of YOUR hand-picked recommendations of other Kit creators that your subscribers might find helpful or interesting.

From there they can click with just ONE button to also subscribe to their lists! Fun fact: I was actually on the “alpha” test team for the network, and you can read my biggest takeaways and insights here!

5) Leverage social media

Promote your lead magnets or special content on your social media channels and encourage followers to sign up. Let them know there’s a party happening on your email list! Use some wort of incentive and let your audience know why they should join your list in addition to following you on social media. AKA, what are they getting on your list that they won’t find anywhere else?

If you have trouble answering this, remember, your email list is your content playground. While we have to create content on social media that caters to the algorithm and what’s trending, your email list is your space to truly speak 1-on-1 with your readers in a way that is much more personal. You have greater freedom to be creative, to be you, and to let your content be queen!

Social media trends, evolves, and sometimes grows out of style (Facebook, is that you?) — email thrives through it all. Don’t rely on social media, but use it to leverage your strongest platform for connecting with your audience, email! Your email list is an asset you own, while social media could shut down any time.

Next, what email sequences do you need, need, need?

Email sequences are an essential part of your email marketing strategy. They guide new subscribers through the offerings you have, and if done right, start building quality, long-lasting relationships with your readers right from the start. 

Automated welcome and nurture sequences provide a reliable and constant method to convey to your email subscribers who you are, what they can expect in your emails, and how you aim to bring value into their lives. Think of it as your own virtual welcome mat!

Welcome sequences: your most powerful first impression

A welcome sequence is usually the first interaction a subscriber has with your brand after signing up for your email list. It’s where you set expectations about what kind of content they’ll receive and how often, and it’s also your chance to introduce yourself and your story! 

The welcome sequence offers a unique opportunity to showcase your most valuable content like audience beloved blogs. Remember, the point of email sequences is to build relationships — and your welcome sequence is your once-in-a-lifetime introduction to you and your best content. 

The beauty of this approach is that regardless of when someone decides to join your list, they will gain a hyper-clear understanding of your work (including what you don’t do), the kind of content you share (and what they can anticipate), and any products or services you wish to highlight. It’s like they get their very own, personal welcome party, no matter when they decide to come aboard.

Here are some elements your welcome sequence could cover:

1. Introduce yourself and your content: Take a moment to introduce yourself. No hiding in the shadows here – let your subscribers know who’s behind these emails they’ll be receiving. This step is all about establishing a connection and starting to build trust.
2. Set expectations: Let subscribers know the frequency and type of emails they will receive. If you have a regular sending schedule, share it here.
3. Tell them how to build a relationship with you: Don’t forget to invite your subscribers to engage with you on other platforms. Whether it’s subscribing to your podcast or following you on social media, encourage them to become part of your larger online community. This creates additional touch points and ways to interact with you.
4. Show them how you will help them: Now that your email readers have gotten to know you a bit, it’s time to explain why they should stick around. Provide them a glimpse into what they can expect from your future emails, whether it’s resources, encouragement, trainings, tutorials, podcast episodes, or blog posts. Remember, make it clear why these things are valuable to them but keep it short and sweet – after all, it’s just one email!

Remember, a welcome sequence is just the start of your relationship with a new subscriber. This gives them a preview of the benefits they can expect, making them look forward to your upcoming emails. It’s all about setting clear expectations and illustrating the value you’re bringing to their inbox!

Nurture sequences: the way you grow relationships

Beyond welcoming subscribers, nurture sequences play a crucial role in guiding them toward the right content and solutions for them as well as keeping you and your brand top-of-mind. Where welcome sequences start relationships, nurture sequences nurture them. 

Nurture sequences are automated series of emails that guide your reader in building a deeper relationship with your brand and content. The aim here is to continue the connection you established in the welcome sequence and start cultivating it further.

Nurture sequences are focused on:

• Providing value and building relationships
• Sending consistent traffic back to your site
• Providing a holistic view of your values and what’s important to your brand
• Making sure readers know about different products or services

Nurture sequences do not replace your weekly broadcast emails, they supplement them! Nurture sequences go out on top of whatever content you’re consistently sending your readers.

Here are a few elements your nurture sequences could focus on:

1. Connect them to your best content: This might be your most popular blog posts or videos that have received high praise and engagement. The idea is to showcase your very best work to give new subscribers a sense of what they can expect and why they should stay subscribed.
2. Connect them to your best funnels and offers: This could be a free opt-in that ultimately leads to a product offer, a free e-course, or a paid digital product. The goal here is to helpfully guide your subscribers along a path that deepens their relationship with your brand and introduces them to your offerings. This way, they’re not only consuming your free content but also seeing the additional value you provide through your products or services.
3. Maintain consistency: This is particularly important if you find you’re a bit haphazard when it comes to sending emails regularly. A well-designed nurture sequence can keep the connection warm and the conversation going, regardless of your regular email schedule. It ensures that your new subscribers receive a steady stream of quality content and engagement from you, building trust and loyalty over time. It’s all about keeping the momentum going and continuing to add value in a predictable, reliable way.

Remember, the best nurture sequences are those that are tailored to your audience’s needs and interests, and that provide genuine value. It can feel daunting to look at all the sequences and wondering what to work on first. Our recommendation is to start with a welcome sequence (about 1 to 5 emails long) and then a nurture sequence that goes out weekly.

Am I really ready to start emailing my list?

Again, the people on your list don’t know if they are one of 25 or one of 2500. Get in the habit of sending emails as if your list was massive! Because at the end of the day, your list will grow when your email list becomes a band of superfans who share your content for you! 

And, emailing your list helps you develop your own intellectual property as you build a library of content that cements your unique message. As you email you get used to what you’re saying, talking about, and teaching about — email marketing helps you step deeper into your own expertise in a super low-pressure way!

Ready to take things to the next level?

Mastering email marketing for bloggers isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s essential. If you feel like you know the ropes by now and are looking to stretch your email marketing legs a bit, here are some great next steps for you:

• [Blog] Learn how to organize, segment and improve your email list engagement using tags and segments
• [Podcast] Learn how to convert more email subscribers through segmentation
• [Free Resource] Copy my content bank and calendar system

Ready for a game-changing shift in your blogging journey? If you’re curious about working with us, you can learn more about our services here and book a free discovery call!