Here’s why I LOVE email marketing… but hate Flodesk

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the way we use email and social media as individuals...

...and the ways I think we *should* be using email and social media as marketers.

Before you let that "should" turn you off, bear with me, because this email is all about helping you get the biggest ROI from your email marketing efforts…

See, one trend I'm noticing more and more is business owners stylizing their marketing emails to look more and more *aesthetic*:

Banner images, branded fonts, even more images within the email, another one where your signature goes, and then maybe even your Insta feed, plus a few ways to work with you.

In some ways, I get it:

You're building a brand and your visual brand identity is part of that.

You want to make sure you're showing up beautifully wherever you engage with your audience online.

On the other hand, part of me does NOT get it at all!

As a conversion copywriter & email marketing expert, my #1 goal is helping personal brands like yours make more sales with email—not just show up and blend in with the other marketing messages your subscribers receive.

And you know my absolute favourite thing about email as a marketing channel?

• It's NOT the fact that email STILL has a 3600% ROI, even in 2023 (meaning for every $1 you spend on email, you make $36 back)

• It's NOT the fact your email will typically land in the inboxes of at least 85% of your subscribers (vs reach rates of ~26% for IG posts and 8% for Stories)

• It's not even the fact that email allows you to automate your follow up & customize your messages based on your subscribers' real behaviour—even though that one is definitely in my Top 3!

No, my favourite thing about email marketing is this:

Email allows you to show up in your subscriber's inbox as if you were their friend.

As Email Queen Laura Belgray says, you want to:

"Make your email feel like an EFAB (Email From A Bestie):​

​Think about the way you shuffle through your snail mail. Junk…junk…junk…ooh, something from a friend!…junk…junk…

​You chuck the catalogs and coupons and credit card offers, and get excited about that one piece (so rare) that’s hand-written, with a return address you know and an honest-to-goodness stamp.

​That’s the same thing we do with our inbox. Junk, junk, junk — ooh, something from a friend!

​If your emails feel like they’re coming from a bestie (rather than a business), more people will be excited to open them.

See, the thing is...

Email is the ONE marketing channel where your messages don't have to feel like marketing.

Email gives you the opportunity to connect with your subscribers on a human level, through storytelling, by sharing personal details and by writing to one person in each message (e.g. "Hey FIRST NAME' vs. the "Hey Instagram" or "Hi fam" you might see elsewhere).

That's why I recommend that you:

👉 Make your "From:" name your name—"FIRST NAME + your last name" (not just your first name as you never know how many other FIRST NAMEs your subscribes know).

👉 Write like you would to someone you know IRL. Because email doesn't require you to use keywords, stick to content pillars or use "formal corporate" speak, you can and (dare I say it?) should write the way you'd talk to someone you know well.
​
​(Caveat: This recommendation is best used after a solid welcome sequence to help new subscribers get to know you, your voice & your brand.)

...and finally, for the love of all email marketing platforms—except for Flodesk...

👉 Keep your emails LIGHT on the images.

When's the last time your bestie sent you an email that had a banner image, a mid-message stock photo, a flashy button and a catalogue of services in the footer?

Never?

Yeah.

By making your emails feel like marketing messages, you might be keeping them "on brand", but you're missing out on one of the most powerful things about email—

Its intimacy.

The fact that, when done well, email does feel like a 1:1 exchange between you and your recipient.

I had a client tell me she gets multiple replies every week from people who go through her welcome sequence and hit reply to the email where she shares the story of how she started out.

(She forwards me the replies sometimes, which is the kind of feedback that I love)

This past client gets regular replies to the “Mini-About Me” email I wrote for her Profitable Welcome Sequence.

These kinds of interactions = people feeling like they know you, like you and trust you, which in turn = more sales

Not to mention that, in the last couple days of your launch, email allows you to reach out with something like:

"Hey FIRST NAME,

I saw that you checked out the sales page for Your Signature Promise, but you haven't signed up yet.

Are there any questions I can answer for you?

Feel free to send me a text at 438-520-5504 if there's anything you'd like to talk through.

-- Katie"

^^ This style of "personal note" email will get you a ton of replies and helps move people off the fence... but only when it looks like it's coming from a person, not a brand.

"But I am building a brand, Katie, do you want me to email in the 1st person forever?"

I hear you.

And here's what I'll say:

If you look at some of the biggest brands in online business, the ones who are really using email marketing to drive millions of dollars in sales...

You'll notice their text-only emails.

Maaaybe you'll spot an optimized signature, including an image, button & CTA to book a call or check out a specific piece of content...

But the "catalogue" format is largely ignored by people who are already optimizing for the real power of email marketing:

A text-only email from Denise Duffield-Thomas

A text-only email from Laura Belgray

Why should you care about all this?

Any why is it worth your time to pay attention to what works in email marketing, even if you yourself never read newsletters and/or only skim?

Because just like having a long-form sales page for your signature offer allows you to cater to different buyer types, so that you're not leaving money on the table...

An effective email strategy allows you to convert the people in your audience who do LOVE reading emails and who LOVE to hear from you.

Because email is where a large segment of your audience will make their buying decisions:

"Email is the third most influential source of information for B2B audiences, behind only colleague recommendations and industry-specific thought leaders. So basically, it’s only behind word-of-mouth," says digitalstrike.com.

And

"59% of respondents said that marketing emails influence their purchase decisions, while just over 50% buy from marketing emails at least once a month,” says SaleCycle.

If you want to capitalize on the full power of email marketing (not to mention harness the full power of your signature program)…

You want to be making use of all the ways email helps you sell.

And the intimacy that comes from showing up like a friend?

That's a big one.

Talk soon,

Katie

P.S.

I talk more about how to make the absolute most of your email marketing efforts in my workshop, Activate Your Email List, which gives you week-by-week flows for the types of messages you should be sending, whether you’re in the run-up to your next live launch or the doors to your offers are always open.

If sending your weekly email feels more like a chore than a money-making privilege, check out this comprehensive email marketing strategy & planning workshop:

Inside Activate your Email List, you’ll learn:

• How to create months' worth of content ideas in one sitting (not just for your emails, but social media & blog posts too)

• Which messages to send & when (whether you're prepping for a live launch or booking clients all the time) <— THIS is the piece that 99% of list-building courses leave out!

• Expert tips, copy tricks & subject line best practices that will help you write the kind of emails that move your people to ACT

“Katie’s workshop was just what I needed to give me a framework to bring my subscribers closer to me and get better at CTAs and sales.”

- Jilliane Yawney, www.jillianeyawney.com