If you’re running a business and aren’t focusing on growing your email list, you’re missing out on building one of your most valuable business assets, and a key part of your marketing strategy.
Curious why your business should be growing an email list and how to do it using a lead magnet funnel?
Whether you decide to post daily, weekly, monthly etc.… Having an email list means you can communicate directly with your clients and potential clients on a personal level. You can share emails providing helpful hints and tips, share something entertaining and share your blog posts or videos – this can really add value and nurture your audience so they get to know, like and trust you. And of course you can use it to let your audience know about you and your services and ultimately how you can help them.
Social media helps you to do this as well but there are some key reasons why you should consider using both – I like to think of them as complementary rather than either or. Social media is brilliant for building visibility, a community and encouraging engagement but essentially you are building on borrowed land, what happens if you lose access to your account for instance? Sadly I’ve seen it happen – and paying for Meta’s blue tick doesn’t provide any guarantees. Saying all that the great thing about social media is you can use it to grow your email list and drive traffic to your website and lead magnet funnel (either organically or via Facebook, Instagram Ads for example).
So if you don’t have an email list what’s stopping you?
I’ve chatted to quite a few solopreneurs and small businesses about why they don’t have one. Reasons often include feeling doubtful as to whether you need one, perhaps you’re just starting out and think you’ve nothing to share or you can’t quite get your head around how to set up the tech and integrate it into your web site and then how on earth will you get clients to sign up and what the hell is a Lead Magnet??
Cue total overwhelm and procrastination…But if you are curious how it all works – read on…
It’s understandable as there are quite a few moving prta shame really as growing an email list can make a really positive impact on your business.
Here’s some thoughts as to why it’s a good idea.
You Own Your List
Social media platforms are in control of who sees your posts (think changing algorithms), or what on earth happens if you lose access to your account (sadly it happens and it’s not always easy to regain access).
Better Engagement
Emails tend to get more love! On average, email open rates are way higher than the engagement you get on social media posts. Neil Patel points out that email marketing’s click-through rate is around 3.71%, while Facebook’s is only 0.9% [2]. So, your email subscribers are way more likely to take action.
Personalisation
You can personalise emails in ways that you just can’t on social media, for example addressing people by name, and send targeted messages based on interest or services. This makes your emails super relevant and much more effective. You can have different nurture sequences for each of your lead magnets using groups and segmentation. So it’s easier to separate current and potential clients and provide content accordingly.
Building Relationships
Emails are great for building long-term relationships with your clients as well as new subscribers. It’s like initiating a direct conversation with them regularly, which keeps you top-of-mind and makes them more likely to convert later on.
Interesting Email Marketing Stats
Here are some stats to show just how important email marketing is:
- According to HubSpot, 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the past year—people are paying attention to their inboxes more than ever [1].
- Neil Patel found that 91% of consumers check their email daily, compared to just 38% who check social media regularly [2].
- HubSpot also reports that 81% of small and medium-sized businesses use email as their primary method for getting new customers [3].
What’s a Lead Magnet Funnel and how can it help?
A lead magnet is a way to get people to give you their email address by offering them something valuable in return—like a free resource or exclusive content.
Here’s how it works in 6 steps:
- Create a Lead Magnet: Offer something for free that your audience will find helpful—an eBook, a checklist, whatever solves a problem for them (see below for more ideas)
- Set Up a Landing Page: This is where people sign up for your lead magnet. Keep it simple —tell them what they’re getting and why it’s worth their email.
- Setup your email marketing software: I use Mailerlite – and hook this up to your landing page. This is where people will enter their name and email address. Add an automation to deliver the lead magnet and set up a nurture sequence to drip feed emails to the subscriber.
- Set Up a Thank You Page: Once they’ve submitted their details they’ll arrive on a thank you page – so they know they have been successful. (You could even add a video here thanking them and offer an upsell).
- Drive Traffic: Promote the lead magnet on your website, social media, or run ads to get people to the landing page.
- Nurture Those Leads: Once they’re on your list, send them valuable content to keep them engaged and build a relationship with them. Over time, you can guide them toward becoming paying customers.
The Bottom Line
Social media is great, but if you’re not building an email list, you’re really missing an opportunity to grow your business and serve more clients.
An email list gives you control, better engagement, and the ability to build lasting relationships with your customers. Plus, with a lead magnet funnel, you can grow that list and start seeing real results.
If you haven’t started building your list yet, now’s the time. The sooner you start, the sooner you can connect with your audience in a way that actually converts into business.
References
[1] HubSpot, Email Marketing ROI
[2] Neil Patel, Email Marketing vs Social Media Engagement Stats
[3] HubSpot, Small Business Customer Acquisition Channels
