Email Marketing for Bloggers

What Is Email Marketing and Why Bloggers Need It

Email marketing is a way to promote content and engage with your audience through emails. It’s that simple. What creators need it for:  

1. Attracting new subscribers. Sure, it may take some time and more than one email, but one way or another your channel will get noticed.  
2. Retention of existing audience. Communicating with fans through email is not only effective. Email is still something personal, unlike social media, which sometimes feels like a huge crowd of people talking at the same time. On the other hand, email is something even slightly more personal, so you can connect with your audience on a whole other level.  
3. Content Monetization. But on a more down-to-earth note, email campaigns can contain promotional materials or offers to purchase products and services. It’s up to you. 

How To Create a Successful Email Campaign

For an email campaign to be successful, think about this: 

1. Determine the purpose of the campaign. Increase traffic to your blog? Sell a product? Or just to keep in touch with your audience?
2. Make a list of subscribers. Use subscription forms on your blog to collect email addresses.
3. Create quality content. Emails should be interesting, useful, and meet your audience’s expectations.
4. Use an eye-catching design. You do realize that it would be silly to limit yourself to a couple of lines and a smiley face at the end, right? Add color and pictures to your emails!  

Email Marketing Tools

Email newsletters have been around for ages, and so have the tools to run these campaigns. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer in this market right now.  

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing services. It provides a wide range of features that are perfect for both beginners and experienced bloggers.

Mailchimp advantages:

• User-friendly interface.  
• A wide range of ready-made templates that you can customize for your brand.
• Automation — the ability to create automated newsletters, such as welcome email series.
• Detailed campaign reports that include data on the number of openings, clicks and conversions.

Mailchimp disadvantages:

• Cost. If you are still an aspiring blogger, the price for using the service may not seem very attractive.  
• Limitations of the free plan (in terms of number of subscribers and emails sent).

Sendinblue

Sendinblue is another popular email marketing service that is especially well suited for aspiring bloggers.  

Sendinblue advantages:

• Affordable rates.  
• SMS marketing.  
• Automation.  
• Analytics (integration with Google Analytics).

Sendinblue disadvantages:

• Interface. It may seem less user-friendly compared to competitors.
• Free plan restrictions (on the number of emails sent per day).

ConvertKit

ConvertKit is a service specifically designed for bloggers and content creators. It offers unique features to help you effectively manage your subscription base and increase audience engagement.

ConvertKit advantages:

• Ease of use.  
• Audience segmentation.  
• Automation.  
• Integration with other services and platforms.

ConvertKit disadvantages:

• Cost. Rates can be high for aspiring bloggers.
• Fewer ready-made email templates compared to other services.

Beehiiv

Beehiiv is a relatively recent (2021) email marketing tool specifically designed for content creators and bloggers. Its main advantage is its built-in artificial intelligence, which allows you to quickly create optimized content for precise engagement to your chosen target audience.

Beehiiv advantages:

• User-friendly interface, perfect for beginners.
• Detailed reports on subscriber behavior and campaign performance.
• Built-in tools for creating landing pages and subscription forms.
• Twitter integration to import followers and an affiliate program.
• You can also create paid subscriptions and monetize content on Beehiiv. 

Beehiiv disadvantages:

• Fewer ready-made email templates compared to better-known services.
• As a relatively new player in the market, Beehiiv may not offer as many features as more mature services.

Substack

Substack is a platform for creating and managing paid and free newsletters that allows bloggers to monetize their content through subscriptions. The US press has already called Substack “Onlyfans for journalists”, which narrows the portal’s functionality a bit, but in some ways really reflects its essence.

Substack advantages:

• Ability to easily create paid newsletters and earn from subscribers.
• Easy to learn interface that allows you to create and send emails quickly.
• Support and a community of users who can help with tips and ideas.
• Ability to integrate with other tools to extend functionality.

Substack disadvantages:

• Fewer features for automation and audience segmentation compared to specialized services.
• Substack takes a commission on paid subscriptions.  

Other popular tools

• GetResponse. Includes advanced features for automation and A/B testing.
• AWeber. Offers a simple interface and affordable rates.
• Constant Contact. One of the oldest services, it offers a wide range of features and support.

What Kind of Emails Should You Send Out?  

Not to beat around the bush for too long, there are three main types of regular mailings: 

1. A series of welcome emails. 3-4 emails where you say hello and talk about your blog. You don’t need to write huge texts (no one will objectively read them these days), you can limit yourself to a few colorful sentences and links to your videos. 
2. Weekly digests. Summarize the week, leave links to videos, share your plans, and just tell them how you spent those days.
3. Exclusive offers. May include discounts on products or services available only to subscribers.

Conclusion

Email marketing for bloggers is a powerful tool to grow your audience and monetize your content. Be sure to use it and take your communication with your audience to the next level!  

Good luck!