The phrase “email marketing” might make you cringe. You probably have heard that it’s useful, but you haven’t had the time or mental energy to fully explore it. It might even feel like it’s lurking in the back of your mind or hanging over your head as a perpetual to-do list item.
The trouble with email is that it feels like a black box—even though people say you’ll increase your fan engagement, there are hurdles to sending that first email. What tool should you use? How do you set it up? What should you even write about?
The good news is that email marketing is actually not hard or scary at all. In fact, it’s the most useful thing you’re not doing yet.
We’re here to debunk some common myths around email marketing for creators that are stopping you from sending that first email.
Myth #1: I don’t have any reason to email fans
No matter what kind of creator you are, you can use email as a channel to make your biggest asks to your most engaged fans.
Fans who sign up for your email marketing list are literally opting in to receive more content from you. These are the fans who will make purchases, share your content, come to events, hype you up, and give you ideas. Whatever “big” ask you have that might not get a high conversion rate on your socials—put that in an email.
Need inspiration? These announcements or asks are best made through emails to fans:
- Announcing new products or services
- Offering sales on products
- Offering free downloadable content
- Announcing shows and selling tickets for events
- Update (on your life, your content, your creator journey)
- Sharing thought leadership or inspiration (such as articles or posts you like, thoughts on trends in your niche)
- Tips and advice
The other beautiful thing about email is that it can be bi-directional. Rather than just sending information one way out to your audience, you can also use emails to get ideas and feedback from fans. Ask for fans to respond to your emails with their own opinions, and you’ll learn more about your audience while building valuable 1:1 relationships.
Myth #2: People don’t actually read emails
Maybe you feel like emails are pointless. No one will actually read them, so you’re just sending them out into the void. And who wants to waste their valuable time and effort?
But again, remember—your fans signed up to be on your email list. Just like they chose to follow you on your social platforms. They like what you have to say, and they’re happy to be there!
Don’t just take our word for it. The data speaks for itself. Creators who use email marketing report converting 2%-5% of their total subscribers into customers every time they launch a product. Those conversion rates are hard to come by on other channels.
Emails translate to more action and higher conversions, meaning people actually do care about what you send them and will even take action on it.
That said, you don’t need to write a novel in every email you send… because let’s be honest, most people do skim through emails. Keep your emails short and to the point, and your readers will value what you have to say.
Myth #3: Sending emails to fans will scare them off
You might think that sending fans emails will drive them away because you’ll annoy them. Actually, the opposite is true.
Your email subscribers are highly likely to take action on the emails you send: 60 percent of consumers say they’ve made a purchase as the result of a marketing email they received. Adding in email marketing as a way to promote your creator business will drive more sales and engagement than you’re currently seeing on social platforms alone.
The net benefits are positive, and you have more to lose by not emailing fans. If you’re worried about driving fans away, just be sure to follow some standard guidelines for email marketing etiquette and you won’t risk appearing spammy.
The bottom line is: if fans no longer want to hear from you, they can always unsubscribe. Which brings us to…
Myth #4: Unsubscribes are bad
Like everything else in life, this topic has some nuance. As a blanket statement, having people unsubscribe from your emails is not necessarily a bad thing.
Seeing that someone unsubscribed from your emails feels like a gut punch, But ultimately, unsubscribes improve the quality of your email list by weeding out people who are not interested in your content. Weathering unsubscribes is part of the process of finding your true fans who want to hear from you. You are taking a stance on something, and the fans who want to hear this will stick around!
As a rule of thumb, your unsubscribe rate (the percentage of users unsubscribing from each email) should stay relatively constant (or decrease). Aim to keep your unsubscribe rate below 0.5%. A handful of unsubscribers on every email should not concern you.
If you see your unsubscribe rate going up over time, this is a red flag for you to look deeper. Have you changed up your content recently? Did you acquire a big batch of subscribers who are not in your target audience? Even if you do notice your unsubscribe rate creeping up, you can use this as a prompt to try to either improve the quality of your emails or the quality of your subscriber list.
Even if you do notice your unsubscribe rate creeping up, you can use this as a prompt to try to either improve the quality of your emails or the quality of your subscriber list.
It sounds counterintuitive, but making it easy for fans to unsubscribe actually improves your email marketing strategy overall. You’ll know you’re only emailing the fans who really want to hear from you, which in turn improves your engagement metrics across the board.
Myth #5: If you already have fans on social media, you don’t need an email list
Email is not just another social media platform. It’s older, more tested, and more sustainable than other social media marketing platforms.
Email marketing is an industry that is around 40 years old, predating all social platforms, and still has many benefits that social platforms don’t:
- Platforms change rules and regulations all the time and creators don’t have control over being banned—you could lose your entire audience in a second
- Email is the one platform you can truly own your audience list and communicate directly with fans, without intervention from a third party platform. You have all of the engagement metrics and stats that come along with this direct communication.
- Email doesn’t have an algorithm. Instead of managing your messages on different platforms that push your content out to different audiences at different times, you control the exact messaging, timing, and audience you send to through email.
To drive this last point home: the primary reason for creator burnout is the pressure to post content everywhere and maintain a brand across all platforms. Email helps you get the right message to the right people at the right time, all through one channel.
Myth #6: Every email I write needs to be perfect
When was the last time you scrutinized a marketing email in your inbox?
No one is reading your emails with a critical eye and marking it up with a red pen. No need to fear—any flashbacks you may be getting to 7th grade math class will not be replayed.
Your fans already know and love your content. Be authentic and write in your own voice—that’s what they want to read! Typos can even make emails more endearing and feel more human.
No one knows how to write the perfect email—even email marketing professionals learn and experiment every day. If you follow a few best practices and email writing tips for non-writers, you can feel comfortable using your own judgement on the more stylistic parts of your writing.
Myth #7: Email marketing is time consuming and expensive
To be honest, until recently, sending emails as a creator could be time consuming. You might need to learn to use some new tools, and maybe even build a new workflow by connecting together different tools to collect subscribers, make emails, and send the to the right groups.
But not anymore. Beacons built the most easy-to-use and cost effective email tool that allows you to easily create and send emails right from you link in bio email list. Now you don’t need multiple tools to send emails. You can just use the one tool you already use to do everything else!
You don’t need to worry about any of the setup or logistics with Beacons Email Marketing. You can just focus on what should be the fun part, which is deciding what you actually want to say in your emails.
The best part is that you can get set up in a few minutes and finally—finally—cross “set up email” off your to-do list in less time than it took you to read this guide.
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