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Transcript

165: Taming the Email Beast: How to Make Managing Your Email List Easier with Host Kendra Corman · Imperfect Marketing

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Imperfect Marketing Podcast.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Kendra Corman, In this ongoing email series.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Today we're talking about taming the email beast and simplifying list management.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, Before we came into segmentation, I don't know about you, but I think I had 85 lists Having contents, contacts, segmenting audiences, coordinating campaigns.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Doing email right requires a lot of behind the scenes work.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: When systems get disorganized, it can definitely feel like you're wrestling a mythological creature.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Luckily, I have some proven ways to help you reign in the chaos and establish some processes that will make list management more manageable long term.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Let's talk strategies.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: If your email workflow sometimes feels like a hydro, with endless heads popping up, you're not alone.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Staying on top of your contacts database is so critical for sending relevant communications and providing a high touch experience.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: My first piece of advice is going to be to centralize your data into one master contact list, if you haven't already.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Getting multiple, disjointed spreadsheets of names is a recipe for confusion and low email engagement.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Choose a CRM and connect it to your email service, or just get an email service that gives you a unified place to track subscriber details and activity.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Usually, when I'm recommending services, it depends on what you want your system to do and what interface you prefer.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: I love constant contact and convert kit.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: They are both excellent systems, have great deliverability and excellent customer service.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: I find that it comes down to personal preference on the interface and which one you want to work with, and sometimes a little bit with what you want to do with it.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Once you have an email marketing system and you start growing your list, the most important thing that I can stress to you is to be able to segment your list later.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: A lot of people don't set up their email marketing system for the future.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: They're just setting it up so that they can start emailing because they don't have that many people.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: As your list grows, though, this becomes much harder to do as you go.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: It's not impossible, Don't worry.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: So if you haven't done it, it's not impossible, but it definitely can be a headache.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: So avoid the temptation to blast out every new email to your audience.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Consider dividing your audience into group, like customers, prospects, recent downloaders, and then tailor the messages accordingly.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: I was working with one client on their emails.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: They had small businesses, nonprofits and some larger businesses in their database.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Once we separated out the nonprofits and started sending them special messages, especially headed into year-end fundraising.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Their engagement went through the roof because that's what was top of mind.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: That was the kind of information that they wanted and needed.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: The other groups didn't need that, and we're talking about 10 times improvements here.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: That adds up earlier this year and I know it's still January but in episode 161, I used an example about how to calculate how many subscribers you need on your email list to be able to sell through it, assuming a 2% conversion rate.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: So you start with your annual revenue goal and how many sales you need to hit, Assuming a 2% conversion.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: How many people do you need?
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Well, if you need 50 sales, because your average revenue is $2,000 per sale, then you need a total of 2,500 people on your list.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: If you already have 1,500, that means you only need to add 1,000.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: That's less than 85 each month and less than 20 more people per week.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Now what if your conversion rate was closer to 5%?
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Well then you only need 1,000 people on your email list and you're already there.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Segmentation is a powerful thing.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Now how do you manage this?
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Adding tags and creating segments.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Many email systems are gonna provide you with tools that will allow you to switch out one piece or section in your email.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: That's called dynamic content.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: You don't have to reinvent the wheel or create eight emails for every email you wanna send.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Now one of the biggest email beasts that I see clients grappling with is organization.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Setting up consistent systems of folders or tags and notifications can wrangle all of those messages that are flying around and help you stay disciplined.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: I know firsthand if you don't have some guardrails and some guidelines and processes in place, email marketing can go into mass confusion real quick.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: But implementing even a few of these list management best practices are going to help you rein things in.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: So what's worked for you?
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: When it's come to taming the email chaos, Let me know on LinkedIn.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: You can find my link in the show notes.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: I always love to hear your strategies and how you're doing things differently.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: That wraps up today's episode about simplifying your email marketing processes and lists.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Don't forget to check out my free list management makeover guide over at kennercormancom slash makeover for more of my favorite tips.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Have a great rest of your day and see you next time.