TIPS TO BRAND YOUR EMAIL LIST

What does branding have to do with your email list?

EVERYTHING!

So what is a brand?

It’s a set of thoughts, ideas, and emotions that people have about

your business. If you’re strategic, you can have a heavy hand in

shaping the way people think and feel about your brand.

To do that, you need to define what reaction you want your emails to

evoke in your subscribers. Curiosity, humor, inspiration, light bulb or

“aha” moments, encouragement… What do you want them to get out

of your emails? And how does that contribute to your overall brand?

Unlike what most people believe, 64% of subscribers say they are

likely to read an email because of who it’s from. Only 47% attribute it

to the subject line. So your name matters more than you think.


Image source

This isn’t a simple technique or strategy that you can put in place

within a day. It takes time to build trust and get subscribers to

connect your name with an emotion. There are no shortcuts here.

If you were your own ideal reader, would you want to be on your list?

Why or why not?

Here are the questions that you want to answer:

• How do you stand out?

• How are your emails different from others in your niche? What’s

your unique selling proposition or USP?

• What are 3–5 things you can do or implement to create email

content that stands out from the rest?

Your answers should not include tactics such as

I will be consistent…I will send one email a week…I will have a

welcome email series…

Your answers should dig deeper into the context and content of your

emails.

“70% of my writing goes directly to my list. You’re bound to get light

bulb and “aha” moments.”

That’s the USP of my email list. You don’t have to state this on your

website like I do but knowing exactly how you stand out will help you

as you create the email content. Your USP is almost like an invisible

thread that binds subscribers to your email list.

Think about whose emails you open and why. How are their emails

distinct from the others in your inbox?

If you’re thinking they provide tons of value…

Sure, they do.

But, don’t fall into the value trap.


EVERY EMAIL LIST SHOULD ______

The answer I always get when I ask the above question?

Provide Value.

You’re supposed to provide value. That’s the baseline expectation.

But an email list that stands out isn’t necessarily one that’s always

spoon-feeding subscribers with free tips and resources. I used to

think that value was providing free content, free downloads, more

free tips, and how-tos.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The value that makes a difference is being the voice of wisdom for

your subscribers…Pointing out their limiting beliefs, mistakes, and

myths…Convincing them of your worldview and getting them to buy

into it…Turning their assumptions and fears into strength and

positivity.

This is what I call value.

Is this more difficult than sending an email with ten must-must-have

tips to do something? You bet it is!

These emails can be inspiring, funny, or thought-provoking and they

gel with the brand of the entrepreneur. Not all branded email lists

have a similar style. So there isn’t one particular way that’s best. But

reframe what you think the value is supposed to mean.


YOU WILL ATTRACT AND REPEL SUBSCRIBERS

Your email list can’t be for everyone. People will always unsubscribe

no matter how good their emails are. It’s not personal.

What you can do:

• Start by being consistent with your emails

That said, don’t send an email just for the sake of sending it. Don’t

compromise on quality just because you have to send something

out. You can skip a week or two if your emails don’t have a strong

call to action, or if you have no compelling reason to email your list.

While not every email will be your best, make each email count.

• Be bold and repel (on purpose) if you must

Maybe your emails will inspire thought and change. Or challenge

existing beliefs and myths. Your content may also raise more

questions than it offers answers to. Not everyone jives with that

type of content or style.

But the bolder you are, the more you will attract your ideal reader

and repel the rest. What wouldn’t your ideal reader do? What

wouldn’t they relate to? Identify these characteristics and be as

specific as you can; e.g., They are unlikely to read blogs such as…

They are unlikely to identify with the term freelancer…They are

unlikely to prefer quick tips over long-form content.

Once you have identified these characteristics, keep them in mind

as you’re working on your email content. Don’t water down your

message to fit your average reader.


DETERMINE THE ACCESSIBILITY OF YOUR

BRAND 

Will you encourage subscribers to respond to your emails?

Will you phrase your emails in a way that shows that you value a

two-way conversation with your subscribers?

When you do so, you gain tons of insight into what your

subscribers are struggling with and what they need you to create for

them.

But to do this, you need to be open to responding to your

subscribers—either personally or via a team. You can’t expect input

when you’re not willing to participate in the discussion.

As things get more automated, the brands that stand out the most

will be those that take a genuine interest in their subscribers. This

very much depends on how heavily involved and accessible you

want to be. Being very accessible is not part of everyone’s brand

strategy and that’s perfectly ok.

You don’t have to be chained to your desk answering emails for

hours for this to work. But you need to let people know that there is

someone on the other side of your emails.

Here are some steps you can take:

• Have a detailed FAQ page that subscribers can access, with

common questions that you always get asked.

• If you don’t have a policy of responding to emails personally, or if

someone on your team will be responding, or if you only attend to

purchase-related emails, make this known clearly on your welcome

email. You can also set expectations on your contact form and

have an automated email reply.


DETERMINE THE SCOPE OF YOUR EMAILS

By now, you should have a vague idea of what you want your emails

to do for your subscribers. This is where you figure out the specifics

and determine when and what type of emails you will deliver.

How often should you email your list? 

If you have a compelling reason to email your list, go ahead and

send an email. Not a straightforward answer, I know. Receiving too

many emails is the number one reason why people choose to

unsubscribe from an email list. But it’s all about being relevant. I’ve

had weeks where I’ve sent out two or more emails and people didn’t

leave my list in droves. So it depends on the type of relationship

you’ve built up with your subscribers. Once a week is good for a

start. I’ll also say this again: if you don’t have a good reason to send

an email, don’t.  

What type of emails should you send?

Most people think of an email newsletter.

An email newsletter is an email containing a curation of resources

and links to your own posts or external material you think your

subscribers will be interested in. If you send one on a weekly basis,

your newsletter could be an update for the week. You could also

answer questions your readers have in your email. There are several

different ways to structure your newsletter.

But an email newsletter is just one type of email. You don’t have to

send newsletters if you don’t want to.

You could send emails focused on a single goal—to get your

subscribers to read a blog post, download a lesson, watch a video,

or just think about what you shared or reply to it. There are no right

or wrong answers to these questions, just what’s best for your

business and marketing goals as well as your audience.

Here are a few different types of emails you can send:

Common FAQs – An email that answers repeat questions you get

from readers and subscribers

Affiliate case study – An email that details the results from taking a

course or using a tool that you’re an affiliate for

Teaser to an existing post – An email that links to pillar or

cornerstone pieces on your blog

Tools and resources – An email that shares your favorite tool

collection

The Start Here – An email that links to your most important

resources

Break the myths – An email that lays out myths that your

subscribers may think are true

Behind the scenes – An email that gives an insiders’ peek into

what’s going on with your business

Personal story – An email that gives an insiders’ peek into your

struggles or backstory

One-click survey – An email that asks a simple question to

segment subscribers or allows them to choose their own email

journey

Survey or How can I help you? – An email asking for responses or

providing an offer to help

Postpurchase welcome email – An email sent immediately after

purchase to buyers of your offer

Unexpected incentive email – A simple cheat sheet, guide, or PDF

that subscribers were not expecting

Favorite thing – A collection of your favorite books/blogs/stock

photo sites, etc.

I have used every one of these emails in my email marketing mix.

Doing so breaks up the monotony of sending the same style of email

each week, and each of these emails feeds your marketing goals

differently as well.


FAQ 3: How do I pick the right email template?

A template is where your emails come designed with borders,

backgrounds, or images. Plain text emails, on the other hand, are

what they say they are—just plain text with maybe an occasional

image or GIF.

Contrary to what you may believe, you don’t need a template. Here’s

why:

1. Plain text emails have a higher open rate than emails with

images. Surprised? While we think visual elements will

encourage opens and click-throughs, research across thousands

of emails proves otherwise.

2. Plain text emails have a better chance of rendering the way

you want them to across different devices. According to 2017

Litmus Email Client Market Share report, the below image

highlights the top email clients based on a study of worldwide

email opens. You don’t know which platform or device your

subscribers will use to check their emails, so you can’t guarantee

that image-based template emails will display correctly.


3. An image-dense email also trips up the spam and promotion

filters.

Plain text emails aren’t suitable for all businesses though, especially

e-commerce sites. I absolutely get that. If plain text emails aren’t

suitable for your brand, make sure that you get your emails

professionally coded and formatted. Always run a seed test on a

subset of your subscribers to make sure that your emails are landing

in the inboxes of your subscribers before you send out your email to

your entire list. There are several tools on the market that help with

this such as GlockApps and Mailgun but have a chat with your email

service provider to see what they recommend and how they can

help.

FAQ 4: When should I send my first email?

There’s so much pressure on this first email.

If you set up a system even before you get subscribers on to your

list, you won’t have the first email jitters. There are two emails that

you need to have even before you start promoting your lead magnet.

• An email that is sent out immediately after they sign up to deliver

your lead magnet

• A welcome email (one at the very least, but if you want to roll out

the red carpet for subscribers, I would suggest doing a welcome

email series—otherwise known as a nurture sequence—via an

autoresponder)

Once you have these setup, you’ll have emails going out to your

subscribers on auto.

More on how to set up your lead magnet, welcome email, and series

in the following sections.


ACTION

What unique benefits do you offer your subscribers by being on your

list?

What types of emails will you send?

When will you send your emails? (Frequency + Day/Time)