The Money is in the List: Why All Blogs Should Build an Email List (Even if they’re Not Selling Anything)

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One does not simply build a website without the intention to promote it to a target audience.

Nothing feels more satisfying than getting decent traffic to your website — whether you’re monetizing it or not.

Unfortunately, getting people to you site and having them read your content is one of the toughest challenges of establishing your online presence.

And with a quick observation, the most successful sites are obviously the most well-made, well-written, and well-promoted.

The Different Online Promotion Strategies

Apparently, traffic is the lifeblood of any website that’s geared towards making money. This includes ecommerce stores, monetized blogs, and affiliate websites.

Without traffic, there will be no potential customers. And without potential customers, there will be no conversions.

Sure, there are still individuals or bloggers out there who maintain a blog for the sake of educating; not making money.

But if you really want to make your voice heard, you’re going to need to implement content promotion strategies that will bring people into your blog.

Once you have a steady stream of online traffic, monetization will be cakewalk anyway, so you might as well consider getting paid for your hard work.

Throughout the years, the online marketing world has adopted several channels for lead generation. Search Engine Optimization or SEO, for example, has been one of the pillars of modern digital marketing.

And as the market evolved, areas such as social media, influencer marketing, remarketing ads, and real-time updates have been introduced to help marketers reach their target audience.

However, one of the most reliable and time-tested strategies for getting traffic for your website is email marketing.

Why Email Marketing?

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“The truth is that email is far more effective at reaching your raving fans than any other tool,” says Adam Connell in this post about building an email list.

First of all, remember that marketing your brand or blog through emails require you to have a list of the people who would be interested in your content.

This is crucial if you want to maintain brand awareness, build your authority, create value, educate your prospects, and of course, promote a paid product or service.

But regardless if you’re selling something or not, non-profit blogs definitely still benefit from having an email list and a steady email marketing strategy.

If you own such a blog, then here are the reasons why you should get started:

It Offers Value and Exclusivity

In online marketing as well as other aspects of life, people will only reasonably do something if they’ll get something valuable in return.

For blogs, the main source of value you can offer your audience is the information you provide through your content.

But if you want to cement your authority and build a loyal audience-base, you can offer them a sense of exclusivity through subscription emails.

Of course, one of the keys to getting subscribers in the first place is to highlight the advantages of signing up.

Will you be offering a series of tutorials through your emails?

Do you want share weekly updates to keep your audience informed?

Having a mailing list will not only build your credibility as an information provider, it will also enrich the user experience of your audience, which is always beneficial for websites.

It allows you to keep in Touch

Emails have been one of the oldest forms of communication on the internet.

It is simple, reliable, and has a more ‘professional’ feel to it than social media. Besides, social media platforms nowadays are being bombarded with ads and other promoted content, and users are getting more aware of this.

Unlike most lead generation/nurturing channels, emails have one clear advantage – the opportunity to get personal with your audience.

In fact, you can even greet some of your subscribers during their birthday! True, building close relationships with your audience may sound like a long shot for a lot of online brands, even for well-known ones.

But with the abundance of email marketing tools available today, you can easily launch personalized email campaigns that can maximize the value and user engagement for your blog.

In return, this will help you build your online authority, obtain precious customer data, and find future blog topic ideas.

It Opens Up Opportunities for Growth

In online marketing, the next giant leap you could take to boost your online presence could be just one email away.

Consistent communication with your audience through emails is a great strategy to grow your network.

In time, you can leverage your connections to find opportunities for collaborative projects or even potential business relationships.

Of course, keeping up with an email list will help you receive important feedback regarding your blog.

This is essential if you want to optimize your blogging or content strategy to improve user experience. At the end of the day, all of these will contribute to increasing traffic to your blog.