A VA's guide to email marketing
When I became a Virtual Assistant in 2016, there was a lot of stuff I didn’t know. In fact there was so much I didn’t know it would probably be faster for me to tell you what I did actually know….
But this isn’t one of those posts!
Instead, today I’m going to give you a whistle stop tour of email marketing, specifically from a VA’s perspective.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is any kind of communication sent via email. It’s usually used to either nurture an audience or to sell to a particular audience. Pretty much any type of business can use it (but it’s not something you should do for your own business when you’re just starting out, or even ever at all!)
Why is it valuable?
Businesses use email to sell or market to potential clients. Social media platforms are great for building and selling to an audience but ultimately the business owner doesn’t own that audience. It can all be lost at the click of a button (eg. FB or Instagram cancelling your account) or at the whim of an outage. On the other hand, email marketing is controlled by the business, and if someone has opted in to receive emails from that business then it shows they are already interested in what they have to say or sell.
What’s a list and how do people build one?
You’ll probably hear about ‘list-building strategies’ and ‘how to nurture your list’ in the online space. A list is basically the number of people who have opted-in to receive emails from a business/person. To create a list the business owner will:
Use an email marketing tool (Flodesk, Active Campaign, Mailchimp, AWeber, ConvertKit) to set up an opt-in page or form
A customer/person interested will add their name and email address to the form
They’ll then be added to the email list. It’s up to the business to email them after that, either using an automated sequence of emails such as a welcome series, or perhaps a selling sequence. It can also be weekly emails too
Because we’re quite discerning about who we give our email addresses too, businesses often offer something for free in exchange for the customer’s/interested person’s email address. The free thing is called a ‘lead magnet’ and it can be anything from a 1 page guide showing them how to XYZ or a free class or email course.
Do clients need support with it?
Yes! VAs can support clients with setting up an email marketing tool, creating weekly email templates, drafting and scheduling email content and creating lead magnet materials. Some clients don’t enjoy the tech side of things so if you embrace it then there’s a huge market for you.
How can I learn it?
Every single email marketing tool has a free learning resource, plus of course Google is always your friend!
I hope this overview has helped you feel more confident with the online lingo and tech tools out there. Remember that everything can be learned, and the more you learn the more you’ll grow
