Making money is obviously a primary concern for many email marketers. However, many marketers also worry about how they can cash in with their email lists without appearing to be too pushy or spammy.
With this in mind, we’ve compiled six ways to generate revenue from your email lists ethically, legally, and profitably.
1. Build a Strong Brand Identity
Consumers receive an average of 100 emails per day. You might believe that in order for your email to stand out, it must contain a flashy email template. But remember, most people are opening your emails on a mobile device, so you want your messages to be mobile friendly – and that means keeping your designs simple.
If you want to start cashing in with your emails, develop a clean, consistent brand aesthetic, so your audience will trust you. When they trust you, they won’t hesitate to buy from you.
If you need help developing an effective email design, check out this post about breaking down email design.
2. Sell a Product on the Thank-you Page
When someone opts in to join your email list, it’s because he or she is interested in your products or services, so strike while the iron is hot!
After someone opts in, don’t just send a thank-you message; include snippets of the products/services you sell, and don’t forget to include a link. If you want to encourage your new subscribers to purchase immediately, include testimonials and reviews.
3. Build a Community Using Visuals
Belonging is a basic human need. As Kendra Cherry perfectly explains in an article on Verywell Mind, “Our need to belong is what drives us to seek out stable, long-lasting relationships with other people. It also motivates us to participate in social activities such as clubs, sports teams, religious groups, and community organizations.”
You can tap into this sense of belonging, which in turn will motivate your subscribers to buy from you, by including visual content in your emails.
Here are a few examples:
4. Create a Paid Subscription Model for Premium Content
Are you an expert in your field, with tons of hands-on experience? If so, you can start charging your customers for premium content through a paid subscription model. This could be a weekly, monthly, or yearly one-time membership fee. Best of all, it doesn’t have to be expensive; even $5 a month can generate a comfortable, recurring income. To hook your subscribers, give them a discount for the first month.
5. Invite Subscribers to an Upcoming Webinar
Again, your email subscribers have some level of interest in the products or services you sell, so give them a chance to learn more about a specific product/service. For example, if you’re a marketer and just launched a new social media marketing course, invite your subscribers to an upcoming webinar that focuses on social media marketing.
This isn’t solely a sales pitch. It also:
Demonstrates your expertise, which builds trust and credibility.
Helps spread brand awareness.
Promotes a new product/service.
Gives your audience a chance to learn how to apply your products/services once purchased.
6. Upsell and Cross-sell Away
No matter what industry you’re in, if you’re selling a product or service, you can always find ways to upsell your customers on purchasing items from your business that are more expensive.
If you’ve joined Dollar Shave Club, you’ve seen this in action. The company offers multiple razor options at varying price points. The Club uses social proof to convince customers to choose the highest-priced option as opposed to the less expensive razors.
You can also cross-sell customers by giving them an option to purchase an add-on or additional product, which you see all the time if you shop on Amazon. Another example would be if you were a web developer, you could offer monthly hosting plans to your current customers as well.
Have you been able to monetize your email lists? If so, let us know in the comments how you were able to do so.
Giorgina in Times Square, New York