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Getting Started with Email Marketing with guest Nicole Bergeson

Episode Summary

Email marketing is one of the most effective tools we have as business owners. However, it can seem overwhelming, especially as we are first starting. Nicole Bergeson joins us to break down getting started with email marketing and how to create consistently without the overwhelm.

Episode Notes

Our friend and fellow creative entrepreneur, Nicole Bergeson, joins us on today’s episode to cover all things email marketing. From building your list (even if it’s at zero), how often you should be sending emails, and learning exactly what a welcome sequence is – Nicole covers all of that and MORE!

As Nicole says, “Don’t take email marketing too seriously. It doesn’t have to be scary. It’s just another avenue of your marketing and it can create a great community of peopl

About Nicole

Meet Nicole! Owner of Nicole Bergeson Strategy and she helps creatives make sense of digital marketing while empowering them to embrace their uniqueness, share their knowledge, and become more intentional online in order to make more sales. She’s also an illustrator, small business cheerleader, wife, boy-mom, enneagram type 7, and year-round iced coffee drinker.

What is the Purpose of Email Marketing?

Nicole explains that email is the “billboard of digital marketing.” Email can be targeted to an ideal audience. It’s an effective way to create community, share who you are, and make sales. Statistics show that 80% of marketers still claim that email is best for keeping customers. 60% of consumers say that email is their preferred way to get promotions.

How Do You Grow Your Email List?

Legally, people have to opt-in to your email list, you cannot just add them. Before you grow your list, step back and acknowledge who your audience is. We have to be invited into the inboxes of our subscribers so make sure you are giving them valuable content. Creating free helpful, inspirational, or educational lead magnets allows your potential audience to receive something before they even opt-in for your email list.

What Does An Email Welcome Sequence Look?

A welcome sequence is a way to let your subscribers know what to expect once they’ve signed up for your newsletter. It’s a window into more about you and your business. Nicole recommends everyone have at least one email in their welcome sequence but you can have up to 4-6 emails. She recommends four things in every welcome sequence: a welcome, information about yourself, what to expect, and a personal story.

Helpful Links Mentioned in This Episode

Find Nicole Online

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Podcast Transcription:

Nicole Bergeson 0:00
So if we look at it off the digital space, if I was invited to a party at Shaune’s house and I only invite or had only met her once before, I wouldn’t just let myself through the front door, pop on her couch and just start selling her something. Like, that makes sense to us in a physical space. But somehow when it comes to the digital space, we’re okay with that.

Shaune Teske 0:31
You’re listening to the creative legacy podcast, a podcast for creative entrepreneurs to build their business while living a life of intention, joy and adventure. I’m Shaune a, a wedding photographer and educator that helps photographers, creatives and small business owners cultivate intentional lives and build their most abundant businesses. And I’m joined by my friend and co-host Sarah, a brand strategist and designer, helping entrepreneurs craft their brands to speak boldly and reach their ideal clients.

Sarah Schrader 1:02
We had to bring in an expert to talk about email marketing for you. And we love that today’s guest was able to join us. She is a friend, a fellow rising tider who loves community and the stranger who I went to a Brewers game with before I even knew she was a fellow creative entrepreneur. In this episode, she answers all the things from how to get started building your list, even when it’s currently zero, to how often you should be sending an email to your audience. And what in the world is a welcome sequence? What should be in it? And why you should have one. Nicole Bergeson is a digital marketing strategist who is crazy good at coming up with ideas and how to market your business and email, and all things social. After this episode, you’ll want to follow this girl on Instagram, she drops knowledge all the time that you need to know and includes her life as a wife, and a mom of two adorable little boys and a few cats. Let’s not make you wait anymore and get into this episode.

Today’s guest, we’ve had a lot of guests and we love them all, but we have a very special one because this one is local to Green Bay with us and we love her. We are talking to Nicole Bergeson. She is a social media strategist. And we’re going to be talking about email marketing today. So welcome Nicole to the podcast.

Nicole Bergeson 2:21
Thanks for having me. I’m so excited to be here.

Shaune Teske 2:25
We are so excited that you’re here. And going to share your knowledge about email marketing. I think it’s this thing that we all feel like we have to be doing as business owners, but you don’t even know where to start. And I literally was in that boat. And I’m like, “Nicole help me!” and so we know how fabulous you are and how knowledgeable you are. So thank you for being here. And Sarah, kind of introduced you a little bit, but I would love to hear, in your own words, who you are, what you’re all about and get our listeners to know you a little bit better.

Nicole Bergeson 2:59
Yes, I am a digital marketing strategist with an emphasis on social media. Anybody that knows me knows that I love Instagram. But it’s all about helping creatives and small business owners make sense of digital marketing. And so email marketing is naturally in that. And I really focus on organic growth, creating relationships and nurturing your audience to essentially create community but also making money.

Shaune Teske 3:29
Great. We love that.

Sarah Schrader 3:30
Who doesn’t love that? Cool. So I guess I’ll just jump into the questions. This is the first time we’re talking email marketing on this podcast. So I’d love to just get a really quick like, what is email marketing? What purpose does it serve?

Nicole Bergeson 3:48
Yes, I think email is sort of the billboard of digital marketing. So it’s very different than social media in the sense that if we were to take a break from Instagram or Facebook, we might never see the post or stories that show up there. However, email can be very targeted to an ideal audience. And then that audience can even be segmented. It’s just I don’t want to say in your face, because that scares us from wanting to open up our inbox or wanting to hit send. But it’s such an effective tool. It’s essentially just another avenue of consistency that you can create community and really share who you are and make sales. And even if we look at the stats, 80% of marketers still claim that email is best for keeping customers, and 60% of consumers say that email is their preferred way to get promotions. And so it really is, it’s effective for every dollar that you spend, you’ll see an average of $42 return on investment. And that is a huge number. And I think it’s a super underutilized avenue of marketing.

Shaune Teske 5:12
Yeah, definitely. I feel like it is something that, like I said, we hear all about, but we don’t really know how it affects us until we start using it.

Absolutely. It’s definitely a habit that you have to acquire, just the practice and the discipline and the commitment.

So how does someone begin to grow their list and buy lists we mean their email lists. Like gathering all those email addresses, how does someone start? Because we know it’s a big deal. We know we need to do it, how do you start doing that?

Nicole Bergeson 5:47
Absolutely. So in order to grow your list, you just need to step back and acknowledge who our audience is and understand that they are inviting us into, kind of a sacred space, right? Because if we don’t choose to open an email, we are still seeing the sender name, the subject line. On top of that, we’re eventually going to have to open up that email, scroll to the bottom unsubscribe, and eventually delete those emails. So even if we don’t click or buy, we’re still consuming a lot of information about another person. So just acknowledging that fact alone, and realizing that we have to be invited into our space, will help us understand what we need to grow our audience. Essentially, we need something of great value in return for that invitation into that inbox or into that sacred space. So I really love lead magnet. And you may have heard that term. But I think so many people assume that a lead magnet means that it has to be a guide, a worksheet, a checklist. That is absolutely a great tool to offer, like a free guide to grow your list. But it can be anything. offering something of value, it might be a free shipping code, a discount on a first order free product with purchase an upgrade, free consultation, all of those things are just something of value that you can then receive that coveted email in return.

Sarah Schrader 7:26
I think that leads into the next question we have, but I have a really quick like side tangent I want to talk about. And I think that’s the Power of One. Would you agree, like encourage, just having that one subscriber to continue to send those emails?

Nicole Bergeson 7:42
If they only have one subscriber? Is that what you’re asking?

Sarah Schrader 7:46
Yeah, so like somebody’s trying to start the list, but they only have maybe, like one to five, like a small number. That can sometimes feel like a deterrent, like I’m not making an impact. I’m not reaching enough people. Would you still encourage those to send?

Nicole Bergeson 8:03
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.

Sarah Schrader 8:07
Cool. Having talking about a lead magnet. What’s the next step then? So you have the lead magnet. You should probably send more after that. What is that like?

Nicole Bergeson 8:17
Absolutely, the next step is going to be a welcome sequence. And I find that this is where the majority of businesses, they forget to create this, and I put so much importance on this. Your subscribers most likely don’t know who you are. If you have one of those lead magnets, maybe they just popped onto your website to look at jewelry that somebody else had given them the link for and they’re signing up for free shipping, or maybe they found your free guide on Pinterest, and they really haven’t seen you. And so if we look at it off the digital space, if I was invited to a party at Saune’s house, and I’d only invite or had only met her once before, I wouldn’t just let myself through the front door, pop on our couch and just start selling her something. That makes sense to us in a physical space, but somehow when it comes to the digital space, we’re okay with that. And a welcome sequence just is allowing our subscribers to learn who we are, what they can expect from our newsletter, whether that’s going to show up weekly or monthly, and then what kind of content they can look forward to seeing.

Shaune Teske 9:31
Could you give us an example of what a welcome sequence looks like? Whether it’s yours, someone else’s or just something?..is it one email? Is it multiple emails? Just so our listeners can get an idea of what they should be putting in this welcome sequence, what should what should be included and why it matters.

Nicole Bergeson 9:52
At least one. I’m going to encourage everyone to at least put one email in your welcome sequence; I’ve seen up to four to six emails. What I would really say is that the frequency or the amount of emails that you would send out in a welcome sequence would really be dependent upon how frequently you’re sending that normal newsletter. So if you’re sending out weekly, that’s four to five a month, and so you can easily get away with a lot more emails in your welcome sequence. But even if you choose to have one or six emails in your welcome sequence, there are four things I would really encourage everyone to include. One would be a welcome; “thanks for coming to the list, I’m so glad you’re here.” Second would be information about yourself. So a picture of you, your name, what your business is. Third, what to expect, which would be the type of content they’ll see as well as how often they’ll get it. And then lastly, some kind of personal story, or a narrative, or maybe it’s even really great content that solves their problem. Something else that’s not salesy, and will actually connect with them.

Sarah Schrader 11:12
How often should we be sending emails to our email list?

Nicole Bergeson 11:19
That would really be based on a couple different things. One is what your customer wants. I put a lot less weight on this, because let’s be honest, we can’t appease everyone, we can’t give everyone what they want. But you can do things like have an end of your survey and ask your audience how often they want to hear from you. So that’s, that’s one important aspect. Two, how much content you’re creating. If you’re not putting out a lot of blog posts, if you’re not showing up on social media a lot, and you don’t really want to create new content, you might not have a lot of content that you can then put into an email or repurpose into an email. So that’s one thing to keep in mind. If you are a content generating machine, Sonny does so well with putting out a lot of blog posts and different types of content on different social media aspects. So for her, she’s got a weekly newsletter. And that makes sense, because she has a lot to share. And it just goes right along with that. And then lastly, what you’re willing to commit to. What does consistency really look like for you? I definitely would say at least once a month, but I love twice a month, just to make sure that people know that you’re still around. But definitely think of what you’re willing to commit to with frequency. And that’s the most important of all three of those aspects. Because if you just decide I’m going to start sending two emails a week for three months, take a month off and then pick right back up, people are gonna forget that they signed up and then feel bombarded with emails, and you’ll end up with so many unsubscribes

Shaune Teske 13:07
That is such a great point. I think we talk about a lot in any social media platform, to be consistent and to have a way that you’re showing up and you’re gonna stick with that. And that’s the same with email marketing. Do you have any advice for people that are feeling they’re either feeling like they’re sending too much, or they’re not sending enough and they are, they’re subscribers are feeling bombarded or they’re feeling like they’re not hearing, you’re hearing crickets from them, they’re not hearing enough. Do you have any advice for people that are getting discouraged that maybe people are unsubscribing a lot? Or maybe they aren’t getting enough subscribers in the first place.

Nicole Bergeson 13:50
Yeah, if we look at the first thing, if there’s a lot of people unsubscribing it’s really important to check those analytics and try to figure out why they’re unsubscribing. Is it because you sent a lot of emails recently that are just about sales versus nurturing your audience, which we could, we could get into that. But maybe it’s that you’re sending out a lot of sales emails, versus helping and adding value. Maybe it’s that you have a list from a time that you’ve pivoted, or it’s a lot of friends and family. And so now those unsubscribes really, you could look at them as a blessing. They’re people that don’t fit your target audience. I I look at unsubscribes as a great thing, because the more people that get off my list that don’t want to hear what I’m saying or aren’t connecting with my messaging, that actually is going to increase increase my other analytics right my open and click right. So I look at them as blessings, just you have to kind of look and determine why they’re unsubscribing. So don’t worry too much about that aspect as long as you’re being consistent, and you’re adding value. Second, if you’re having trouble growing your list number one, make sure you’re promoting it, if you have decided to do a lead magnet, a freebie, make sure you’re promoting on Pinterest and social media and talking about the value that it would provide. But also make sure it’s providing value. So start backwards, look at your goal. Whatever the goal you have for that month or quarter, if it’s “I want more sales on a certain item”, “I want students to enroll in a course,” and then what would lead them into that? What kind of lead magnet would best suit that goal? And from there, does that offer value to them? Would you sign up for it? Those are really great questions to ask yourself when you’re trying to grow that list.

Sarah Schrader 15:53
So when we’re creating these emails, is there any kind of key elements that we should make sure is in each email that we’re sending?

Nicole Bergeson 16:05
When you’re looking at individual emails, definitely make sure you have one goal in mind, which means one call to action, one theme, one purpose. This is really going to funnel people to read your content, and then click only that button or only that call to action. I think that is the most important thing to include.

Sarah Schrader 16:27
Like, keep it simple.

Nicole Bergeson 16:29
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, and I think that’s where we get hung up, maybe like, we’re gonna send one email a month, and we’re gonna make sure that we talk about absolutely everything in it. But it actually is confusing our audience far more than it is helping them.

Sarah Schrader 16:44
I just want to run back really quick, when you’re talking about frequency. We touched on that welcome sequence and I feel like that’s a question I’ve seen people have before, is, should I be sending them? If I’m doing this six, the longer welcome sequence, should they be daily? Should I space them out? Do you have any recommendations for that, because that might get overwhelming otherwise.

Nicole Bergeson 17:04
Yeah, absolutely. If you are sending out your normal email newsletter, every week, you can get away with every day, or every two days sending those emails in the welcome sequence, you want to make sure that you don’t send that email sequence at the same time you’re also sending them the general newsletter, and all of the email platforms that I know of allows you to exclude anyone on your welcome sequence from getting that normal newsletter. So we first want to make sure that we’re aware of that. So they’re not getting double the emails. But definitely, yeah, one to four days in between is great, if you’re sending out weekly. For those that send out only one email a month, I’ve spread out those emails, six to eight days, so that it doesn’t seem like they’re bombarded with three emails right away, and then they wait a whole month. So that welcome sequence frequency, and duration between the emails does have to kind of coordinate with the frequency of your normal newsletter.

Sarah Schrader 18:15
Yeah, that’s a good setup for like what they can expect.

Nicole Bergeson 18:21
Right, absoultely. Like they’re already getting in the habit of of knowing who you are, and, and what to expect. And if you’re including what to expect the frequency of your normal emails in that welcome sequence, you’re already kind of educating them on, on what to expect once they get out of that sequence.

Shaune Teske 18:40
That’s perfect. And like you said, makes sense, where we’re starting get our clients or customers to know what they can expect from us going forward what they can expect coming into their inbox. I think, as someone that just receives emails, you, if you feel like “I signed up for this, it was once a month or once a week,” or whatever it may be, and now it’s “Okay, I’ve gotten five emails from them, this week, what’s going on?” or whatever. It starts feeling like, this isn’t what I signed up for. And you start almost, I don’t want to seem overdramatic, but you kind of feel betrayed, you’re like, “Um, I didn’t sign up for that.”

Nicole Bergeson 19:19
It feels like, which is why I think that welcome sequence is so important, because if you’re doing that on top of not introducing yourself, it’s really easy for the consumer and to get so angry at you. When we could have just like step back. In a welcome sequence, you can set it up, and then step away and I try to look at it once a quarter. But even if you just look at it once a year to make sure that all the links are working, all the information and pictures are up to date, you don’t really have to do anything after that. So it’s a really important first step.

Shaune Teske 19:53
And it’s super helpful that you’re doing that. You’re sharing more about who you are and what they can expect. And again, creating that trust, which is really important. And I think this brings me back to another topic with trust is that when you’re growing your list, I think sometimes people feel like they want that bigger number faster. And so maybe they start pulling emails from, “oh, well, I have all these clients or I have all these friends or whatever, I’m just going to add them to my list right away.” And I feel like that’s probably not the best way to do it. Correct, Nicole? That you need to be, you need to be not only just like, they need to choose if they’re going to sign up, but isn’t like legally, they cannot do that? Because I know I’ve been added to a few lists recently, and I’m like, “No, I don’t feel like I ever signed up for that.” Can you talk a little bit about like the best practices for that?

Nicole Bergeson 20:53
Absolutely. Legally, they have to opt in to your newsletter. And so when we’re talking about the forms, that somebody is going to add their name, their email, what we call like an “opt in” you, I find it to be the best practice to have a little blurb like the fine print to say, like “you can unsubscribe at any time.” But also, I make it really clear on that form, that in order to get the guide, or the promo that they are signing up for the list. And so it’s something like, “subscribe with your email or sign up with your email to…” And then I talk about the free product or the item that they’re getting. So it’s very clear that they’re signing up for the newsletter, they’re opting in, we’re not just sending off emails to people that didn’t, didn’t agree to be there in the first place. And if we talk about best practices, as well, it is actually required to have an address at the bottom of all business sales email, as well as an option for your subscribers to unsubscribe, both of those items need to be at the bottom of every email.

Shaune Teske 22:04
Thank you for sharing that I mean, it feels like such a small piece that maybe you think everyone should know, but you don’t. Like if you are brand new to email marketing, those little pieces of your, your clients or subscribers have to opt in, you can’t just add them to a list and and say, “oh, now you’re on my list, here you go.” And you have to have, like you said, you have to have that address, you have to, I love having the unsubscribe button, that’s all super important. So thank you for sharing and just making it very clear that people cannot just be adding you to a list that you did not sign up for.

Nicole Bergeson 22:40
And let’s even talk about wedding shows or your clients. If you’re doing a giveaway of some sort. Or maybe you’re you’re sending a questionnaire or a contract to your client, and you’re getting an email address, it’s really simple to just add an open box for them to check with some kind of wording that’s like, “sign me up for your email list.” So there’s still ways to have them opt in with, with them knowing and it being a good practice.

Shaune Teske 23:15
I really appreciate that. I feel like there’s a lot of people that don’t even know that part that. They think, “Oh, well, you wrote your email address down for this giveaway or whatever. So now it’s mine.” And that’s really not how it goes. I even do on, if I have a survey, and I’m asking questions I have at the bottom of my surveys, would you like to be added to the email list? And some people, write “no”, and that’s not gonna affect, like their chances of winning if I’m doing a giveaway or doing some kind of survey, but already then, there is this opt in, there is that that wording that if they do receive an email from me then after, they know because they’ve opted in.

Sarah Schrader 23:54
I have to even in my, I do sort of a client review after, I ask them in that review, “is it okay to add you to my email list?” And there’s a click, you have to click “Yes” before I’ll add them too.

Nicole Bergeson 24:07
Such a great process for doing that.

Sarah Schrader 24:09
Yeah. I want to, like you mentioned, we have to have an address. For those of you who are like cringing, like, I don’t want to put my own address out there, PO boxes are okay, correct?

Nicole Bergeson 24:19
Absolutely. Yes, yes, go out and get a PO box for that exact that exact item. I have seen people that use co-working spaces. If they utilize the mail feature of a co-working space, use that as their as their address as well. And of course, if you have a business that has a physical location, use that address over your personal.

Sarah Schrader 24:46
Awesome. We touched a little bit on sending out different types of emails so it’s not in-your-face-sales all the time. But we want to have a call to action or something all the time, right? So how do we make sure we’re not falling into that overly salesy feeling in our emails?

Nicole Bergeson 25:05
Yeah. So if we talk about the different types of emails that you could send out, it could be a roundup of new content, your favorite resources, an announcement, simply gratitude for fans. And we assume that “well, where’s that call to action going to be because call to action is sale, right?” Well, it’s not if you do a piece of new content, you could take a blog post, just put in maybe the first paragraph or the introduction of the blog post into your email, and then the call to action, the button, is to go to the blog and continue reading. So you’ve directed them to your website, and hopefully, your website and your blog is set up that it converts. A list of your favorite resources, that might be affiliate links, that you’re then getting money for. Gratitude for fans, like, click here to shop, this is a coupon just for you. So all of those things, they don’t inherently seem like, you’re bombarding me with a sale, but there’s still a goal, a call to action, and then it’s directing them somewhere where they can, again, interact with you on a different level, and you’re still making money.

Shaune Teske 26:19
We love making money.

Nicole Bergeson 26:22
It’s all about what it is, right? I think when we look at email, and really any content in general, it has to be intentional. It has to serve a purpose. And then it has to be beneficial for both us and our audience. We have to serve them while then thinking about the bottom line. If you’re sending out an email just so people know that you exist, that isn’t an accurate way to send an email. We really want to step back and look at our goals and our content creation and have a clear plan, and intention and strategy for why we’re sending something out.

Shaune Teske 26:58
So, we’ve talked about, we’re going to create this lead magnet, we’re going to create some kind of either educational content, or freebie or discounted shipping code or whatever it may be. We’re going to do that. We’re going to create a welcome sequence then. So after they’ve opted in, they’re going to get this welcome sequence. After the welcome sequence. Now you start sending them content, you start, like you said ,educational content or things that are going to help. To people that have never done email marketing, and they’re going “Whoa, I have to do all this now just to get started?” How do you go forward? How do you make it so this is going to be beneficial to you and your business without feeling like this is another thing on your to do list. This is another thing you have to remember to do every day or every week or whatever. What is your advice to get started?

Nicole Bergeson 27:53
To First off, step back, because everything you did say right now seems really overwhelming. But even if you were to send out one email a month, that’s only 12 emails. And that can be done in an afternoon, we could create 12 emails. So I think it’s just stepping back and looking at our quarter or our year. And just making sure that those emails align with everything else we’re doing. And to look at email as just another extension of our business, it’s not creating something entirely new. You might have exclusive content or exclusive freebies that you’re giving just to your list, but you can repurpose, just like we repurpose blog posts for Instagram or Facebook, you can repurpose them into emails. So there’s a lot that we can do to make sure that we’re not reinventing the wheel. And then to also understand that those welcome sequences and those lead magnets, it’s a lot of effort up front, we can put the tasks together and to create them. But once you have done that, you can just sit back and watch the subscribers roll in, like everything is automated. Your platform is delivering the freebie. They’re automatically delivering the welcome sequence, they’re putting them into the newsletter. It’s all set up to kind of work behind the scenes. So know that after you’ve done all this work, that it’s going to get a lot easier and all you’re going to have to do is then sit down and think like how can I repurpose my content? What kind of value can I give in just like 12 to 24 emails in a year?

Shaune Teske 29:39
That’s super refreshing and not so intimidating.

Sarah Schrader 29:44
Yeah, you say like 12 emails a year if you’re doing monthly, that’s just a breath of fresh air, and then to say repurposing content, like the give enough to be enticing, like go read the rest.

Nicole Bergeson 29:54
Absolutely. And you don’t know if those that are on your email list or also checking you out on social media, those that are constantly checking Instagram might not check Facebook or email or your blog. So it’s just one more avenue that we have.

Sarah Schrader 30:10
What are some of your favorite tools and resources for people to start doing email marketing?

Nicole Bergeson 30:18
My first and my go to is Flow Desk. Whoo! I love it so much. It is in beta. But it currently is robust enough that if you have any experience in email marketing, you can do things like resend unopens and have these complicated sales funnels. But if that doesn’t describe you, don’t worry. Because it is made for people just starting out with email marketing, which is why I think I get so excited about it, I absolutely love it. It’s clean, it’s simple, it’s easy to navigate. So if you haven’t sent an email before, you can log into flow desk and know exactly what to do. They’ve got helpful articles. And it just kind of guides you through the process. And if we take one further step into it, they already have welcome sequences set up for you. So all you have to do is drag and drop in photos, decide on fonts and colors and add your own kind of spin on your voice and your messaging. And it’s already done for you. So that is the main reason that I love Flow Desk, that if, if all of the stuff we’ve been talking about today seems overwhelming, it guides you through. It even has templates about different sales, emails and nurture emails, to kind of get your idea, the idea of thinking on what you could send out.

Shaune Teske 31:51
I have to second it. I love Flow Dhesk. And even just from a photographer standpoint, it is clean and crisp. And it allows me to make my emails look like my brand were in past, like some other, you know, software things or whatever that I use, I don’t want to name names, because I’m sure they’re still fabulous at what they do, but it just didn’t look nice. And I was, where I would struggle, is like, but this doesn’t look like how I want it to feel. And I don’t know how to change it. So yes, we love Flow Desk. We love everyone over there. They’re fabulous.

Nicole Bergeson 32:27
That is my favorite tool. But a couple more tips, if you’re getting started is that you can just look in your own email inbox, or pick out three businesses or brands that are a step ahead of you that you aspire to be. Take a look at their emails and what they’re putting out to give you a starting point and definitely a starting point. We don’t want to copy their design or their wording, their copy. But it can definitely help you get the ball, ball rolling on your own marketing. I also, I have a separate folder in my email account that if a subject line really made me open up or some kind of copying made me click the call to action button, that is a really great reminder for me of different things to try out as well.

Sarah Schrader 33:21
I like that, like talking about tracking what people are clicking. As you’re getting farther along and sending more emails out, you’re obviously getting more analytics and things that you can keep track of, what are the things that are important for people to look at? Is it like clicking overrides? Is it subscribers, unsubscribes? Like what really matters?

Nicole Bergeson 33:43
I don’t look too much at subscriber size, as long as your email is growing. And like we said earlier, if it’s not just look at what you’re sending out and how much you’re promoting that email list. Beyond that, I definitely look at the open and the click rates, those are what are most important. And just looking at that percentage, it could be that your following is not your ideal client and so you’re not getting a lot of open or click rates because of that. And you just have to keep on pressing forward and growing that email list with people that really want the content that you’re serving. Additionally, we just want to look at what is making them click and create more of that. And then those items where we didn’t get a lot of open rates, is it because my subject line? Is it the content that was in there? Just always kind of analyzing. So I don’t look too much about the rise and fall of the number like “Oh, it was only 20% or only 10%.” What I really look at is did they open it? Or did they not open it? And then what was the content in the subject line that didn’t make them do that action? And just kind of analyzing that to make sure, going forward, that I really kind of deliver on what I’ve promised.

Shaune Teske 35:09
That’s really helpful and that’s really encouraging that is not always about, you know, the subscriber number, it’s more about everything else. And about is your content being devoured? Or is no one really caring, they’re not really clicking through or going forward. And that’s very helpful. We talk a lot about that with like other social media, Instagram, Facebook, it’s not about how many people are on your account, but who is engaging with you. And that’s the same thing with your email list.

Nicole Bergeson 35:42
Absolutely. It’s all about finding that community of people that are going to connect with what you have to say, and are going to see that you’ve sent them an email and immediately want to open it because you’re providing some kind of value, whether it’s education, humor, encouragement, whatever it is, that they know that that’s what they can expect for you. And that’s the dream. That’s the goal to get into that habit and that space that wherever we post, an email or on our website, social media, that we are providing something of value to our audience.

Sarah Schrader 36:18
I love that. You’ve given so much great information and action steps for our listeners to have in terms of setting up a welcome sequence, what needs to be included, what to use, even? Is there anything else that you would like to share on email marketing?

Nicole Bergeson 36:36
Umm, not to take it too seriously. I think that we are overwhelmed with a lot of stats and things to do, but understand that it doesn’t have to be scary. It’s just another avenue of your marketing. And it can create a really great community of people. Especially if you find that your audience replies back to you. They reply to your emails, it’s it’s a lot of fun. And it’s a habit that you definitely have to acquire. And it’s worth starting. Commit to something that is tangible and is able to be done in your schedule, and just get started. Start writing. And I think that would be the biggest takeaway that I would have with with email marketing. And just also have fun.

Shaune Teske 37:35
Yes, fun. Yeah.

Sarah Schrader 37:40
So we would love to be, we’ll give you a chance to let people know where to find you, but before we get to that, we’d love to just give some rapid fire questions to get to know you a little bit. Are you okay with that?

Nicole Bergeson 37:51
I’m ready!

Sarah Schrader 37:53
Awesome. All right. Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Nicole Bergeson 37:58
Oh, I was a night owl until I had children and now I’m just constantly tired.

Sarah Schrader 38:05
I think some people will be very much in line with that. How do you take your coffee or tea?

Nicole Bergeson 38:16
Tea, I take that black. But coffee, it has to have the exact amount of cream. It’s like, I know the color. But I’m gonna sound a little bit like a diva. I don’t actually make my coffee. My husband is really good about that. He makes coffee and he pours the cream in and he just does it perfect. And I’ve become a little codependent. So it’s like a caramally it’s a caramally color.

Shaune Teske 38:44
I love it. I mean, that’s wrong. That’s the wrong answer.

Nicole Bergeson 38:50
I’m sure it is.

Sarah Schrader 38:53
Shaune put out an Instagram post earlier this year about coffee and like how you take it

Shaune Teske 38:58
Very serious about it.

Nicole Bergeson 39:02
Yeah, I gave up coffee with my two children while I was pregnant with them. So for about a two and a half year period, I gave up coffee, and then, because of the the answer to the first question, I’m constantly tired. I’ve had to, you know like wean myself back into the habit. Which is awful.

Sarah Schrader 39:26
Question three. Favorite way to give yourself that extra self care.

Nicole Bergeson 39:33
Oh, um, this would probably be just quiet. I really love quiet. I love to teach and be in front of people and talk to people. But I really crave just being alone and having that recharge moment. So that might look like a trip to Target, it might look like sitting in my car in my garage for a few extra minutes. But yeah, anywhere where I can get just like a little downtime by myself and not have to think is, is like good, good self care. Boring but that’s what I look for.

Sarah Schrader 40:14
What is your go to book recommendation?

Unknown Speaker 40:19
I love The Story Brand For Business. That’s my go-to with messaging and being in love with social media and digital marketing. And, I mean if we’re going personal, I’ve always reread the book Angela’s Ashes so many times. I don’t know why. I just I have.

Sarah Schrader 40:43
I haven’t heard of that one. What’s that about?

Nicole Bergeson 40:47
I don’t know if we want to go into it. Just check it out. It’s a true story. It’s a memoir. Definitely check it out.

Sarah Schrader 40:56
What’s your favorite indulgent treat?

Nicole Bergeson 40:59
Indulgent. Cheesecake. Like a really well done, not frozen, cheesecake.

Sarah Schrader 41:12
What is one place you’d like to travel next?

Nicole Bergeson 41:16
I have always wanted to go to Paris at some point.

Shaune Teske 41:21
It’s really cool. You should go.

Nicole Bergeson 41:23
Oh, I know. I really, I really want to go.

Sarah Schrader 41:27
Final rapid fire question, what is your legacy?

Nicole Bergeson 41:33
That is a big one. I really want my legacy…so this is a question that I think of a lot having young kids and just wanting to know what to instill in them. And I think that it goes beyond them obviously, with every person that I meet and with the businesses that I get the pleasure of doing business with, and that is just encouragement. That you can do it. I want everyone to just give it a try. Whether that means email marketing, like we talked today, or going skiing, I just want everyone to give something a try and to live life to the fullest and not take it too seriously. Jump in the puddles. Jump on your bed. Work hard. Have fun.

Shaune Teske 42:24
Love it. That’s perfect. So Nicole, where can our listeners find you if they want to connect more about all things social media, all things marketing?

Nicole Bergeson 42:34
Well, you can find me at NicoleBergeson.com. Or my favorite place to hang out is Instagram, so that handle is @Nicole.Bergeson. And there is where I really plug in most about digital marketing and provide a lot of value. I hit up Instagram stories on the daily so find me there.

Shaune Teske 42:56
Wonderful. Thank you, Nicole, so much for being here and sharing everything you know their listeners, I know you have a plethora of information. So we hope everyone connects with you afterwards ask questions, and that everyone gets their email marketing going because I’m ready. I want to sign up.

Nicole Bergeson 43:16
Thanks for having me. It was a real pleasure.

Sarah Schrader 43:19
Thanks Nicole.

Shaune Teske 43:35
Thanks for listening to the show. As always, we really appreciate your thoughts and feedback. You can reach out to us on Instagram @TheCreativeLegacyPodcast or leave a review on Apple podcasts, and we might include yours in an upcoming episode.

Sarah Schrader 43:50
This episode may be over, but we want to keep the conversation going. Find us hanging out over on our Instagram account @TheCreativeLegacyPodcast and interact with us there to let us know your perspective and questions on today’s topic. All the show notes and links to resources from this episode can be found at TheCreativeLegacyPodcast.com/episodes

 

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