3 Reasons every Small Business owner MUST have an email list

Social media has become such a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their audience, build brand awareness and drive sales. However, while social media platforms are essential for reaching a wide audience, having an email list is equally important for nurturing relationships, increasing engagement and driving conversions.

I know from experience that you don't own your content or your audience on social media... The platform owners do! Early in 2023, Facebook disabled my account for 30 days. To this day, I still don't actually know what I did wrong. Apparently, I contravened the Facebook Community Guidelines. I tried everything I could to make it right, but unfortunately, Facebook doesn't have a customer service department to ring and trying to get help from them is extremely difficult. I emailed them every day for 30 days to fix it and it was never reinstated.

Not only did I lose all my contacts, but I lost access to my Facebook pages and as I was the only Admin with "Full access" I never gained control of one of my pages that had 3000 followers... but even worse, we live streamed our wedding on my Facebook profile in Dec 2020.. that video was deleted with my account.. I never thought to download it.. assuming it would always be there! There is so much content that just went down the drain.

I stared building an email list after this happened, as that way, I own my contacts and have a way of connecting with them, should I ever lose access to my social media accounts again.

Here are 3 Reasons why you should prioritise building an email list for your business, even while you are utilising social media:

1. Direct and Personalised Communication

One of the key advantages of having an email list is the ability to communicate directly with your audience in a personalised manner. Unlike Social media algorithms that can limit the reach of your posts, email allows you to deliver targeted messages and offers directly to your subscriber’s inboxes.

You can segment your email list based on interest, behaviours or demographics, you can tailor your content to resonate with each subscriber, which can increase your engagement with your audience and also increase your conversion rate.

2. Ownership and Control of your Audience

While social media platforms are valuable for reaching a broad audience, the reality is that you don’t own or control your followers.

Algorithm changes, platform policies or account suspensions can impact your reach and visibility overnight.

By building an email list, you have ownership and control of your audience, ensuring that your messages reach your subscribers regardless of external factors.

This level of control is essential for maintaining a direct line of communication with your most loyal customers and followers.

What does "Driving Conversions" Mean?

It's the process of turning website visitors, social media followers, or email subscrivers into paying customer or taking a desired action. Conversions can vary depending on the goals of a business such as making a purchase, signing up for a newletter, downloading a resource or filling out a contact form.

3. Increased Conversions and Sales

When it comes to driving conversions and sales, email marketing continues to be one of the most effective channels for businesses. Studies have shown that email campaigns have higher conversion rates compared to social media posts, as emails are more targeted and personalised.

By nurturing your email list with valuable content, exclusive offers and personalised recommendations, you can build trust and loyalty with your subscribers, leading to increased sales and revenue for your business.

Summary

While social media is a powerful tool for reaching a wide audience and building brand awareness, having an email list is essential for nurturing relationships, increasing engagement and driving conversions.

By using personalised emails to talk directly to your audience, having control over who sees your messages (not relying on social platforms only showing your content to 5% of your audience) and getting more people to buy your products, you can make your business really successful online.