What would happen if the social media platform(s) you use crashed and never returned….all of the hard work you’ve put in to growing your following and relationships would be gone *poof!* just like that. Those platforms own your followers and potential customers, you don’t!  But, if you consider implementing email marketing, an email list of people that have digitally opted-in to receive information from you, then you can rest assure that you’ll have a way to continually communicate with your audience.  

I’m not saying don’t use social media – I use four for my business and know it’s a great way to initially get in front of your audience. But, to really connect with people and potential clients, you need to create an email list. Start blogging, putting out content, offers, and communicating your message. It’s a great way to build business relationships through your own unique voice and branding. And, YOU own that list of amazing people who want to hear what you have to say and offer.

But where to start? I see a lot of people advertising help with growing already established lists or “how-to” begin a list without really defining what all of that is within an email marketing (EM) system. Don’t get me wrong, all of that help is great, the more out there sharing their expertise, the better! 

But, I didn’t even understand the terminology when I first started out. I had to do a lot of research and look up a TON of definitions online. And, I took an amazing class to learn a little bit more about the functionality of the basic email marketing tools (primarily Mailchimp and Mailerlite).  So, let’s go over the definitions below:

Audience/Subscribers

This is the group of people that have opted in to your list! Within some EM tools you can have more than one audience, but I recommend that you stick with one and allow segments and tags to sort. Having more then one can complicate things and is not needed unless you have very specific circumstances. 
 

Segments

The difference between segments and tags (discussed next) can get confusing and are sometimes used interchangeably. Segments are a way to filter your audience once they’ve signed up. You can sort by location, activity, tags they have, language, date added, etc. If you want to get super specific on who you’re targeting in your campaigns, segmentation is where it is at! 

Tags

Can also be called ‘interest groups’ and sometimes ‘segments’ depending on the EM tool you are using. This great feature allows you to sort your followers into different categories within your audience. Let’s use my tags for example. Currently, I have three separate opt-ins that people can sign up for and get on my list: Kartra, Email Marketing, and Technology. I use these those three titles as my tags within my email marketing system.  If I want to further target a specific part of my audience or see how many are signing up in each, tags become super helpful. Another way to look at it is an outline: Audience/Subscribers, Segments, and tags. 

Landing Page

Comes in many different styles – full page, inline, popup are the main three for Email Marketing. There’s usually an offer attached to it to get you to sign up such as a free guide, percentage off, mini-course, etc. This has to really catch your eye to get you to sign up, so you want to make sure your opt-in is juicy!

Campaign

This is a series of emails sent out over a specific period of time with one specific purpose such as promotions, launches, etc.  The top three common campaigns are a welcome sequence, nurture sequence, or sales sequence. Each of these three are very important to capture your audience and try to make those sells later on! 

Automation

Can also be called workflows. This is where you can set up a sequence of emails when someone signs up. This is the process that you set up within your ESP to send out your email campaigns to your audience. There are specific triggers that you have to define. 
 
I hope the definitions above give you a better understanding of those Email Marketing terms you hear thrown around in the online space. Starting with the basics is always the best way to move forward with something new.
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