Marketing Topic of the Week:
“Email Newsletters For Artists Part 2: Building an Email List”

Last week we discussed the importance of building an email list and why having one is more powerful and dependable than a social media following. So how do you start building a list? And how do you get people to actually open your emails? Let’s talk about it!

Building Your List

Use Lead Magnets

Lead magnets are incentives that you offer in exchange for someone agreeing to be on your email list. What kind of things can you offer? Check out the list below for some lead magnet ideas.

  • Discount code

  • Exclusive, subscriber only access to sales/artwork drops

  • Downloadable phone or computer background of one of your art pieces

  • Tips on how to preserve artwork

  • Guide to what art supplies you use

  • List of local upcoming events for art enthusiasts

  • Video tutorial on your craft

Where can you use these lead magnets?

  • Share the offer on your social media channels

  • Add a link to your social media bio section

  • Add a pop up on your website that prompts visitors to join your email list in exchange for your lead magnet

  • Do you belong to any Facebook or online groups in which the information in your lead magnet might be helpful? Share it with them (make sure the group allows promotion first)

Get the Most From In Person Interactions

Do you participate in art fairs or events where you get to speak directly with attendees? Make sure to bring a newsletter sign up sheet to have at your booth/table. Encourage anyone who stops by to leave their email. Even if they don’t purchase something that day, they may purchase a different piece down the line after seeing it your newsletter. Collecting emails is an amazing way to stay connected with people who otherwise may have never crossed paths with your work again.

How To Maintain an Engaged Email List

It may not seem like it, but asking someone to hand over their email to you is a big deal. They are trusting you with a direct way to contact them, having faith that you will not misuse or take advantage of that privilege. Here are some ways that you can serve your subscribers while still getting your necessary messaging out there.

  • Be very clear about what people should expect when they sign up for your newsletter. Mention roughly how often you will be emailing and what kind of info will be in those emails. If someone signs up for your newsletter believing they are getting one thing and you provide something entirely different, not only will they unsubscribe, they will likely mark your email as spam. This is detrimental to your email deliverability because the more emails that are marked as spam by recipients, the more likely your future emails will be flagged as spam by email providers.

  • Use a compelling subject line. Give people a reason to want to open your email. Make sure you are not using “spammy” keywords in your subject line that might trigger email providers to mark your email as spam. Buzzwords like “free”, “limited time offer”, or “act now” often trigger spam filters. Try to keep your subject lines personal to your specific audience, this will lower your chances of coming across as spam.

  • Provide consistent value. If you provide something of value each week, subscribers will be more inclined to open your next email because they will expect to find something of value in there as well. Ex: Upcoming local art events, an update on a highly anticipated piece you’ve been working on.

  • Prompt your audience to communicate back to you. Marketing focussed email service providers like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and Beehiiv will have features like polls and surveys that allow you to easily get feedback from your audience. Use these features to check in on what your audience would like to see more or less of in your newsletters. You can even encourage subscribers to respond directly to your emails and start one on one conversations.

  • Segment your audience. This might be a little advanced for those who are brand new to email marketing but it’s still helpful to know about. Segmenting your audience means breaking subscribers up into different categories based on shared characteristics. (We’ll dive deeper into this topic in another issue). Segmenting your audience allows you to provide tailored communication to different subscriber groups. The more personal the communication, the more engaged the subscribers will be.