Building and Segmenting Email Lists That Actually Convert
Flodesk Partnership recapped
Why Email Marketing?
Email is one of the most powerful ways to market and monetize your small business, period.
Unlike other channels, email marketing has the highest ROI of all other channels combined. In fact, the average open rate in the email marketing world is between 25-30%. As for the treacherous, algorithmic landscape that is social media, you’re lucky if 5% of your audience sees your content, and that's considered a good day on Instagram! 🤯
Makes sense why we’re re-visiting the first two parts of a our email marketing educational series with Flodesk! With key findings that were guaranteed to help you build opt-ins that convert and nurture your list through segmenting, our goal for this series was to:
Help founders learn how to build a thriving list
Nurture and segment the right way
Boost sales before the end of the year
Without further ado, let’s review these 5 takeaways from our webinar series that will help you unlock some of the highest ROI you’ve ever seen for your email marketing.👇
01: ⭐ List Quality > Quantity
LIFE HACK: You don’t need the biggest (or baddest) email list to get the most engagement.
“A smaller, more intentional group of subscribers who truly want to hear from you will outperform any massive cold list!”
Dawn Richardson, our co-collaborator at Flodesk and their Head of Product Education shared that she has made multiple six figures with a list of less than 500 dedicated subscribers 🤯! So, start those conversations with your warm-to-hot audiences, even if it’s 20 people.
For those who haven’t engaged with your brand after six months, BYE Felicia! Segment them and put them into a group that you don’t email anymore. These are low-quality subscribers, and it’s OK to say goodbye. Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because they got what they needed, and moved on.
And...no matter how much you want too….don't purchase a list. This negatively impacts your deliverability, and it puts your brand at risk for being blacklisted. Unless these individuals sign up explicitly to be on your list, they are not yours to use.
I shared a hard marketing truth with our participants: you can’t manufacture motivation. Get your leads interested through opt-ins that are fun, personalized and demonstrate value.
02: ✅ Create Opt-Ins That Solve Real Problems
You can dxperiment with any of the following:
For Product-based brands: Did you know that 85% of consumers sign up for marketing emails seeking a reward (with a discount being the primary driver)? So, hit them with special offers or gamified pop-ups (spin to win forms covert exceptionally well) that are both personalized and relevant to their buying motives.
Fun Fact: Some brands have experienced conversion rates of 55-70% just SIX MONTHS after launching a quiz!💡
For Service-based brands: Quizzes, assessments and calculators are the HIGHEST converting forms. Remember, people are already motivated to understand themselves, so a quiz helps them tap into an innate driver and motivator. So, your job is to help your target customers see themselves better in your brand. While lower on the list, micro trainings give customers a small taste of your offering and present a path towards clarity and value.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to experiment with multiple incentives and forms! From Pinterest pins to opt-Ins at the end of blog posts, these will help you meet your customers where they are!
03: 📤 Segment Early and Let Subscribers Self-Select
DID YOU KNOW: You can generate up to 3X more click and open rates (😲) simply by sending emails that send the right message to the right person!
(You said it, Ron👆)
This means that the more relevant Google ‘thinks’ your email content is, it’ll land in inboxes towards the top of their list.
This is going to change the game for email marketing in a big way!
🏆 PRO TIPS for segmenting:
Segment your audiences based on their responses to a quick question.
Sign-up forms with checklists, quizzes or opt-Ins help subscribers tell you who they are (e.g., product vs. service founder, beginner vs. advanced)
We love a good lead magnet like, ‘Get Your Free Checklist,’ to align with a paid offer.
04: 📈 Keep Segmenting as You Grow
Use audience-specific polls, tags, or click-based automation helps refine your audience over time and nurture the relationship. Track what links they click, what content they open, and tailor your next email to that interest.
Here’s a few Segment ideas:
👑 For Your VIPs: Find out who engages the most, and give them a little extra something and put them in a separate segment called “Most Engaged,” or “Warm Leads”
🐶 Favorite things: this is great for product-based businesses. As your audience clicks on different products, you can build lead lists and drop those subscribers into product-specific segments. Then you can run a sale a special promo for that hot list!
📃 Waitlists: People love this, especially during the Holiday season. Sell out before posting anywhere else!
🥇 Early access: First dibs for products or services of a limited quantity / time
💌 Personalization Builds Trust
(and Prevents Unsubscribes)
Talk to your audience like humans, not like just another box to check off. Did they sign up for an upcoming educational webinar?
Tell them, ‘Hey (name), we can’t wait to see you there!’
What This Means For…
Product Brands
Quiz Me!
Let's assume a candle maker offers a “Find Your Signature Scent” quiz to attract new subscribers. Now imagine those results segment users into “Floral,” “Earthy,” and “Seasonal” lists.
From there, you can send each group (segment) personalized recommendations, early access to matching bundles, exclusive discounts, or other related content.
What This means For…
Service Brands
Audits For The Win💪
Let's assume a business coach gives away a “5-Minute Clarity Audit” checklist. Based on how respondents score themselves, they’re tagged as either “Brand New Founder” or “Scaling Founder,” this could then trigger different nurture emails and tailored workshop invites offering them to take the next step.
When you truly know how (and when) to engage with your customers, email marketing can be a beautiful thing😊. Remember: quality over quantity (always). Authenticity builds the most trust. And experimentation helps you meet the customers where they are.
✨ Last tip: Come up with 3-5 segments tailored to your customers It can be based on anything → their favorite things, colors, even pain points. I believe in you!
✌️ Until next time,
Jess, Co-founder of Her Brand & Co, Head of Learning at Full Tilt.
Click here to learn more about Her Brand & Co. and how founders can grow their business with easier, better marketing.
How we can help
Marketing can feel impossible sometimes
It’s because you’re doing all the things. And if you're ready to prioritize email marketing, we’re here to help you make it happen.
Our subscription is the ideal solution for founders who want an affordable way to build sales that are sustainable and steady.
With an HBC subscription, you're guaranteed:
✅ Personalized Help & Support → Bring your overwhelm, ideas, opportunities, deadlines, and confusion to HBC Office Hours where we’ll review, untangle, and you’ll get you the expert personalized support you need.
✅ Real Community & Safe Space → Small, trusted rooms where honesty and vulnerability thrive, and where founders can collectively move through the emotional challenges of marketing and running your business.
✅ Accountability → You'll get clear instructions, gentle pressure, and follow-through you can measure.
✅ Ongoing Education & Best Practices → Continue to expand and improve your marketing knowledge and confidence with expert-led monthly programming.
Many of our founders this year are unsubscribing from performative entrepreneurship. They're over the highlight reel, and they want to do less and make more money.
If you want a safe place to learn with a trusted group of folks who know all the marketing ins and outs, an HBC subscription is for you.
🎁 As an added bonus, a paid HBC subscription will get you access to all of the Flodesk recordings + the Tech Support Session
