You send questions, I answer them for all the world to see. A rising tide lifts all boats, so make sure you steal, er…. adapt these answers and ideas to your own email marketing sends!

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Q. I was going to start an email newsletter, but someone told me it’ll probably just end up people’s SPAM folders. Is this true?

A. If you’re just sending to a big BCC list using something like Gmail account – probably, yes. Don’t do that.

“There are a lot of spammers using @gmail.com to send out mass emails. So to protect their sender’s reputation, Google has strong anti-spam policies that often block bulk emails, whether it is spam or not,” says Email Octopus.

Use a for-real “Email Service Provider” like MailChimp or Substack. They’re built for sending to lots of people (unlike Gmail), and have better tools to get people to subscribe to your list, too, with landing pages (a fancy term for “a website where people can sign themselves up for your email list).

If you send with something legit, your email probably won’t go to spam. That said, you can still fuck things up! Check out Mailchimp’s ‘How to Avoid Spam Filters,’ and “only email people who have given you permission!”

Q. I’m thinking of starting an email list to let people know about my upcoming shows. I’m thinking about starting a YouTube account to post video, too. Google says Constant Contact is the best platform for embedded video in email. Do you think this is true? (from SH)

A. The way I’ve been “embedding” videos is screen shots of the YouTube player, and putting that into Mailchimp (or Klaviyo, or Substack), like this:

Adding a button helps, too. People love buttons.

“Using a call-to-action button instead of just a text link got us a 28% increase in click-throughs,” says Campaign Monitor in a test they did.

“Lastly, don’t assume the reader only clicks on the CTA button. Curious people often try to click different elements in the email like the logo, headlines, and images. Consider adding the same link to those elements if you think it will help the reader,” says MailerLite.

This is why I always link video screen shots to the video, too!

You could also use an animated GIF for your video, too. Just be mindful of the file size. “Ensure you GIF is sized at 0.5 MB or 1 MB maximum,” says Send In Blue. Check out ‘A guide to animated GIFs in email’ from Litmus for lots of insight.

Video is tricky in emails, so I’m a big believer in using the most “basic” method, to makes sure it works for everyone.

Many thanks to RH, our first reader-submitted specimen for EMAIL AUTOPSY!

If you’re new here, I dissect email campaigns from bands and labels, breaking them down to show how other metal folks do it!

This week we have the mighty Conjurer from the UK, who signed to Nuclear Blast back in February.

SUBJECT LINE: ‘We’re Back, Baby’ from Conjurer

CLINICAL SUMMARY: Laid back tone from a laid back bunch of guys. I had the pleasure to talk to these guys a few times over the years, and the messaging here totally reflects their chill demeanor.

Above is a good example of “giving.”

Yes, we sign up to get updates from bands all the time. And 99% of the time those emails are pretty self-serving; pre-order our album, watch our video, buy our shirt. And that’s fine – we know what we’re signing up for!

But then Conjurer goes ahead and does something like this, linking you to another band entirely.

This is a nice surprise, and they’re linking to a good band. Perhaps they’ll link to another band in their next email? Oooh, that means I better open their next email they send, right? SMART.

Turns out Sugar Horse is pretty good, too.

HEAVY METAL EMAIL RECOMMENDS: If you’re a goofball, be a goofball in your email marketing. Don’t ever be afraid to share you personality throughout your messaging.

“The more consistent you are with voice and tone, the more recognizable your brand will be to customers who receive your email. That consistency helps your email stand out from all of the other messages in their inbox,” Square

“In general, your marketing is better served with a more personal touch that lends it some distinctness. This is especially true in an age where society craves authenticity,” Axel & Associates

“Blueprinted emails quickly bore the boots off your readers,” says Copy Blogger. Think about it – how many bands just say “new album out now,” or “check out our tour dates?” Don’t be afraid to spice things up.

BLACK FRIDAY IS COMING UP!

Consider sending an email on Monday (Nov 22) with some sort of offer for the week – you’re competing with Target and BestBuy, along with family get togethers, and travel, so make it easy for your audience to purchase something from you this week. Send sooner than later.

Don’t worry about being “spammy” by sending an email campaign to your audience this coming week.

“Spam” is unwanted, not relevant, a waste of time.

But your audience signed up to get your updates! They bought something from you. They gave you their email address.

Lead with a photo that you posted to Instagram that got a lot of likes. Expand on the original caption (not everyone saw that post in the first place). Include a story – a wild Thanksgiving memory, a show you went to, something from your youth.

Then, sure… include that record you put out earlier this year, or that zine you printed over the summer. IT’S OKAY. Especially during the holidays. Give your fans a chance to support you!

Hello! In this email I’m answering a question from reader LT, and hoping it’s helpful for everyone, too. If you ever have a question, just reply to any email, or email me at seth@socialmediaescape.club

Q. Best ways to get people to sign up, besides orders?

A. Send a newsletter people want to sign up for!

Figure out why someone should sign up for your email list.

This is your “lead magnet,” which is a horrible term used in the email marketing world, but it works.

Don’t just say, “sign up for tour dates,” say, “sign up to see photos from our last tour,” which then gets people to subscribe. Then you eventually send them your new tour dates.

As I recently wrote, “consider starting a newsletter for something adjacent (and more popular) to what you’re doing, and then you’re able to promote your main project just by association.”

If you’re a guitar player, and you nerd out with effects pedals, start a newsletter talking about your favorite gear. Your current set up. Talk to other guitarists (from other bands) about their effects pedals.

If you’re an artist, highlight some of your favorite album covers, or show posters. Swap emails with other artists and present them as interviews.

Think about everything surrounding what you do and consider using that as the focus of your newsletter. That’s your lead magnet for your email list.

Even the stuff you’re already posting on social media can be your lead magnet. As I wrote in 2018, from ‘What Would I Even Put in an Email Newsletter?’

For years you’ve been providing social media networks with your content for free, willy-nilly. You, and 324328 other bands and labels and distros and brands. All those behind the scenes photos, updates from the road, show reports, new product announcements.

Yeah, that’s the stuff you put into a newsletter. Then you start “sharing” less of that on social media.

What gets you the most engagement on social media? Use that. Keep posting a few of those things, and sneak in something like, “hey, sign up for my newsletter for more.”

Hey, friends – time for another three emails that I rip open and examine for your benefit. This week I try to offer some ideas you can steal and use for yourself.

SUBJECT LINE: ‘Asking Alexandria, Slipknot, Scorpions’ from Stream N’ Destroy

CLINICAL SUMMARY: This newsletter from Ryan Downey covers a lot of data in the heavy music world – stream and video plays, sales #s; lots of “insider baseball” stuff.

HEAVY METAL EMAIL RECOMMENDS: I’m featuring this email for all you writers out there. If anyone could just link to a bunch of interviews and articles they’ve written, it’d be Ryan. But he had something else to offer – insider knowledge, insight, patience (he’s been doing it for years), and friends in the business who’d appreciate an informative email like this.

YOU have insider knowledge and insight, too! You don’t just write posts and interview bands, you are on the cutting edge of culture, and I’m not just saying that to be dramatic – music industry careers have started in mosh pits and VFW halls.

The shows you attend, the access you already have – it’s easy to take that for granted, but there’s a lot of people who won’t ever go “backstage,” or be on a tour bus. Share that experience with them.

ALSO:

• ‘125 Newsletter Ideas That’ll Impress Your Readers For Sure’ from Send In Blue – obviously not the most metal site around, but some good ideas in here.
• ‘27 Newsletter Ideas You Can Use to Engage Your Readers’ from Active Campaign

SUBJECT LINE: 🔵 Only one week until Things Take Time, Take Time 🔵 from Courtney Barnett

CLINICAL SUMMARY: While Courntney Barnett may be a heavy metal icon, but it’s very metal to credit everyone involved (see the links to the poster designer and photographer)! It takes a team – which got me thinking…

HEAVY METAL EMAIL RECOMMENDS: Consider doing a collaborative newsletter – not everything needs to be a solo endeavor.

Maybe you’re friends with an artist, and you’re a writer, and neither of you want to start a newsletter on your own. You could start a newsletter about album art. If a videographer and a photographer started a newsletter about music videos? Hell yes, sign me up.

And hey, most podcasts are started by two people – why not a newsletter?

The cool thing is it doesn’t have to be directly about your main project. It’s easier to get people to sign up for a newsletter about horror movies or baseball than it is… your band. Lots of metal fans already love horror movies, but they don’t know about your band (not yet).

Consider starting a newsletter for something adjacent (and more popular) to what you’re doing, and then you’re able to promote your main project just by association.

SUBJECT LINE: THE DOWNBEAT: Live in London TICKETS from The Downbeat, which is Stray from the Path drummer Craig Reynolds and his (award winning) podcast and clothing brand.

CLINICAL SUMMARY: All three links here go to the same thing – the ticket site. That’s how you do a call to action.

HEAVY METAL EMAIL RECOMMENDS: You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. In a basic sense, the above example could be a post on social media – image, text, link.

SEE ALSO:

• ‘Event Reminder Emails: 5 Effective Strategies’ from Beefree
• ‘Events Newsletter Design Gallery and Examples’ from MailerLite

No one signs up for a social media account and says, “don’t worry, I’ll only post once a month, I don’t wanna be too spammy!”

So why do we act like that with email newsletters?

Maybe because when you donate to a political campaign they start emailing you twice a day?

Or when you buy from an online retailer they bombard you with emails a few times a week?

Well, you’re not them.

The stuff you post on socials – the photos from shows, the work-in-progress videos, the rants, the albums that you love – could all go into an email.

Remember these two facts:

1. Not everyone follows you on social media.
2. Even if they do, algorithms will prevent them from seeing your posts.

So your live-action shots and clips from the studio go unseen – mostly (probably) by your biggest fans.

The ones who buy your albums, your prints, you shirts, your art.

Yes, if you email once a week with just PURCHASE NOW or BUY TICKETS messages, people are going to unsubscribe.

So don’t do that.

Your fans subscribed because they love you, and want more of you. Give them more of you.

You can literally scroll back through your socials from each week, see what resonated, and copy and paste that into your email.

Write more about some of your thoughts from the week.

Post some photos from your art opening on your site, then mention them in your newsletter. “Hey, click here to see more.”

That’s not a hard sell. That’s not trying to get anyone to pull out their wallet when they’re in line at Dunkin Donuts.

It’s a passive ask, friend to friend:
Here’s the lyrics to our next single.
Sneak peek at our next shirt design.
This is the inspiration for our next album.

Yes, include your album art and a pre-order link. Below the fold. Think of it like an ad in a magazine. You read the interview, then notice the full page ad on the next page.

Your fans aren’t ATMs, they’re your friends, followers, people who gave you their email address and said, “yes, I want more from you.”

Give more of you.

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Some resources for your own study:

“Never treat people like units of data, create buyer personas complete with photos for each segment to maximize results. This will help you create and send not just the right content, but also define the perfect email frequency. Additionally, conduct your own experiments to test email frequency for every segment,” from Snov Labs.

“Our data suggests every two weeks is the “sweet spot” for getting the most people to see your emails without burning out your subscriber list. Though of course, you should always test to see what works best for you,” says Campaign Monitor.

“Once you’ve established an email cadence you’re comfortable with (and that you think your subscribers will enjoy), your main focus should be on providing quality, relevant content. If it’s something your subscribers will enjoy, they’ll look forward to every email you send,” says AWeber.

“You should err on the side of more, not fewer, emails,” says Jilt, with lots of data behind it.

Artist Joan Pope sends out a weekly email, serving as “an overview of my creative works made in the past week.” Read it here.