Email Marketing for Podcasters Who Don’t Know What to Send with Hannah Davis

Leveraging Your Podcast Back Catalog for Email Marketing

The Missed Opportunity of Podcast Content

Leah Bryant [00:00:02 - 00:00:43]:
[00:00:02] Today, we're talking about something that solves multiple problems at once. [00:00:08] And if you've been around here any time at all, and you know me, you know I love when one strategic move creates compound effects. [00:00:16] What I see happening is you're putting energy into creating podcast episodes, like, really good episodes, episodes with real value, and then they get published. [00:00:27] Maybe you get some downloads the first week you have that dopamine hit, and then they just sit there. [00:00:32] Meanwhile, you probably do have an email list. [00:00:35] Maybe you're using it for launches. [00:00:38] Maybe you're in that cycle of, hmm, I should email my list. [00:00:42] But I don't know what to say.

Merging Podcast and Email Strategies

Leah Bryant [00:00:44 - 00:01:58]:
[00:00:44] So you just don't email them. [00:00:47] But what if those two things could actually support each other? [00:00:50] What if your back catalog of episodes could feed into your email strategy, and your email could drive people back to those episodes that deserve more than one week of visibility? [00:01:00] Well, that's exactly what we're unpacking today with the one and the only Hannah Davis. [00:01:06] She's an email marketing strategist who helps creative entrepreneurs sell more without burning out, which already tells you we're going to get along just fine, because that's the whole philosophy behind everything that I teach here. [00:01:17] Hannah works specifically with people who want to move beyond social media as their only sales channel, and she's going to walk us through how to build a sustainable email strategy that actually converts. [00:01:30] So we're going to be covering what to send in weekly newsletters when you're not launching, how to automate your back catalog so it keeps working for you and not collect dust, and where email fits into your overall podcast growth strategy. [00:01:44] And before we get into it, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you to go listen to episode 65 to learn how to also double your podcast downloads by leveraging that back catalog with SEO. [00:01:54] But without further ado, welcome to the show, Hannah. [00:01:57] So glad that you are here.

Hannah Davis [00:01:59 - 00:02:03]:
[00:01:59] Hi, Leah. [00:02:00] Thanks for having me. [00:02:01] I can't wait to talk about all about emails.

Why Podcasters Struggle with Email Consistency

Leah Bryant [00:02:04 - 00:02:27]:
[00:02:04] Yes. [00:02:04] I'm so excited. [00:02:05] All right, so let's start here. [00:02:08] Most podcasters that I work with have an email list, as they should. [00:02:13] They know that they should be using it, but there's this gap between knowing it matters and actually doing it consistently. [00:02:23] So, like, what are you seeing from your side of the world?

The Normal Struggle of Email Marketing for Creatives

Hannah Davis [00:02:27 - 00:03:11]:
[00:02:27] Yeah, I'm seeing that across the board with creatives, not just with podcasters. [00:02:31] So, like, first of all, you're normal for having that problem. [00:02:34] If you don't have that problem, you know, you're either an email marketer or you've got some sophisticated team. [00:02:40] So, like, if you're more in the solopreneur space or just have an assistant or whatever, and you're struggling, first of all, normal, love it. [00:02:48] Then we've acknowledged the problem. [00:02:49] Now we have to move on to, okay, how are we going to combat that? [00:02:52] And I think a lot of times it comes down to, you know, what do I even say is, like, the first problem? [00:02:59] And then there's always going to be, when you're first starting out, anything new, you're going to feel uncomfortable. [00:03:05] Your first newsletters are not going to be good. [00:03:07] I have purposely not looked at mine because I know they aren't not good.

Hannah Davis [00:03:11 - 00:03:50]:
[00:03:11] Like, yes, it's one of those things where you really have to get into the rhythm of this is how I speak in newsletters. [00:03:18] And it becomes like clockwork, where it doesn't feel uncomfortable. [00:03:22] So if you have your email started, like, that's step one. [00:03:25] Because a lot of industries, some surprising to me, that have writing adjacent fields, think that they don't even need a newsletter. [00:03:32] And that's a whole different problem. [00:03:33] So, like, if you've already started, like, great, step one, you've already accomplished what a lot of people can't. [00:03:39] You've started. [00:03:40] So then it comes down to, you know, getting into the weekly rhythm and making sure you have a welcome sequence to invite people into your world right away when they sign up.

Hannah Davis [00:03:50 - 00:03:57]:
[00:03:50] Because that's another thing that's often missing is you're not getting that touch point with your new subscribers when they're the most warm, usually.

Email as Part of Your Holistic Podcast Growth Strategy

Leah Bryant [00:03:58 - 00:04:47]:
[00:03:58] Yeah, I love that. [00:04:00] And I love it because you said that you don't look at your first emails that you sent because it's completely different to what you're sending now. [00:04:08] And that relates so much to podcasting. [00:04:10] Because I often tell podcasters when they start podcasting, their first episodes are not going to sound the same as they do at, like episode 50 or 60 or even 20 or even 7. [00:04:21] Because we grow, right? [00:04:23] And the more things that we do and we practice it, the better that we become. [00:04:27] So it translate beautifully. [00:04:29] Podcasting email, I love, also connects to something that I talk about a lot of the time, like, specifically, like the podcast strategy. [00:04:39] People think the answer is always creating more, more episodes, more content, more posts, more, more, more, more, more.

Leah Bryant [00:04:48 - 00:05:32]:
[00:04:48] But in reality, it's really about getting more mileage from what we've already created. [00:04:55] So, like, your email strategy seems to solve that exact problem. [00:04:58] Right? [00:04:58] So let's talk about that for a second first, before we get real tactical. [00:05:03] But like, where does email fit into, like a bigger picture, do you think? [00:05:07] Like, with the podcast? [00:05:09] Because, like, I teach my seamless podcast framework, which is strategy, execution, attraction and momentum. [00:05:16] And I feel like the email can touch all phases of that framework. [00:05:21] But I would love to know like, the strategic side for you and like how it fits into like the bigger picture for podcasting and like the growth there.

Connecting Podcast Funnels with Email Strategy

Hannah Davis [00:05:32 - 00:06:12]:
[00:05:32] Yeah. [00:05:33] And it's going to depend a little bit on what point in the funnel someone's coming in. [00:05:36] You know, obviously if they go to your website and they sign up for the email first, they're going to hear about the podcast second, versus, you're going to have instances of where it's the other way around, where they're listening to the podcast, found it on Spotify or wherever they're listening and come to the email list because you mentioned a freebie. [00:05:52] So that's another key thing, is to have some sort of freebie but also have a sign up just for your newsletter. [00:05:58] Some people for a while were saying, oh, never mention that as a newsletter. [00:06:02] You know, don't have a sign up, always have a freebie. [00:06:04] And I disagree with that because there's some times where honestly I like the person, but the freebie is just not resonating with me for whatever reason. [00:06:10] But I want to hear from them.

Hannah Davis [00:06:12 - 00:06:43]:
[00:06:12] So you want to cover your basis of having, at least in the footer of your website, a sign up just for the newsletter and then have the freebie sprinkled throughout your website, mention it in episodes and then you can create that momentum from both sides of it, depending on where someone's coming in. [00:06:26] If you do use social media, you know, you can point people to the freebie or point people to episodes, which point to the freebie. [00:06:32] It just all kind of ends up in this flow of where one's helping the other. [00:06:36] You just have to put those little markers in to address depending on which entry point someone's coming in is going to be different.

Reducing Barriers for Email List Signups

Leah Bryant [00:06:44 - 00:07:10]:
[00:06:44] Right. [00:06:44] I just. [00:06:45] This year, not this year, within the past six months, I just created a link specifically just to sign up for the newsletter without having to like download anything. [00:06:54] It's literally just to sign up for the newsletter. [00:06:56] Because I teach a lot of my newsletters and I was finding people were like, I want to get on your newsletter, Leah, but I don't need this and I don't need that. [00:07:03] And so I was like, why create that barrier? [00:07:06] Just make it easy. [00:07:07] Right. [00:07:07] So that way they can go to like literally on my website, leah.

Leah Bryant [00:07:10 - 00:08:07]:
[00:07:10] Bryantco.com newsletter and just put in their. [00:07:14] I don't even think I asked for their first name. [00:07:15] I think it's literally just their email. [00:07:17] And then bam, you're in the email and they go right into my welcome sequence. [00:07:20] I love that so much. [00:07:22] And it makes so much sense because it all ties directly, like, into especially what I see specifically with podcast analytics in the attraction phase, specifically is like, where we work on discoverability, right? [00:07:38] Like getting found through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, all the podcasting platforms and your website, all the things Google, all of it feels like once somebody finds you and listens, well, then what? [00:07:51] Because email then becomes like your momentum tool, right? [00:07:54] It's like how you stay connected, bring them back to not just you, not just your offerings, but like more episodes and like, eventually move them towards working with you.

How to Use Email to Keep Your Podcast Audience Engaged

Avoiding Forgettability and Staying Top-of-Mind

Hannah Davis [00:08:08 - 00:08:54]:
[00:08:08] I think the curse of becoming forgettable is the biggest thing, you know, with any business offer. [00:08:13] Whatever you're doing, like, it, you know, some industries you'll find or, oh, I'm bugging people by emailing all the time or, you know, posting all the time or whatever the situation is. [00:08:23] Like, no, your risk becoming forgettable if you don't have that touch point and, you know, where you decide to have all these touch points is a whole different conversation. [00:08:31] I choose to do that via email as my primary. [00:08:34] Like, if nothing else gets done, email is what I'm focusing on. [00:08:39] Like, I haven't posted on Instagram since the end of last year and so who knows when I'll resume that again. [00:08:45] Just because, like, if I have to drop something, I'm a pick email first and blogging and things that have longevity over it. [00:08:53] And yes.

Hannah Davis [00:08:54 - 00:09:17]:
[00:08:54] So like, that's a big issue. [00:08:56] A lot of times with the email mindset is you're not bugging people. [00:08:59] Like, people try and say, oh, I don't like emails. [00:09:02] It's not really that they don't like emails. [00:09:03] Like, it's not the platform itself that they don't like. [00:09:06] It's just they don't like the content that people are sending them from the places that they're signed up. [00:09:11] And that might not be you, that might be other people and pick on whoever you want that you don't like their emails. [00:09:16] They're not sending you good content.

Hannah Davis [00:09:17 - 00:09:36]:
[00:09:17] It doesn't really matter what tool it's on. [00:09:20] It could be on Instagram and be the same content you don't want. [00:09:23] And so knowing what your audience resonates with based on analytics, you know, ICA profiles, all the things, you know, messaging is where it comes down to where you could apply this to email or anything.

What to Send in Your Podcast Email Newsletter

Leah Bryant [00:09:36 - 00:10:04]:
[00:09:36] Yes. [00:09:37] So, like, speaking of all that, let's tackle the elephant in the room. [00:09:40] The thing I hear constantly from my audience in specific is, Leah, I don't know what to send in my emails. [00:09:48] I'm already creating podcast content, like every week. [00:09:52] What else is there to say? [00:09:53] So, like, how do people work through that? [00:09:56] Like, what strategy do you have around content or recommendations or advice of how podcasters could leverage that email with their podcast?

The Email Formula: Hook, Connect, Call to Action

Hannah Davis [00:10:05 - 00:10:39]:
[00:10:05] I could look at it as a couple of different ways, but my favorite formula for emails is to start out with a hook or a story. [00:10:12] It depends on what you're saying. [00:10:14] Connect the dots between the content you want to send them and then CTA to the content. [00:10:20] Call to action. [00:10:21] So depending on, you know, what the topic's about and what you have to say, this could look differently. [00:10:27] But I'll give some examples of what this could look like for me. [00:10:30] So I do email marketing, but still there's times I run out of ideas and I'm like, you know, I want to send this content, but I have no idea what to say. [00:10:37] So that's one idea I would start out with.

Hannah Davis [00:10:39 - 00:11:21]:
[00:10:39] My story is, hey, I have nothing to say, but I wanted to send you this, you know, then I'd break down, you know, what the content, hey, I really wanted to talk about, you know, what sequences you need for your email, you know, the ones you absolutely have to have and then the ones that are, you know, when you're getting more advanced. [00:10:55] And then call to action here, go read the blog. [00:10:58] That would be my, hey, I've got nothing to say. [00:11:01] Keep it short, you know, a short rhythm for that. [00:11:03] Then if I've got a longer story, which sometimes I do, And I had, you know, this thing happen in Costco with a sample person where I'm vegan. [00:11:11] He tried to sell me beef jerky and was really insistent about it. [00:11:15] I'm like, the whole time I'm thinking, dude, I am not your ideal customer. [00:11:18] Like, please go talk to somebody else who would enjoy this.

Hannah Davis [00:11:21 - 00:12:01]:
[00:11:21] Like, I appreciate you're doing your job, but selling to me is not. [00:11:24] I'm not going to change my lifestyle in the Costco aisle just because you have a really good sales pitch. [00:11:30] So I, There was one where I did a really, like, long drawn out because I'm having to go into the story, but it's. [00:11:34] I'm trying to keep it entertaining, but I'm like, I promise I have a point. [00:11:37] Just listen to the story and that's what you need to know about your ideal client, how to speak to them, you know what they want. [00:11:42] And then the call to action was, hey, go read this blog about how to define your ideal client. [00:11:48] So you have freedom to kind of just with that formula, just make it make sense for whatever the content is. [00:11:55] Because sometimes a longer story can work and sometimes you need to keep it quicker.

Hannah Davis [00:12:01 - 00:12:04]:
[00:12:01] And I think that adds variety, too, so your email list doesn't get stagnant.

Repurposing Podcast Episodes in Your Emails

Leah Bryant [00:12:05 - 00:12:57]:
[00:12:05] I love this because if you're sitting there thinking about this, you could do this with your podcast episodes, just like Hannah was saying, like, when she was talking about her content and her blog. [00:12:17] Because you should be turning your podcast episodes into show notes, and those show notes should live on your website like a blog. [00:12:25] You could even go deeper into whatever you talked about in your episode and go deeper into it on your email. [00:12:30] And that could also be a way to get them from the podcast to your email and be like, oh, I'm going to go deeper into this in a couple weeks on my email. [00:12:37] Go sign up for it, or something like that for a call to action. [00:12:40] And then when you get to your email, you could set the email up by talking about that specific podcast episode or any other podcast episodes that relate to this topic. [00:12:50] Because they all should relate. [00:12:51] They all should connect together because you're building bridges from each episode as you go with your offers and all the things.

Leah Bryant [00:12:57 - 00:13:07]:
[00:12:57] So that way it's all weaved together so then you could talk about that episode, any other episodes that are relating, and then dive deep into it and then pop in your call to action. [00:13:06] I love that.

Keep Your Emails Skimmable and Engaging

Hannah Davis [00:13:08 - 00:13:37]:
[00:13:08] Yeah. [00:13:08] And I think the key is keeping everything skimmable. [00:13:10] You don't want to write a big block paragraph. [00:13:13] This isn't a novel. [00:13:15] Like I said with the two examples, you can have shorter emails and longer emails, but it's more the flow of making it skimmable and breaking your paragraphs and not writing a novel. [00:13:24] And like, that's kind of the two sides that I find. [00:13:26] Like, a lot of people, if they are doing the weekly newsletters, you know, at least getting into the practice would get step two great. [00:13:33] But, you know, you either have this really long novel that's like, I'm not.

Hannah Davis [00:13:37 - 00:14:15]:
[00:13:37] No one is going to read that. [00:13:38] Literally no one has the time desire to. [00:13:41] It's not a book where you want to appreciate all the words, soak up the prose, you know, get all the details of story people are trying to scam and find out, you know, is this going to, you know, give me Important knowledge that's going to help me conquer X, Y, Z. [00:13:54] Then I run into it less. [00:13:56] But sometimes it'll just be like an image and like no context. [00:14:00] So like, the podcast equivalent would be of like, you just say like an Instagram graphic that said, you know, new episode with absolutely no context. [00:14:09] I mean, I'm not going to say no one ever is going to click through to that. [00:14:12] There's someone who's a die hard fan of yours who is going to.

Hannah Davis [00:14:16 - 00:14:21]:
[00:14:16] But it's not an effective strategy. [00:14:18] Most people are going to be like, what the heck is this? [00:14:20] Like, why should I care?

Leah Bryant [00:14:22 - 00:15:20]:
[00:14:22] Like, what's in it for them? [00:14:23] Yes, and I will be the first to admit I am guilty of novels because I like to teach in my emails. [00:14:34] And one email I send a week is a teaching email and it is longer. [00:14:39] And for a long time I may have written lots, lots of texts without breaking it up. [00:14:44] But I have since learned we're all a work in progress. [00:14:46] Right? [00:14:47] And like, recently I've started to like, break things up. [00:14:51] If somebody is skimming it, the thing that I want them to see is gonna pop out to bring them back to that section. [00:14:57] And like the point about you saying about that graphic, I see this so often, even, like in all the places, like, they'll share a graphic, oh, go listen to the episode. [00:15:06] But they're not sharing why? [00:15:09] Like, what is the reasoning? [00:15:11] What is the listener going to benefit? [00:15:13] What is your newsletter reader? [00:15:15] Because a newsletter reader, even if they didn't come from the podcast, they came from someplace else.

Leah Bryant [00:15:20 - 00:15:46]:
[00:15:20] And maybe they haven't listened to your podcast yet. [00:15:22] You have to tell them why they need to go listen to it because they're clicking to go someplace else. [00:15:27] Right? [00:15:27] They're taking an action to go do something else. [00:15:29] So we have to want to really entice them about why they should click, why they should keep going and like, just really make it about them and what, what the benefit is. [00:15:38] This is so good because I also think that people often, and I will include myself in this when I say people, we over complicate it.

Hannah Davis [00:15:46 - 00:15:50]:
[00:15:46] Oh, I can include myself in that. [00:15:48] There's always something we over complicate.

Leah Bryant [00:15:50 - 00:16:25]:
[00:15:50] Yes, yes. [00:15:51] We think that every single email needs to be this giant value bomb. [00:15:56] I am guilty of that. [00:15:58] But really we're just staying in conversation with people who've already, like, raised their hand and said, hey, we want to hear from you. [00:16:06] And that's what I keep trying to tell myself, like every week. [00:16:08] So, like, can you walk us through if you have like, any Ideas of like what a sustainable weekly newsletter might look like for a podcaster. [00:16:18] Not just like when they're in launch mode, but like maybe like week in and week out. [00:16:22] If you have any like framework or examples you want to share.

Sustainable Weekly Email Newsletter Ideas for Podcasters

Newsletter Structure Examples and Frameworks

Hannah Davis [00:16:25 - 00:17:22]:
[00:16:25] Yeah, like I said, the simple formula of, you know, hooker story, connect the dots, you know, call to action, that's gold standard you may find depending on your business. [00:16:34] This is 50, 50 whether it works and whether you like it. [00:16:37] And that's another thing. [00:16:38] When you're writing emails, like the layout, what formulas you use, like you need to do something that resonates with you. [00:16:43] And for me, I like to keep it more simple, like just story, send the content, keep it done and maybe have something, you know, in a PS like by the way, sign up for the wait list for, you know, whatever. [00:16:53] But I like to keep mine more simple just because that's easy for me to crank out and not overthink it. [00:16:59] So but sometimes a more what I call a magazine style newsletter can work. [00:17:06] And if you got a lot of offers, you do a lot of highlighting other people's content to keep it broken up in bite sizes might work where you maybe, you know, just have an intro and then you, you know, have like clear, you know, headlines and color spacing and like images to break things up.

Hannah Davis [00:17:22 - 00:17:52]:
[00:17:22] And oh, by the way, there's this blog post about and do a smaller blurp of why you should matter. [00:17:27] And here's the podcast episode and here's why it should matter. [00:17:30] And here's, you know, this affiliate thing I really wanted to tell you about. [00:17:34] And that's where you do want to keep it a little shorter. [00:17:36] If you're trying to do five things, it's going to depend on your audience on which way works. [00:17:41] You may find a mix works like if you're, you're getting to the point where you can send multiple emails per week, maybe you do one of each. [00:17:48] It really is going to depend. [00:17:49] But again, that's where you just got to start sending something.

Hannah Davis [00:17:52 - 00:17:59]:
[00:17:52] Right? [00:17:52] Which, whichever resonates with you more to get in the email workout, if you will, and get used to sending it.

Aligning Email Calls to Action with Podcast Growth

Leah Bryant [00:18:00 - 00:18:28]:
[00:18:00] I love that email workout. [00:18:02] And two, getting into the practice, it removes that pressure, right? [00:18:06] And here's why I want to connect this back to a podcast strategy because this is the same philosophy that I teach around caught actions in your episodes. [00:18:14] You don't need one giant ask at the end. [00:18:17] We want to weave in the invitation throughout. [00:18:19] So like, if you want help with this, here's where to go. [00:18:22] If this resonated with you here. [00:18:24] Then check out this episode, like, where we go deeper. [00:18:26] I think it's the same with email.

Leah Bryant [00:18:28 - 00:18:32]:
[00:18:28] You're just pointing people to what's relevant for where they are.

Know Your Audience: The Secret to Successful Email and Podcast Promotion

Hannah Davis [00:18:32 - 00:19:09]:
[00:18:32] Yeah. [00:18:33] And that, again, it's so much of this comes back to just knowing who your audience is, because it really, like I said, email is the tool into which you're delivering the content. [00:18:41] It. [00:18:42] You know, and there's many benefits to it over other tools that we already know that you know. [00:18:46] It's more evergreen, it doesn't require showing your face and all the things you can automate. [00:18:51] You know, you don't have to worry about Zuckerberg's algorithm that changes its tune every five minutes, you know, but it's getting the content right is the second piece to that where, you know, you apply it to anything. [00:19:04] It's not going to work if you don't have the right communication style with your audience.

Leah Bryant [00:19:10 - 00:19:36]:
[00:19:10] Oh, my gosh, it's so good and it's so true. [00:19:13] All right. [00:19:13] And that's where we're going to pause for today. [00:19:16] Tomorrow, Hannah's going to come back, and we're going to dive into exactly that tactical piece, the how to automate your back catalog. [00:19:23] So those old episodes will keep working for you, the workflows you need in place, and how to set this up without it taking over your life. [00:19:32] You will not want to miss it. [00:19:33] I'll see you back here tomorrow. [00:19:34] And keep your growth seamless.

Leah Bryant [00:19:36 - 00:19:37]:
[00:19:36] Bye for now.