Is Email Marketing the Solution for Instagram Burnout?
Last year, I sent out a community survey to better understand your business story, goals, challenges and needs. I gain rich insights which lead me to jump even deeper into email marketing and take a break from the socials.
In short, this is what I learned.
Your current obstacles:
Building an engaged community
Finding your voice
Establishing a consistent brand
The main thing holding you back, mental load
Flodesk links are affiliated in this blog post. You receive 50% off your first year and I get a small kick back. Thanks! Use code: STATEOFSAGE
Many of the responses touched on how frustrating social media has become. It drains your energy with little return. You feel addicted to the app but you don’t post. You generally have a love-hate relationship but not sure if you can completely give it up.
It's no surprise that social media has turned into a pay-to-win game, where a large budget is the quickest way to drive engagement. At the same time, organic growth feels increasingly out of reach as we are in a never ending dance with the mysterious algorithm. Your effort feels disproportionate to the results, leaving a lot of people questioning the platform all together. I get it. I also struggle with Instagram and the like.
As I shuffled through your survey feedback, one thing became clear:
We need a simpler, more direct way to communicate with your community, while sharing stories that will actually be read and appreciated.
While social media remains a part of brand-building, it’s not the only way to create meaningful connections with your people.
The answer?
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a more intimate form of communication that allows you to build genuine connections through storytelling. It’s a direct and reliable way to reach your audience, without the hassle of algorithms.
The benefits:
Connects intimately with your people — you practice your voice 📣
People opt-in and want to hear from you — engagement 👋
A consistent storytelling presence — establish brand culture ⛰️
Avoid fighting an algorithm — you land in people's inboxes 📥
Simplicity of marketing approach — eases mental load 🌀
Automate & consciously nurture — efficiency & sales 🤑
Are you feeling how simple this could be?
Before I built State of Sage, I used lots of different email platforms, so when it came time to build my own list, I dreaded the task. Most platforms are overly-complicated and don’t prioritize aesthetics. As a designer, my heart hurt to see ugly emails that didn’t align with my brand style. So, when I saw the up and coming Flodesk, I knew this was the tool for me.
I’ve been using Flodesk since 2020. I’ve had the privilege of watching people connect with my resources, receive nurturing emails while I occasionally share intimate stories, business updates, offers and resources with thousands of like-minded individuals.
Here’s why Flodesk became my go-to platform.
Why Flodesk?
It's Beautiful
Sending and receiving beautiful emails makes a difference. Flodesk gives me full control over design, allowing me to create a cohesive brand experience. As a visitor goes from my website to the emails in their inbox, they all feel they are within the same universe.
It's Easy to Use
As James Clear says in Atomic Habits, “Make it easy. The more you can break down tasks and lower the effort required, the more likely it becomes that you’ll follow through.” If a tool is too complicated, I’m not going to use it. Flodesk is simple, intuitive, and user-friendly.
It’s Young and Agile
I appreciate that Flodesk is a female-run company that’s engages its users regularly. They listen to feedback and regularly update the platform with new features — without overwhelming the experience.
It’s Affordable
Flodesk is one fixed price that doesn’t increase as your list grows. No more price bumps as your nurture email marketing in your business.
A new Flodesk feature that I love: Favorites
Now you can create a section and save to use it across other emails! Great for sharing blogs, resources and products regularly.
⬆️ Experience this Flodesk checkout page for yourself
5. It’s an Ecosystem, Which Challenges the Need for a Website
Checkout pages
Checkouts are an opportunity to create beautiful sales pages, upsell opportunities, thank-you pages and automated delivery of the goods. For the right type of business, this can be a game-changer.
Forms
Flodesk has several different types of forms which can be connected to automated workflows. You can send your people to a full page form to collect their name, email and other information. They also have a “link in bio” which allows you to organize your main links, email subscriptions and more. Most importantly, the forms looks great and they are easy to use.
6. It Makes Nurturing Your Audience Easy
Workflows
With workflows, you can send an automated series of emails to onboard or nurture new subscribers while focusing on other high-priority tasks. I’ve personally set up workflows that are still delivering value years later, with subscribers regularly responding to emails I wrote four years ago. The task of creating evergreen emails could be overwhelming, but Flodesk makes it easy and dare I say, fun?
Helping You Simplify Your Email Marketing
After diving deep into problem-solving, I’ve crafted solutions to help ease your entry into email marketing. I understand how exhausting social media can be, and I want to offer a path to nurture your audience, tell your story, and automate your outreach— without overwhelming yourself.
Where to get you started:
RESOURCE
A Guide to Building Your Flodesk Ecosystem
Start your email marketing journey by leveraging the integrated and easy-to-use Flodesk software. This resource provides you everything you need — checklist, video tutorials, prompts and a strategy lesson.
Workshop Recording
Position Your Brand with Email Marketing
A 90-minute workshop and resource to help you sustainably build trust and grow an engaged audience using email marketing.
1:1 Service
1-Day Flodesk Ecosystem Build Out
This service will support the design and infrastructure of your new email marketing adventure. You’ll get:
A self-sustaining and automated system that frees up your mental energy
Confidence that your community is being nurtured without time-consuming manual processes
A robust system that you can easily duplicate and grow as your business scales
Peace of mind knowing your content is handled with care
Video tutorials and an introduction to branded email templates
Social media can drain our emotional energy with little return on investment. For brands that want to connect and engage through storytelling, it’s refreshing to know that there are alternatives.
If you want to explore Flodesk, use my discount code to receive 50% your first year. I also get a little kick-back from Flodesk, so thanks in advance.
CODE: STATEOFSAGE
Most importantly, brand is an ongoing conversation between you and your people.
Storytelling directly to your community’s inbox is the number one marketing approach I encourage all my clients to embrace. Once you transition away from short-term engagement strategies and set up long-term, sustainable ones, it’ll feel like a weight off your shoulders. Cheers to building trusting relationships in this noisy digital world.
