51: Squarespace & Flodesk: Dream Team for Building Your Email List
EPISODE SUMMARY
Building Your Email List with Squarespace and Flodesk
Having an email list filled with engaged subscribers is crucial for any modern business. This blog post will explore how Squarespace and Flodesk can work together to help you manage your email marketing and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
The Magic Duo: Squarespace and Flodesk
Squarespace is a website creation platform known for its user-friendly interface, drag-and-drop functionality, and responsive design. These features allow you to build a website that not only looks great but also adapts seamlessly to any device your visitors might be using.
Flodesk is an email marketing platform that empowers you to create stunning and professional emails. Beyond aesthetics, Flodesk offers powerful features like automation, segmentation, and analytics to nurture your email list and track your email marketing success.
The true magic lies in how seamlessly Flodesk integrates with Squarespace. Imagine Squarespace as your storefront β a captivating online space that showcases your work or brand. Flodesk acts as the bridge, allowing you to effortlessly connect with your website visitors and convert them into engaged subscribers.
Effortless Form Creation with Flodesk
Flodesk empowers you to create forms that seamlessly integrate with your Squarespace website. There are two main form types to choose from:
Inline Forms: Compact forms that integrate directly within your website content, ideal for website footers or blog posts.
Full-Page Forms: Take center stage, occupying an entire page on your website, perfect for gated content downloads or special offers.
The key to building your email list with Flodesk lies in strategically placing these forms throughout your Squarespace website. Here are some high-impact locations to consider:
Landing Pages: Typically promote a specific offer or piece of content. Include a relevant Flodesk form to capture leads interested in learning more.
Blog Posts: Engaging blog content attracts curious readers. Place a well-designed Flodesk form at the end of your posts to allow readers to subscribe for future updates.
Website Footer: A commonly overlooked area. Many website visitors explore multiple pages before reaching the footer. A strategically placed Flodesk form here can capture those who might have missed forms elsewhere.
For optimal results, ensure your Flodesk forms seamlessly blend with your Squarespace website design. Flodesk allows you to customize form colors, fonts, and even add your logo or other images to create a cohesive experience that fosters trust and encourages visitors to subscribe.
Welcome Emails and Email Sequences: Nurturing Your Audience
Once a visitor subscribes, Flodesk empowers you to send automated Welcome Emails. These emails serve as your introduction to new subscribers and set the tone for future communication.
While Flodesk is known for its beautiful email designs, it's important to prioritize accessibility. Use text blocks for important information to ensure screen reader compatibility.
Crafting a Compelling Welcome Sequence
A Welcome Sequence is a series of automated emails delivered to new subscribers. This sequence is your opportunity to:
Express gratitude for their subscription and introduce yourself or your brand.
Briefly explain the benefits of joining your email list.
Offer a digital Welcome Gift, such as a free download, exclusive discount code, or access to valuable content.
Include a clear call to action, guiding subscribers towards the next step, whether it's visiting your website, browsing your products, or engaging with your social media channels.
Flodesk offers "workflows," a user-friendly tool for creating email sequences. You can design your own workflow or utilize a pre-made template for Welcome Sequences, Sales Sequences, Nurture Sequences, or Lead Magnet Delivery.
Here are some ideas for valuable content to include in your follow-up emails:
Share blog posts, articles, or videos that showcase your expertise or products.
Introduce your offerings in a way that highlights the benefits you provide.
Request feedback to gauge subscriber interests and tailor future communication.
Flodesk Checkout: A Game Changer for Digital Products
If you sell digital products, you might find Flodesk checkout to be a more suitable solution compared to Squarespace. Squarespace checkout can be clunky, while Flodesk checkout allows for custom product pages and personalized follow-up email sequences, creating a smoother user experience.
By leveraging the strengths of Squarespace and Flodesk, you can build a thriving online presence, connect with your audience on a deeper level, and nurture a loyal email list. Check out the resource links below for more information.
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[00:00:00]
[00:00:09] having a list of email addresses that belong to people who want to hear from you is an important part of any modern business.
[00:00:16] I wrote that sentence on a blog post this week because I honestly believe it. How you manage that email list and how you leverage it to offer value to your community on a regular basis, that's the subject of this episode of Think Inside the Square.
[00:00:29] We're taking a look at Flodesk and Squarespace, the two programs that I use to keep my blog based business running. Welcome to think inside the square, a podcast full of tips and tricks to help you create a website that you're proud of. I'm your host, Becca Harpain, Squarespace expert and educator and creator of InsideTheSquare.
[00:00:45] co. In this episode, I'm talking about Flodesk, the email service provider that I use to communicate with my community. I'll be sharing some tips about how it works with my Squarespace website and how you can use it to create a welcome sequence for your subscribers. and [00:01:00] even sell your digital products.
[00:01:01] For a transcript of this episode along with the links to any resources mentioned, visit insidethesquare.co/podcast
[00:01:07] The term Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace, Inc.. This content is not affiliated with Squarespace, Inc.
[00:01:14] Flodesk and Squarespace are the two programs that keep my blog based business running.
[00:01:19] Squarespace is what I use for my website. Now, I've been a website designer for over a decade and I have used plenty of different programs for different clients. If But for me, Squarespace is where it's at. It's got a very user friendly interface, there's drag and drop functionality, it's responsive, and it's really easy to customize with code.
[00:01:38] There are plenty of reasons to love Squarespace, and one of the many is how easy it is to connect it to Flodesk, the program that I use for my email marketing. Flodesk is an email marketing platform. Now I know some folks listening to this podcast are new to all of this business stuff, so here is the short version of what they do.
[00:01:57] Flodesk will keep track of the email, name, and [00:02:00] other important information of people who have said, yes, I want you to send me emails. Flodesk is a program that you can use to make forms that people fill out. Now, when they fill out a form or you manually add them to your email list, because you have their legal permission to send them things, You can then create an email in Flodesk to send to these people.
[00:02:19] You can also organize your email list into groups or segments and have Flodesk send specific emails to specific segments at specific times. Just like Squarespace, they have a very user friendly interface with drag and drop functionality, and they have important features like automation, segmentation, and analytics.
[00:02:38] Those features are pretty standard for most email marketing platforms available today. But I'll be honest. Flodesk handles things like automation, segmentation, and analytics a lot better than Squarespace Campaigns does. And connecting Flodesk to your Squarespace website, it is a piece of cake. I'm here to tell you it is one of the easiest integrations I've ever done for a Squarespace [00:03:00] website.
[00:03:00] Why is it so easy? It's literally copy and paste. Using the Flodesk program, you can create a basic form. Now they have a bunch of templates on there that are really easy to use, and they have two main types of forms, inline and print. Inline forms are placed inside a page on your site with a code block.
[00:03:18] They live in line with the rest of your content, so they're great for things like a website footer or inside a blog post. These inline forms are ideal for capturing leads directly at the point of interest, making it very easy for visitors to subscribe for more information or updates from you and your business.
[00:03:36] Now, Flodesk also offers full page forms. These forms will occupy an entire screen. They're perfect for showcasing exclusive offers, gated content, or even hosting your lead magnets. But they do take up a lot more space and they have a URL that won't be connected to your Squarespace website. That's why I prefer to use inline forms.
[00:03:57] I like to have more control over the [00:04:00] content of the page and the page design. Here are some high impact locations that you might want to consider adding an inline form to your website. The first on my list here, landing pages. Landing pages are specific pages on your website that are devoted to promoting a specific offer or a free piece of content.
[00:04:18] I have a free training that I'll link in the show notes about creating a landing page inside Squarespace. Now using a Flodesk form in your landing page makes it very easy for people who are interested in your offer to subscribe for more information. You can also use an inline form in your blog posts.
[00:04:35] If you have engaging blog copy that naturally attracts a curious audience, placing a Flodesk form in line with your blog post content is an easy place for readers to subscribe so they can get related content or more information while they're thinking about what they're reading. Definitely a great place to encourage that interaction.
[00:04:53] I also think that adding strategic calls to action throughout your website to encourage visitors to sign up is [00:05:00] a great use of these inline forms. Maybe someone isn't quite ready to sign up for a service. But on that services page, you can use an inline form that offers them a case study. You can send them an automatic email when they fill out the form.
[00:05:14] And in this automatic email, you include more information about the service that you offer and how amazing that experience was for one of your happiest clients. That's a great example of using an inline form for a specific call to action on a page in your website. Now, on my own website, and in a lot of the client sites that I build, I also like to put a general email list subscriber form in the footer of my website.
[00:05:38] I found that some people exploring my blog might read a few different articles and when they reach that footer at the end of every page and they've seen that form a few times, they're more likely to sign up for more information because they realize that they've seen that same form over and over again.
[00:05:52] They like the content that they're reading and they want to keep reading. It's a very easy way to encourage people to join my email list. Now, the crucial [00:06:00] part of these inline forms, and another reason to love Flodesk, is that you can make sure they seamlessly blend with your Squarespace website design by using the same fonts and colors.
[00:06:10] In Flodesk, you can customize the form colors, fonts, and even add an image or logo. Anything you want to an inline form. This form is going to match your website style and this cohesive experience will make your site look more professional and trustworthy so visitors are more likely to subscribe. These forms are also responsive just like the rest of your Squarespace website.
[00:06:31] It's not going to shrink down to be too tiny to use on mobile screens. This Flodesk form will resize with the rest of the content in Squarespace which is another great reason that Squarespace and Flodesk work so well together. All right, so we've talked about types of forms and where to place them and how important it is to make it look good.
[00:06:50] Let's say you do all of that perfectly and your website visitors are eager to sign up. Well, what happens next? You can use Flodesk automations to send [00:07:00] out a welcome email to your new subscribers. Now a common business practice these days is to actually create a series of welcome emails for these new subscribers that are really tailored to what they signed up for.
[00:07:11] Let me give you an example. In my own Flodesk account, I have multiple welcome sequences. If anyone signs up using that inline form on the footer of my website, I send them an email that says hey. I'm Becca. I teach people how to create and customize Squarespace websites. I have a podcast and I have a tutorial blog.
[00:07:30] Here's some of my most popular content. I'll be back in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Thanks for signing up. Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions for me. It's a simple email that tells them who I am. What I'm offering and when they're going to hear from me next. Using Flodesk, I do more than just send that welcome email.
[00:07:47] I wait a full 24 hours and then I reach out again. In this next email, I have a simple A, B, or C question. I ask my new subscribers whether they're A, a Squarespace user, [00:08:00] B, a Squarespace designer, Or C, an aspiring Squarespace designer. I ask people to reply to that email, A, B, or C, so I can send them content that's going to be the most useful for them.
[00:08:11] Someone who is a Squarespace designer might not necessarily want to check out my Squarespace Made Simple course. They already know how to use Squarespace. And anyone who's a Squarespace user probably isn't interested in information about how to find new website design clients. Those subscribers have two completely different needs.
[00:08:29] And I can still serve them content, but I want to make sure that the content I share with them is more applicable to their specific situation. Now, do I get a lot of responses to this ABC email? I really don't. I do get a good number every day, but not a huge number. Not everyone will reply. But what this email does is it demonstrates that I'm willing to put in the effort to make sure my content is what they want to read.
[00:08:52] And even if someone doesn't reply to that email, this is an opportunity for me to slide back in their inbox while they still know who I [00:09:00] am. If I wait an entire week or two weeks before sending them another email, They're probably going to forget all about Becca from inside the square. But if I wait 24 hours and check in again, I'll still be fairly top of mind.
[00:09:12] So it's a really good way to reinforce who I am and what I have to offer. Now when it comes to your own welcome sequence, what you include in those emails is really your call. It's going to be different for every type of business out there. If you want some help with creating this welcome sequence, there are some templates available inside Flodesk.
[00:09:30] Flodesk calls these email sequences workflows, and they're pretty easy to create. But if you want to use one of their pre made templates, at the time of recording this, these are the four workflows that they have available. Welcome Sequence, Sales Sequence, Nurture Sequence, and Lead Magnet Delivery. Again, you can totally make your own, which is what I do.
[00:09:50] And rest assured, their program is very easy to use. When you're creating a workflow, you'll be able to see the starting point for how people get added to this workflow. And it's [00:10:00] quite literally just the action of clicking a plus sign to add content. Be it an email or that 24 hour wait period that's in my own welcome sequence.
[00:10:08] Again, the Flodesk interface, oh, it is so easy to use and I love it. All right, we've covered a lot of this episode so far So i'm going to do a super quick recap before I get to one of the most exciting parts of this episode
[00:10:21] Where I explain to you why i've pulled all of my digital products off of squarespace And have started using Flodesk checkout to sell things.
[00:10:30] Alright, so quick recap, Flodesk is an email marketing program that you can use to build your email list. Using Flodesk, you can create forms that you can add to your Squarespace website. When someone fills out that form, you can send them a series of automatic emails based on the form they filled out.
[00:10:46] You can change the style of those forms to match the fonts and colors of your Squarespace website. And they're responsive, just like the rest of your website, so they look great on every device. Now again, when people fill out the form, you can use a Flodesk automation to send them [00:11:00] specific emails known as workflows.
[00:11:02] In these emails, you can introduce yourself and your offers, and let people know when you're going to be emailing them again and what you'll be emailing them about. I use Flodesk to send out the weekly emails on Tuesdays about my new Squarespace tutorials and on Thursdays about my new podcast episodes.
[00:11:19] I also use my Flodesk welcome sequences to offer different lead magnets on my website, I'll create a landing page on Squarespace and I'll add an inline form to that landing page so when someone asks for the lead magnet by submitting their email address, they're instantly added to Flodesk and they'll be sent the information that they asked for.
[00:11:38] Okay, that was a pretty succinct recap. I'm kind of proud of that one. So let's talk about the Flodesk checkout feature that I just started using earlier this year that has been a total game changer for me. Let me give you a little bit of background information first. When people ask me about selling digital products on Squarespace, the number one word that comes to mind is clunky.[00:12:00]
[00:12:00] Yes, it is possible. Yes, you can connect Squarespace to PayPal and Stripe and Squarespace Payments. Yes, this page where you're selling your content will match the rest of your website. You can create a sales page with a product block. You can have a storefront for your digital products. There are a lot of benefits to using the program.
[00:12:18] All of the billing is in one place and that's great. But I've got to be totally honest. It is clunky. I sell digital products and most of them live through active links. What I have to do to sell a digital product on Squarespace is create a single page PDF that links to my product. When someone buys something through my Squarespace checkout, they're shown a link to that PDF on a checkout page.
[00:12:42] Now they download that PDF, they open the PDF, they click the link, they get the thing. Then they're emailed a receipt. And they're emailed a link to the PDF to repeat the process. But that link in that email, it expires in 24 hours. So if they need it again later, they are back in my inbox asking me to [00:13:00] resend it.
[00:13:00] And when you sell thousands of links, the number of support emails can be monumental. And what about follow up? I can use Squarespace campaigns to follow up on specific purchases, and I can use Zapier integration, but there are a lot of headaches with both of those processes. And honestly, I'm just not going to get into the details in this episode.
[00:13:19] It would be a very long rant. So long story short, it was a clunky process. My dream was to have a beautiful sales page on my Squarespace website. And when someone clicks the link to purchase a product, they're taken to a custom sales page about that product. Something that promotes it a little bit more.
[00:13:38] Maybe includes a testimonial or a preview of what they're about to purchase. As soon as someone completes this checkout, I want to send them to a custom landing page that has more information about the product that they just ordered, has a link to access the product, and I want to add them to an email list.
[00:13:54] So they'll get a follow up email sequence with more information about what they purchased. This was [00:14:00] my dream scenario and all of this is possible through Flodesk Checkout. I'll include some links in the show notes about the checkout process, but I'm telling you, game changer for my business. On my Squarespace website, I have sales pages and instead of using a product block, I use a button that links directly to my Flodesk checkout for that product.
[00:14:22] This checkout page looks great, it works great, and the thank you confirmation page for that purchase is so customizable and it was incredibly easy to set up. Honestly, it barely took me an hour to convert all of my products to this new selling process. Now, there is a gorgeous thank you page when someone makes a purchase, and on this thank you page, I have information that's really applicable to what they just purchased.
[00:14:47] And it instantly adds them to a Flodesk segment so I can send follow up emails. Again, I love how easy it was to set that up. Connecting Squarespace and Flodesk together is much easier than you think. I guess that's a [00:15:00] good spot to wrap up this episode. So let's do that. Squarespace and Flodesk, two programs that work wonderfully together.
[00:15:07] I use Squarespace for my website. They have a drag and drop interface that's really easy to use. It's a responsive website builder, so it looks great on every device. And it's super easy to customize with code, which is one of my favorite things to do. Now, Flodesk is an email management program that works within Squarespace.
[00:15:25] Inside Flodesk, I create forms. These forms can be customized to match the style of my Squarespace website. I'll use the same colors and the same fonts. After I create a form in Flodesk, I can just copy the embed code right out of Flodesk and paste it anywhere in my Squarespace website. I have these forms on landing pages.
[00:15:45] I have them in blog posts. I even have one in the footer of my website. When someone fills out a specific form on my Squarespace website, that information goes to Flodesk. And in Flodesk, I have workflows. These workflows will send automated messages [00:16:00] to the people that have signed up for my forms. I have a welcome sequence for people brand new to my email list and this welcome sequence introduces who I am What I do and lets people know when they're going to hear from me next
[00:16:11] Flodesk has some workflow templates if you want some ideas and i'll include some in the show notes for this episode Now, for me, the big game changer was moving all of my digital products over to Flodesk Checkout.
[00:16:23] I have all of my sales pages that exist on Squarespace, but using the Flodesk Checkout feature, every one of those Squarespace sales pages has a button link. When they click on that link, people will go to a unique checkout for that unique product. This checkout page is a lot more customizable, at least in terms of content.
[00:16:43] And when someone completes that purchase, they'll be sent to a unique thank you page that has content specifically about that product. They'll also be added to a specific workflow, so I can send them follow up emails with more information about what they just purchased. It is a fantastic [00:17:00] integration that was Easy to set up and I love selling my digital products through Flodesk checkout.
[00:17:05] I'm so glad I took a chance on it this year. It was honestly a lot easier to set up than I thought it would be. And I'll include some of the steps in the show notes for this episode available at insidethesquare.co/podcast.
[00:17:17] Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of think inside the square.
[00:17:21] If you're interested in trying Flodesk, be sure to use the special discount link in the show notes or go directly to insidethesquare.co/flodesk
[00:17:29] and if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave me a review and share it with your Squarespace friends. But most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website.
[00:17:37] Bye for [00:18:00] now.
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π₯° Support the podcast: buymeacoffee.com/insidethesquare
πΈ 50% Off Flodesk AffiliateLink: insidethesquare.co/flodesk
πΏ Connect Squarespace to Flodesk Checkout: https://youtu.be/20Z5aCz8Smo
ποΈ Flodesk checkout: flodesk.com/checkout
π FLodesk checkout only setup article: help.flodesk.com/en/articles/6564318-how-to-use-the-checkout-only-template-in-flodesk-checkout
π Squarespace Landing Page Tutorial: insidethesquare.co/tiny/landing-page
π How to build an email list using squarespace: insidethesquare.co/emaillist
