Hungry Girl’s Top Tips For Building A Mailing List Of A Million

Growing your social media following is a great marketing tactic, but building your email list is even better. Think about it – if Instagram or Twitter were gone tomorrow, what would you be left with? You’d have no contact information for any of your followers, and your daily marketing vehicle would simply disappear. But with email subscribers you have much more control, and they simply can’t vanish.

Lisa Lillien, famously known as Hungry Girl, did just that – she focused on building her mailing list from day one. That mailing list became the catalyst for a thriving business over decades – a list that is now comprised of millions of fans.

Her success story includes being an author of 15 cookbooks, a New York Times bestselling author, starring on TV shows for the Food Network and Cooking Channel, and regular appearances on daytime shows like Good Morning America, The View, and Today.

Let’s look at what we can learn from Lillien’s email marketing strategy and success.

Content Is King

You’ve heard it over and over, but content truly is king. Especially in today’s digital world where we have endless platforms on which to peruse content. And a pandemic that drove us all to stay home and do nothing but consume content.

“Make sure what you have to say is relevant and figure out who your target audience is and what they really want. My audience is extremely loyal and I have built an emotional brand that people rely on and feel close to,” says Lillien.

Whether it be the latest light-substitutes for your favorite Starbucks drink, or a healthy air fryer recipe, the Hungry Girl audience relies on the tips and tricks they have come to know and trust. This only comes from consistent, reliable communication with your audience – and it’s built over time. Great content coupled with positioning yourself as a thought leader in your niche is a recipe for success.

Brevity Is Key

“When I started, I decided I wanted to give tips and tricks and food finds for what I call ‘real world’ eating. Everything was authentic and relatable. My goal was to put out a small amount of content that would potentially be relevant to an extremely large audience,” shares Lillien.

Considering that data scientists and media analysts believe the average consumer attention span is now only 8 seconds, concise and succinct information is the name of the game.

Keep It Authentic

“One of the things I did that really helped me succeed was provide content that I would want to read myself. You’d be surprised how many people don’t ever look at their content from that angle.”

She says to ask yourself these important questions:

What is interesting to me?

What content would I want to receive?

And consistency is of utmost importance. “I send daily emails every Monday through Friday and have been doing that since April 2004. People who are loyal on the list expect the content every day and appreciate it.”

She also advises that you should not shy away from asking people for exactly what you want – for them to share your content. “Hungry Girl was built on word of mouth and my email list originally went from 50 people to almost a million people without any advertising at all.”

Put People First

No matter what, it is crucial to only send emails to people who want to receive them, and to ensure that they are choosing to opt in to your subscriber list.

“Only send your emails to people who want them. In the beginning I reached out to friends, family, and colleagues, and told them what I was about to do, and I asked them if they wanted to start receiving the emails. At first about 50 people said yes, and I knew they were all very invested in what I was doing. It is because of their genuine interest that they started sharing it with people and the list grew organically,” says Lillien.

"When I started to build my mailing list, it was early on and social media did not exist. As social media platforms began popping up, I decided to pick and choose which ones to incorporate into my business and how to use them to help grow the mailing list. Being strategic about using social media to help build that list is key. I never recommend using social media only as an advertisement for the daily emails. Really take the time to figure out what works on each platform, build your audience, and use it strategically.”

Effective Email Campaigns

In order to keep subscribers engaged, increase open rates, and grow your mailing list, providing value should be top priority. And that means sending the right message, at the right time, to the right person. This can be achieved through segmentation. Divide your email list into the different stages of the consumer journey and send emails that pertain to each consumer specifically, whether they are at the awareness stage, consideration stage, or the decision stage. According to the Data and Marketing Association, 77% of email marketing ROI comes from segmented, targeted, and triggered campaigns.

An effective email campaign should be fun, personalized, and be helpful or informative for the recipient. And this applies to any sponsored content as well.

“My emails are filled with content that is both sponsored and not sponsored. All of the sponsored content is clearly marked as such. My goal is always to only feature sponsored content from relevant brands with products that I fully believe in, support, and use myself. Also I like to give something special in campaigns like discounts for exclusive recipes, which excites the audience and keeps them engaged. As for my regular non-sponsored content, I always try to keep it fresh, interesting, fun, lively and relevant,” advises Lillien.

It’s critical to periodically reevaluate your content by analyzing the data to ensure your content is resonating with your audience.

“There’s no need to try to be too many things to too many people. Really identify your audience and have a streamlined idea of what you want to provide them with and how you want to do it.”