Social Media Marketing Podcast

Episode: Building Email Communities: How to Grow a Raving Audience

Host: Michael Stelzner, Social Media Examiner
Guest: Paul Gowder, powwows.com
Release Date: February 12, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the strategy and tactics of building thriving communities via email, featuring seasoned community-builder and powwows.com founder Paul Gowder. Michael Stelzner and Paul explore the power of email sequences to foster engagement, trust, and loyalty—even in an era dominated by social media platforms whose rules change frequently. Listeners learn practical, actionable approaches to developing email-based communities, personalizing at scale, and managing high-engagement communication.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Paul Gowder’s Origin Story & Embracing Email for Community

• Paul’s accidental entrepreneurship: He began by creating web pages on Star Wars toys and Native American powwows, not knowing he’d build a business.

  "I like to tell people I'm an accidental entrepreneur. I didn't set out to build a business." (03:10)

• Community originally formed on forums, but he soon realized email was a more direct, scalable touchpoint.

  "Forums are good... but to be able to send a message to everybody and get everybody to have the same information at the same time was really powerful." (04:10)

• Building authenticity: Even in those early days, he learned email worked best when it felt personal, not corporate.

2. Why Build Community via Email?

• Ownership: Email (and podcasts) are among the only digital assets truly owned by a business—unlike social media groups, which can vanish overnight.

  "There's only two things in this world that we own and control in this whole digital world, and that's your podcast feed and your email list." (09:54)

• Reach & Reliability: Email gets much higher reach than social media. While a Facebook post might reach 1–10% of fans, email sees 50–60% open rates.
• Direct connection: Email delivers a targeted message directly into the recipient’s inbox, building stronger relationships.

3. The Power of Email Sequences

• Unpacking sequences: Sequences are a preset series of emails (sent over days/weeks) designed to educate, engage, or nurture. Paul operates dozens at powwows.com.

  “I love building that community feeling with building sequences... delivered over a period of time... serialized piece of content.” (12:17)

• Top performing sequence: "What to expect at your first powwow" nurtures newbies step by step—much more effective than a generic newsletter blast.
  • Sequences build trust, deliver value, and get higher engagement than one-off emails.

4. Crafting Email Series for Diverse Audiences

• Audience segmentation: Listen to what questions you get repeatedly. Break your list into buckets (e.g., first-time powwow attendees, heritage tracers, superfans).
• Conversational tone: Write as you speak. Avoid corporate, image-heavy designs—prioritize text and relatability for higher inbox placement and readability.

  "Please don't send a message out that looks like an Amazon or a Best Buy... these need to be text-based mostly." (15:06)

5. Building and Managing Effective Email Series

• Structure: Break big topics into smaller chunks (one topic per email), sent over multiple days.

  "Take something complicated... and break it up... I get a much better retention, I get a much better engagement, and people actually read and digest the information." (19:42)

• Retention vs. PDFs: People engage more over time with bite-sized content compared to downloading (and forgetting) a single big lead magnet (e.g., a PDF).
• Feedback loop: Include questions in early emails to spark replies, gauge engagement, and fine-tune content.

6. Sourcing Content for Sequences

• Content repurposing: Use existing blogs, podcasts, or evergreen articles as series content (e.g., "Throwback Thursday" series highlighting old but valuable content).

  "Anyone who has more than 10 episodes, this is something you want to think about... create an email sequence highlighting those episodes." (24:51)

• Ensure evergreen content is used, but even seasonal themes (like a 60-email Native American Heritage Month series) can be scheduled.

7. Getting People Into Your Sequences

• Opt-in Placement: Use tools like Mediavine's Grow plugin to insert email signup forms inside content (mid-article), and tailor opt-ins to page categories.

  "Putting it in the middle of the content I think is the key here...very topical." (29:07)

• Landing pages: Dedicated, distraction-free landing pages enable easy sign-ups from talks, podcasts, and social posts.
• Lead Ads: Facebook lead forms allow low-friction opt-ins directly from the platform at low cost.
• Link triggers: Use in-email clicks to let readers self-select into different sequences.

  "If you're interested...all you have to do is click here...that triggers off an automation that they're put into the sequence." (32:15)

8. Personalization and Voice

• Be human: Send emails as yourself (Paul G), not a brand or a role ("Webmaster"). Address emails to individuals.

  "Don't write as a brand, don't write as we, and talk to one person." (34:42)

• Images and stories: Use sparingly, just enough to be relatable. Start emails with a personal update or story to build connection.

9. Managing Replies and Scaling the Personal Touch

• Don’t be afraid of replies—Paul automates some responses but values the feedback and engagement emails drive.
• Fun techniques: Ending with a trivia question to incentivize replies, increase deliverability, and reward super fans with small giveaways.

10. Managing Complex Sequences

• Scheduling: Reserve certain days for specific sequences (e.g., Throwback Thursday). Pause other communications until core onboarding sequences finish.
• Tagging & Exclusion: Ensure new subscribers aren’t bombarded by main broadcasts while in a welcome series.

  "You really do need to think this through or you're going to end up having people that are going to get really confused and frustrated." (42:56)

• Automation software: Use email service provider features (like Kit, Drip, Flodesk) to manage delivery and avoid overlap.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Control:

  "Nothing on social media, nothing online is constant...the only thing that you really have control over is your email list." (09:50)
  – Paul Gowder

• On Breaking Down Content:

  "Break our topic up into several chunks...be as short as possible, give them information, and then the next day you can move on to the next topic." (17:37)
  – Paul Gowder

• On Scaling the Unscalable:

  "We’re trying to scale the unscalable here. We’re trying to do things that not everybody can do." (35:49)
  – Paul Gowder

• On Deliverability:

  "An open is great, a click is even better. But a reply is the strongest indicator that they're going to keep you out of the promotions tab." (39:32)
  – Paul Gowder

• On Email Voice:

  "Don't write as a brand, don't write as we, and talk to one person...say things like 'hi friend' or 'hi, you.'" (34:42)
  – Paul Gowder

• On Workload Management:

  "Doing these things that other people can't or other people won't is what differentiates us." (40:55)
  – Paul Gowder

Important Timestamps

• [03:10] – Paul’s origin story: from web pages to community forums to email.
• [09:50] – Why email is the only true owned channel.
• [12:16] – The fundamentals of building community via email sequences.
• [17:07] – Breaking content into smaller email series; using AI to help.
• [19:42] – Why serial email content beats PDFs for retention.
• [24:51] – Repurposing podcasts into evergreen throwback sequences.
• [29:07] – Using topical, in-content opt-in forms for targeted signup.
• [32:15] – Link triggers in emails for personalized journeys.
• [34:42] – Personal email voice versus brand voice.
• [39:32] – Replies' impact on deliverability and engagement.
• [42:56] – Managing overlapping sequences and broadcast emails.

Practical Tips & Takeaways

• Audit your common questions—these are your ideal email sequence topics.
• Start sequences with welcomes and questions to encourage engagement.
• Repurpose existing evergreen content into drip series to keep your audience engaged year-round.
• Use multiple, targeted opt-in pathways: on-site forms, landing pages, lead ads, and in-email link triggers.
• Write like a friend—not a brand. Use stories, keep emails short and skimmable.
• Manage complexity by planning schedule overlaps and reserving time for headline sequences.
• Use replies (via questions, trivia, or offers) to build relationships and improve inbox placement.
• Plan to scale by automating what you can, but always include a personal touch where possible.

Connect with the Guest

• Community & Powwow Info: powwows.com/powwow101
• Email Marketing Tools/Insights: paulgowder.com/emailtools
• Social: Search "Paul Gowder" on all platforms

Final Thoughts

Building a vibrant, engaged community via email is not only practical, it’s essential as other platforms become less reliable and more algorithm-controlled. By embracing personal voice, thoughtful segmentation, and ongoing value-over-time (via sequences), marketers can cultivate audiences who reply, evangelize, and stick around for years.

(For complete show notes and resources, visit socialmediaexaminer.com/podcast/)