Why Founders Should Prioritize Email Before Paid Ads

Hey ,

Welcome back to The Intelligent Marketer, where over 12,260 growth-minded founders, agency owners, and marketers go to learn modern marketing strategies.

I talk to a lot of founders who want to “turn on ads” before they focus on email marketing.

Here’s why I would suggest a different approach:

If you don’t have a direct line of communication to your audience, paid media just becomes expensive noise.

Before you pay to get in front of more people… Make sure you know how to keep them with retention marketing strategies.

That’s where email comes in.

Email Does Three Things Paid Ads Can’t:

1. It builds trust over time.

Ads are a flash. Email is a conversation.

No algorithm. No platform risk. Just consistent, direct communication.

2. It increases conversion at every stage.

People rarely buy on first touch.

Email lets you nurture → educate → convert… without spending more.

3. It gives you leverage.

Ads disappear when the budget stops.

Email keeps compounding long after the send.

Here’s the simplest strategy I’d recommend to any early-stage founder:

• Start collecting emails before you launch (even if it’s just a landing page)

• Send one high-value email every week (consistency beats perfection)

• Learn what your audience actually responds to (subject lines, stories, offers)

• Then, when you run ads, you’ve got somewhere meaningful to send them and a way to KEEP reaching them

Most ad dollars are wasted because brands don’t know what to say once they have someone’s attention.

Email fixes that.

It forces clarity.

It builds trust.

And it makes every paid impression more valuable.

So before you scale your audience…

Build the relationship.

Talk soon,
Eric

P.S.

If your brand is creating more content but seeing less impact, we can help.

At Legacy Builder, we’ve helped 200+ founders, operators, and teams turn scattered messaging into strategic content that builds authority and drives results.

If you want to drive leads and opportunities from social media, click the link below: