With a 3,800% ROI, email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to communicate, engage with, and sell to your audience. But if you have no one on your email list to connect with, what's the point? For many businesses, the first step is to compile and build out an email list—and FAST.
But never fear: this task isn't as daunting as it seems. While it will take time to grow a large and effective email list full of potential clients and customers, there are a number of steps you can take to make sure you're maximizing your current efforts today. Take a look at the list below:
6 Ways to Start Growing Your Email List Right Now
1. Add email subscription forms to EVERYTHING.
Your audience first needs to know your email list exists to join, right? The simplest way to start growing your list today is to add email subscription forms to all of your digital assets, including:
Your company blog
At the end of each blog post and all guest posts
In your/employees' email signatures
Landing pages
Online company descriptions/employee bios
Social media (especially your Facebook CTA button!)
...and this is by no means a comprehensive list. Take stock of the digital assets you currently have online (new and old), see where it makes sense to promote your email list, and DO IT.
2. Gate a valuable content offer behind an email subscription form.
Not many people want to give over their personal information without something in return, so offer an incentive. Create a valuable piece of content—such as an infographic, eBook, or data set—that will entice the people you want to join your email list. Then, gate that content offer behind a landing page that features an email subscription form. You'll get the email address you need and they'll get the information they're after. It's a win-win situation!
3. Add creative (and unobtrusive) pop-ups to your site.
It's true that no one appreciates when a pop-up appears on a website and blocks you from your intended content, but thankfully, pop-ups are becoming more personalized. You can now leverage smart pop-up sign-up forms that will appear after a user has performed an action on your website that signals their interest in what you have to offer. There are plenty of options out there, though you'll need to ensure they're compatible with your website host. If you have a WordPress site, check out this article on the best email subscription pop-up plugins for 2017.
4. Reward current subscribers for sharing your content.
You don't have to look far for smart ways to build your email list—your current subscribers can even help! But like I said before, few people want to give or do something without receiving something in return for their efforts. Encourage your current email list subscribers to share your emails across their own networks by offering fun incentives like coupons or discount codes. Keep them inspired by offering additional prizes when your email list grows as a result of their shares.
5. Promote your email list across social media.
Whatever your social media outlets of choice are, use them as a way to spread the word about your email list. Along with your bio or company description, include an email subscription link in a few spread-out posts throughout the month along with a creative or customized graphic. Highlight what makes your emails unique in your posts to attract even more list sign-ups.
6. Get your employees/network involved.
If you have employees, it's likely that you're not the only who has a hand in creating your newsletters or marketing emails. Encourage your employees to share what they've created for your company amongst their own networks (as it makes sense, of course), and you may see a boost in your email list numbers as a result.