The most important thing to remember about growing your email list is that you have to give people a reason to subscribe.
The best way to do this is by providing value. People don’t want to sign up for your newsletter if they don’t feel like it will add value to their lives. This means that you need to make sure that the content you’re sending out is relevant and interesting.
If you’re just starting out, or your list is small, it’s tempting to see email marketing as an afterthought. But the truth is that building a solid subscriber base is one of the most important elements of growing your business.
According to 2018 research, the average email open rate across all industries is 32%.
But with smart planning and an effective strategy, you can grow your list and keep engagement rates even higher.
With that in mind, here are the 5 tactics most responsible for attracting 60,000 subscribers to my Life Insider newsletter.
1. Included an opt-in form after each blog post.
This should be obvious, but many people fail to do it, so I wanted to make sure I started with this one.
When you publish a blog post, add an opt-in form at the end of it that asks visitors for their email address in exchange for a valuable resource (e.g., a guide or report). This way, when they are interested in what you have written about, they’ll get more information from you right away.
Make sure they’re aware that they’ll be receiving emails from you by including an “opt-in” form at the bottom of every new blog post (this isn’t spammy because they already signed up for it).
2. I cross-promoted our newsletter with other newsletter creators
If you’re lucky enough to have a few friends who also run newsletters and blogs, consider cross-promoting each other. This is a great way to build relationships with like-minded people who can help support each other and grow their reader bases. You can do this by including each other’s links in your newsletters or blog posts — or even better, both!
3. Invited subscribers through all our social networks
Inviting people to subscribe is the most important part of growing your list — after all, if they don’t know about it, they can’t join! One of my favorite ways to do this is by using social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
You can also invite friends and family members by sending them an email with a link to sign up or asking them directly in person when they come over to visit.
4. I made sure the email is shareable
People love sharing things they like with their friends, so make it easy for them to do so by adding social sharing buttons to all of your emails.
If people see something they like in your email, they may want to share it with their friends on social media. So make sure your content has a clear call-to-action that encourages people to click through and share. For example, if you have an infographic in your newsletter, include a link below the image so readers can easily share it online.
5. Offered a unique “subscribers only” incentive
If you want people to subscribe to your list, you have to offer them something in return. This could be anything from exclusive discounts or offers to free samples or sneak peeks at new products or services.
The key is coming up with an incentive that only subscribers can access — not everyone who lands on your website! If the offer isn’t exclusive enough, it won’t entice people into signing up for your list in the first place (and then staying there).
Final Words
Building up an email list is a long-term endeavor. Good things don’t happen overnight, and it takes a lot of work to build something that will last.
Hopefully, you found this helpful, and remember, you can use these tips to promote any kind of email list. Whether it’s a newsletter or an announcement list, you can still make the most of each subscriber by adding them to segmented lists, segmenting your own content to email them at the right times, and using your nurture series to bring subscribers along the customer journey.
