If you think email is not here to stay for long, think again. It is estimated that active email accounts are expected to hit 5.6 billion by 2019.
Email marketing is here to stay. And it is all the more important to have an email list that is updated every now and then. Why? Because your email marketing database degrades by about 22.5% every year.
So, before your next event pops up, make sure you have an email list all shiny and ready.
Before you move on to find ways to grow your email list, let’s understand why email marketing is still so effective.
- It can be personalized. And as customers, we know how much we love personalized things. In fact, a study states that 77% of consumers have chosen, paid or recommended a brand that provides a personalized service or experience.
- It is cost-effective.
- You can measure the conversions accurately. It becomes a little complex to measure conversions through advertisements, printed material, etc.
- If used effectively, it can help you build great relationships with your high-value clients.
These are just some benefits to get you started with. And what’s better than an active and engaged email list to inform your audience and prospects about your upcoming event?
How to grow your email list?
STEP 1. Strategize your content
This is one sure-shot way to build your email list. Blog posts don’t only help you with growing your subscriber base. It helps you increase your ranking on different search engines. Let’s look at some ways you can hack it to grow your email list:
Tip 1. Make sure your visitors can subscribe to your blog. Make that option easily available on every blog. You can even have a pop-up for subscription to your newsletter/blog when the visitor goes through your article or a blog in general.
Tip 2. Add bonus content to your articles. For example, your article is ‘7 tips to grow your blog’ Add a bonus section like ‘How I went from 0 to 50,000 views on my blog in a month’. The moment a person clicks on it, you can ask for their email id and mail the bonus content to them.
Tip 3. You can also build your content in stages. For example, if you have posted an article on ‘7 time-management hacks’. Include a call-to-action such as ‘Subscribe to our newsletter for the next post about this topic’ or ‘Our team will be following these hacks for a month. Subscribe to our newsletter to find out the results’
Tip 4. Write about things that do well in your niche. It will not only grow your list but will keep your readers engaged. To make it more effective, create a content strategy in your task management software.
STEP 2. Optimize your website
You don’t need to completely modify your website. Here are some things that you can do. Make sure that the first few seconds that a visitor is on your site is fruitful. Have a pop-up that shows the same.
For example, if you are a project management company. You could do something like this- Have a pop up that says ‘Would you like your projects to have a 50% higher success and completion rate?’ Most would click yes. Then follow through with an email about your project management software and actually provide that value to your prospect.
You can even introduce timed pop-ups to convert already engaged readers who have been reading or going through your website for quite some time.
Make sure your client testimonials and reviews are shown on the website. For a project management company, you could have client reviews that show how project analysis and making project scope became much more easier with the software.
These reviews bring credibility to your business which is the most important factor before someone decides to submit their email. Think about it. How many times did you hesitate in submitting your email id because you were wary of spam?
If you are running Ads, make sure the landing page has an option to make it easier for the visitor to subscribe to your emails.
STEP 3. Create in-depth material
Let’s accept it. It takes a lot of time to create content that is beneficial and insightful for the reader. So why not take this opportunity to build your email list?
Create in-depth material like an e-book, case studies, webinars and show it as a scroll-box on your website.
When a person clicks it, you can ask them to register via their email id to get that content.
STEP 4. Write guest blog posts and collaborate for cross promotion
One clear benefit of guest posting – you have access to the other website’s audience. Search for popular websites that cater to those topics that are related to your business or the topics that you generally write about.
Include a call-to-action in the guest post and a link for readers to subscribe to your blog or newsletter.
Cross-promotions has the same advantage that guest posting has. But the way it is done is a little different.
You can tie up with a partner and run a webinar or conduct an event. You could also build up a limited-time offer. For example, for every new customer, the customer would get a free trial for six months of your partner’s product/service.
The partner promotes the same to his/her audience. Which means more customers for you. In return, the partner gets a percentage of the revenue for each new customer. It’s a win-win for both the sides.
You could also do something simple. Create some content together like an e-book and then split the leads.
STEP 5. Provide offers or giveaways
Have offers limited to just your email subscriber base. You could even set a time limit. For example, ‘Sign up in the next 48 hours and you’ll get 20% discount on our best-sellers.’
Make sure these offers show up in all the important places such as your homepage, your social media, contact page, etc.
You can even use different communication tools to get these offers across to people.
Giveaways have become very popular and for the right reason. They help you reach a wide audience.
For giveaways to be effective, the prize should be significant. The participants have to register with their email id and are encouraged to share the same on social media for greater chances at winning.
You could even promise everyone something small even if they don’t win. This will encourage them to participate even more.
Step 6. Make use of other platforms
Answer questions on Quora and other mediums such as Facebook groups and then include a link to your opt-in landing page where people can opt in to your emailing list.
You can do the same by commenting on blog posts related to your field and which generally have a wide following.
Make sure you don’t include a generic comment. Doing so will just make you and your business seem spammy and that is the last thing you’d want.
Instead, put in your time and comment with great insights that would actually help your audience and eventually your company.
STEP 7. Run referral campaigns
You can run a referral campaign where your reader can refer your newsletter or blog to people by giving their mail ids and get some exciting offers in return.
Conclusion
There are many ways that you can try to grow your subscriber base. These are the ones you can start from. But remember, as with everything in life, you will have to customize it to fit your requirements. Try adding your insights and see what works for you. And with time and energy, you are bound to have an email list that’s up and ready for your next event.
Author Bio
Shyamal is the Founder of SmartTask, an online work management tool that’s helping teams be more productive by having clarity on who’s doing what by when. Has a penchant for researching and sharing strategies that could benefit a team’s productivity.
