For digital marketers, developing an email list is one of the most important aspects of building and growing an online business. A mailing list is a set of email addresses that are sourced from individuals that have expressed interest in your brand or product, and can be a single point of contact to advertise your content, products and services. In this article, we’ll be discussing 5 super powerful ways to create an email list from the ground up.
1. Create a Valuable Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is an offer that you provide to the readers of your website or followers on social media in return for an email address. For building an effective lead magnet, here are a few pointers:
A. Identify Your Target Audience
Recognize who your audience is and what their pain points, issues and objectives are. Make a lead magnet that fulfills their needs and answers their questions.
B. Choose the Right Format
Find the format of your lead magnet, whether it is an e-book, whitepaper, checklist, webinar, or free trial. Your lead magnet should be digestible, interactive and actionable.
C. Provide Value
Value your lead magnet by sharing insights, tricks, and information. Ensure that your lead magnet is current, current, and relevant to your audience.
D. Use Compelling Visuals
Image, graph, chart: Make your lead magnet as engaging and memorable as possible. Utilize a consistent branding and design to maintain a professional appearance.
E. Test and Analyze
Explore different lead magnets, designs, and colors. Review your lead magnet metrics, like open rates, click through rates, and conversions, and adjust your lead magnet plans accordingly.
2. Build Your Website For Email Sign-Ups.
Your website is a must-have for email signups. To ensure your site is best optimized for email subscribers, try these methods:
Make sure to include prominent email sign-up forms in your homepage, blog sidebar, and footer.
Exit-intent popups, that pop up just before a visitor is about to exit your site, provide a last-minute chance to obtain their email address.
Try creating a landing page for just email subscribers, with an easy to understand call to action.
Use a variety of placements, styles and words to see what will appeal to your viewers.
3. Leverage Social Media Channels
Social media channels provide an endless array of options for sharing your email list and gaining subscribers. Here are a few of the ways that social media can work for you:
Post your lead magnet on social media, along with a strong call to action.
Join the right communities online where you can market your knowledge and send your email list.
Use paid social media advertising to expand your reach and send targeted traffic to your email sign-up forms.
Work with Influencers in your industry that can share your email list with their audience.
4. Host Webinars and Online Events
Webinars and online meetings are great ways to show off your skills, interact with your audience, and get email addresses. Requiring people to register using an email address is a way to grow your list while giving value to your attendees. Make sure to advertise webinars and online events on your digital channels such as your website, social media pages and email marketing campaigns.
5. Learn From and Enhance Your Email Marketing Approaches.
Email capture involves collecting email addresses from website visitors or social media followers in order to create an email list. The following are two great ways to review and optimize your email capture:
A. Optimize Your Website for Email Sign-Up
Getting emails on your website is probably the most important piece of equipment you have. Some suggestions for optimizing your site for email capturing:
Design a Lead Magnet: A lead magnet is an offer you send to visitors on your website in return for their email address. It could be an ebook, a whitepaper, a checklist, a webinar, or a free trial. You want your lead magnet to be interesting, helpful and relevant to your audience.
Apply Pop-ups: Pop-ups are a tried and true way to capture email addresses. Use exit-intent pop-ups which show up when a user is leaving your website. Be relevant, concise, and make your pop-ups have a value proposition.
Subscription Forms: Add subscription forms to your website’s header, footer, and sidebar. So make your forms simple to navigate, complete, and submit. Be as concise as possible when describing the value of your email list.
Analyze and Test: Perform testing of different email capture techniques including pop-up timing, form layouts, and lead magnets. Analyze your website traffic, conversions, and bounce rates to determine the best email marketing practices.
B. Using Social Media for Email Harvesting.
Another great resource for email capturing is social media. Below are a few ways you can make use of social media to capture emails:
Lead Ads: Lead ads are an ad that allows the user to join your email list directly from your social platform. Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram offer lead ads where you can receive email addresses.
Subscription Links: Provide subscription links to your social media profiles and articles. Ensure your links are unambiguous, brief, and offer an engaging value proposition.
Social Proof: Ensure that you utilize social proof through testimonials, reviews, and recommendations to build trust and credibility with your social media followers.
Analyze and Test: Test social media channels, ad formats, and subscription buttons. Examine your social media reach, engagement and conversion rates to better optimize your email campaigns.
Conclusion
Even if creating an email list from scratch sounds like a tall order, using these five steps will help you establish a well-resourced, highly active list. Consistency, testing, and constant tweaking are the keys to long-term email list success. With value, building your relationship with your subscribers, and using best practices, you will be able to build a marketing machine to propel your online business forward and achieve success.
