A business relationship with your ideal customers can be strengthened by building an email list. Email is often the most convenient and profitable channel of communication for businesses.
The best email marketing company can help keep your emails from being marked as spam, as well as provide you with tools to help you expand your email list.
Let’s take a look at some of the most effective list building strategies:
1. Use multiple signup forms
Many beginners start with a simple signup form for a newsletter in their sidebar.
If you want more email subscribers, you need to have multiple signup forms. This allows your users more opportunities to join your email list.
It is recommended that you combine your sidebar signup form with a sticky floating bar or lightbox popup. These campaign types tend to be more effective in making your signup forms more noticeable.
OptinMonster’s Display Rules allow you to set time and action-based triggers to control how and when your users see opt-ins. This way, your users won’t be bombarded with too many opt-ins all at once.
2. Use an Exit-Intent popup
OptinMonster’s Exit-Intent technology tracks a user’s mouse behavior and shows them an email signup form when they’re about to leave the website.
Think of it as ‘Onsite Retargeting’.
If you use this technology along with full-screen welcome gates, lightbox popups, or other optin types, you can convert visitors who are about to leave into new email subscribers.
One businesses exit-intent popup increased their subscribers by 600%.
Michael Stelzner, from Social Media Examiner, increased his email subscriber list by over 250,000 using this method.
3. Offer content upgrades
A content upgrade is when you offer additional, exclusive content to a user in exchange for joining your email list.
For example:
- If you run a podcast, then you can offer show notes + transcription as a content upgrade.
- If you have a long form blog post, then you can offer a PDF downloadable version as a content upgrade
- You can turn your blog posts into a checklist or cheat sheet and offer it as a content upgrade
The ‘Zeigarnik Effect’ principle of psychology suggests that people are more likely to complete a task if they start it themselves.
This means that if a user clicks on a content upgrade, they are more likely to subscribe to your list.
4. Add fully or partially gated content in WordPress
The content on your website that can only be accessed after the visitor enters their email address is known as gated content. You can use plugins to partially or completely conceal a blog post until the user provides their email address.
This technology used to negatively impact your SEO rankings, but because it is now based in JavaScript, it doesn’t anymore.
There are a step-by-step guides to adding content locking in WordPress.
5. Run giveaways and contests
You can increase your followers and subscribers by running a viral giveaway or contest. You don’t need an expensive prize to be successful.
Contestants can join your competition by entering their email address, social media share, or by following you on social media. This will create a snowball effect and help you reach a larger audience.
We recommend using RafflePress for your WordPress giveaways. It comes with a drag and drop builder and tons of social actions to make sure your campaign is successful.
6. Create multiple lead magnet pages
A lead magnet is an incentive that you offer potential buyers in exchange for their contact information, such as their name, email, and phone number.
In order for your lead magnet to be effective, it needs to be something your target audience wants. Your blog posts that contain locked content, content upgrades, or premium content can all be classified as lead magnets. A lead magnet needs to be something that your target audience desires in order for it to be effective.
The value you offer as a lead magnet must be something that appeals to your target audience. This could be in the form of a checklist, case study, or high quality infographic. You could also offer a free eBook, webinar, resources newsletter, or workbook.
7. Use discounts and deals
A discount or exclusive coupon may encourage a potential customer to make a decision. This could be an opportunity to get them to join your email list.
To create a coupon, go to Marketing » Coupons on the WooCommerce page.
OptinMonster provides a ‘Success’ view that allows you to display a discount code to users after they have entered their email address.
8. Use a contact form to grow your email list
Forms that require an email address provide another opportunity to also ask the user if they would like to subscribe to a newsletter or mailing list. A checkbox next to where they input their email can accomplish this without the user having to enter their information again.
We recommend using WPForms as your WordPress form builder. It is the best on the market and allows you to connect your forms with top email marketing services. You can easily build forms with its simple drag and drop tool.
For tips on how to make your contact list more email-subscription friendly, check out additional articles on using contact forms to expand your email list in WordPress.
9. Add “Sign Up” call to action on your Facebook page
Facebook has introduced call to action (CTA) buttons for business pages. CTA buttons are prominently displayed on top of your cover image and are visible without scrolling.
If you want to add a signup button to your Facebook page as a call to action, here’s how to do it quickly:
Simply go to the page and look for the blue button labeled “Add a Button.”
This will bring up a popup with multiple choices.
In order to create a new account, click on the “Sign Up” button and provide a link to your website. After clicking “signup”, users will be redirected to your specified website.
Make sure you click ‘Save’ so the CTA button is added to your page.
10. Use Twitter lead generation cards
Twitter Ads is another social platform you can use to generate leads.
Twitter provides an opportunity to generate leads without requiring users to leave the site. This allows for users to sign up for email lists directly through Twitter.
You can also increase traffic to your website by using email signup forms as a conversion tool. You can create special offers for Twitter users and tweet the links to your followers.
11. Blogs
Blogs are an effective way to get professionals to sign up for your email list and provide value to users. By blogging, businesses create a relationship in which both parties benefit.
Before you can build an effective email list, you need to improve your blog in a few ways.
11.1. Lead magnet
A lead magnet is a freebie gift or some value added material that you get in exchange for an email address. This is considered to be the most effective method for building an email list.
Giving your prospect something of value, like an ebook or research report, is a great way to build a strong email list.
11.2. Offer a discount coupon
If your reader needs your help, they will sign up for your product after getting a discount coupon.
11.3. Content that encourages the readers to subscribe
To attract the right people to your email list, you need to be both persistent and consistent with the quality of your content.
If you want to increase engagement with your readers, develop content that is valuable to them. If they enjoy your content, they will be more likely to subscribe to receive more information from you.
11.4. Call-to-action
Include a call-to-action in your article that will help the user subscribe to your product or service. These CTAs should be included at positions in the article where the user will get the most value from it.
The email lists that sales professionals get from customer touchpoints are considered to be the hottest leads.
11.5. Exit intent popup
An exit intent popup is a form of lead generation that appears when a reader is about to leave your website. It’s a last-ditch effort to get their email address before they leave.
12. Surveys
Make your market research more beneficial by gathering your prospects’ name and email addresses. This will help you make your surveys successful and also build your email list.
If you want your email marketing campaign to be successful, send your prospects a copy of your research once it’s completed.
13. Make them subscribe to your newsletters
If you share valuable information on your website or in online communities, you will attract the attention of people who are looking to improve their business. They will sign up for your business newsletter.
The best way to get subscribers to see the value in your newsletters is to provide examples of how effective they can be. Add answers to frequently asked questions and include other useful information to show subscribers what subscribing to your newsletter can do for them.
14. Landing pages
One of the best ways to build a free email list is by optimizing your landing page. Make sure the page is enticing enough that users will want to sign up for your product or service. A well-optimized landing page will result in a healthy email list.
15. Provide incentives on subscription
An incentive is a great way to get people to sign up for your email list. By offering something like free ebooks, research papers, or periodic assistance, you can encourage your active readers to sign up and stay on your list.
If you are considered an expert in your field, people will look to you for accurate and up-to-date information. You can provide this valuable information by writing an eBook and exchanging it for an email address.
16. Write a guest post
Bloggers and marketers often guest posts as a way to build links. However, if done correctly, guest posting can be an extremely effective way to grow an email list that is relevant to your business.
If you want to be seen as a thought leader in your industry, start writing high-quality guest posts. People will be more likely to follow your ideas and experience if you share them online in a well-written format.
You can use the traffic from top publications to direct readers to your website. Placing call to action buttons and email subscription forms on these publications can encourage their readers to sign up for your product, newsletter, and other resources you offer.
17. Social media promotion
Social media promotion can be an effective way to grow your contact list. Create content that is valuable to your audience, which will encourage them to follow or subscribe to your social media accounts.
If you want to build a great email list, help your audience by solving their problems or educating them with modern solutions to their issues.
18. Reach out for more subscribers in videos and podcasts
One of the most popular methods for building an email list are through YouTube channels and podcasts. If you share inspiring work and knowledge with your followers, they will be more likely to provide their email address so they can receive the information they want delivered directly to their inbox.
If you have any upcoming videos, product updates, webinars, or interviews that you think your audience would be interested in, feel free to share them with us!
19. Conducting networking meetup events
If you want to build an email list of people with similar interests, networking events are a great place to start.
If you hold a meetup for your target audience, they will be more likely to sign up for your events in the future and subscribe to your newsletter. If you have a beta product launch, you can get users to test the initial product and give you feedback to help you improve and grow more quickly.
20. Encourage your customers to share their review about you
Giving your customers a great experience will turn them into advocates for your brand. You can ask for online reviews using different email templates.
They can share positive reviews about their product in social media, on review sites, and through word of mouth to help promote their product.
If your customers are happy with your product or service, they are more likely to tell their friends and family about it. This word-of-mouth marketing can help attract new customers and grow your business.
21. Initiate a forwarding option
The Share and Referral program is an effective way to get your subscribers to share your content with their connections.
This will help you connect with more people in your industry and build a list of email addresses at the same time.
22. Use gamified campaigns
Gamification can help increase user engagement and newsletter conversions.
A “Spin a Wheel” campaign is used on the MonsterInsights blog to grow their email list and boost eCommerce conversions.
To create a similar email marketing campaign to the one described, follow the coupon wheel guide on the OptinMonster website.
Conclusion
Email lists are essential for productivity in the long run. Creating and maintaining an email list is a great way to ensure productivity.
Go through your email list periodically and update it as needed so your email campaigns are more effective.