Able to be customized from top-to-bottom, email is a valuable marketing medium that permits companies to reach out and connect to an audience in ways that cannot be beaten. However, it’s not enough to just craft top-quality emails. To cultivate the kind of relationships you want to leverage from your email marketing efforts, you need to collect email addresses to build a healthy list of subscribers. Here are some very useful tips to grow subscribers effectively.
IMPORTANT: Never buy a list
First, you may ask “Isn’t it simpler to just buy a list of emails?” The thought of building an email subscriber base from scratch can seem intimidating, but the worst thing you can do is buy a list. Not only is it an illegal practice to sell email lists, but you also shouldn’t rely on email addresses that did not subscribe to you in the first place! It hurts your email marketing legitimacy because people will most likely mark your messages as spam.
Collect Email Addresses Through Sales/Established Connections
Always think about “What’s in it for the customer?”
Consider what value do you bring to your customer when they sign up for your newsletter. Always make sure to tell them how your offer — whether it’s a newsletter, online course, case study, or membership — will DIRECTLY benefit them. Nothing is more irresistible to a potential customer than a free product (also called a lead magnet) or trial of a service that serves a useful purpose.
Be human to get your points across clearer
Avoid giving a sales pitch like a robot. Write in a way that will help your customers relate to you better. Email templates can do the job fine if they’re done properly, but be sure to tailor them to your individual prospect or target audience. Depending on what situation they are in, people communicate very differently, especially at certain points in the conversation.
Leverage your email signature/closing
When creating emails, most businesspeople today use a shortcut in their app to put down their email signature. Why not also include a link to a form or landing page here? Your email content may not necessarily be related to the link nor might it lead to a ton of new email signups, but it’s a simple, passive way to spread awareness of your offer.
Make your emails easy to share and subscribe to
This is one of the most important optimizations that’s easy to miss. Update your email template to include social sharing buttons. By embedding the sharing function, you make it easier for your subscribers to forward your message to other potential customers.
Collect Email Addresses from Your Website
Ensure a form is present throughout for maximum coverage
Even if you have it on your top product and service pages, it’s best to have a sign-up form on just about every page so that anyone who lands on your site can sign up quickly for your emails. Don’t fall into the common trap of thinking people only land on the homepage or your “top-performing pages.”
Most website visitors come from Google, Facebook, or a link shared on a blog, which means traffic does not necessarily end up directly on your landing page. They could be redirected to a specific page on your site that relates more closely to what they were looking for instead.
Don’t neglect form placement
Yes, you may have already put a sign-up form on every page on your site, but test its location using various page templates. This a small detail but your form placement also counts towards its pickup. For example: if a page has the sign-up form at the bottom, it isn’t going to get as much visibility as it would have in the sidebar or above the fold. Put your inline web form in an easy-to-find, consistent spot.
Simplify what info you’re asking for in the form
It’s wise to review your current web form and consider that getting ALL your customers’ details upfront may actually hinder signup. The longer the form length, the lesser number of signups you will receive. Request only what you really need from prospects at this stage to get them onboard.
That doesn’t mean you should put aside collecting any information that helps you personalize your email content. As mentioned before, clearly communicate what your website visitors will receive after signing up. Give them a reason to subscribe.
Related topic: How to Write A Good Landing Page Copy That Sells
Supplement purchases with further incentives
After a customer purchases something on your website, they should be redirected to a Thank You page. This page on most websites tend to be quite plain so why not take advantage by sticking a CTA here to relevant links. Build customer loyalty at every point of the journey. By leveraging the point of purchase to collect email addresses amongst other actions, you’re more likely to create repeat customers and increase your conversion rate.
Related topic: 7 Thank You Page Best Practices to Increase ROI
Give pop-up forms a try
Another simple yet effective way to bring attention to your email newsletters is with pop-up forms. However, be careful not to interrupt or annoy your website visitors with forms that pop up in the middle of a screen and darken the background content. The best options are to use a “sticky” form that unobtrusively remains on the bottom of the page as a user scrolls or a “timed” form that pops up after a user has been on the page for a certain amount of time.
Collect Email Addresses from Social Media and Other Channels
Promote to your social followers
It’s pretty obvious at this point but any capable business owner that wants to engage with online users should have a consistent social media presence. If you see most major brands across social media, they actively inform customers and the public about special offers to build their brand awareness.
You can also do the same thing by using channels, such as Facebook and Instagram, to grow your email marketing list too. If you already have people following your business on social media, why not encourage them to sign up for your email list too for more content? Tapping into an audience of people who are already interested in what you do is the fastest way to build a healthy list of subscribers.
Leverage more than one list of contacts
Do you have multiple lists of contacts interested in various things? Compare the similarities and consider cross-promoting your offers on one list to the other if they’re relevant. Not only could you cover more ground and hopefully get more conversions, but this way also ensures that you maintain consistency in your efforts of convincing people that there’s value to be obtained from subscribing to your email list.
Boost Your Email Marketing Strategy Today
Do you want to grow your subscriber base and build more personal relationships with customers? Empower your marketing strategy by using an email marketing automation platform like elfoMAP. Email marketing can be made easier with the right suite of design and support functions.
