Email marketing is a profitable endeavor. With a higher conversion rate, and higher ROI, than other forms of marketing, communicating with consumers through email is a smart investment for almost any business.
Consider these facts: Consumers who come to a landing page via email are twice as likely to convert as consumers who come to that same landing page by other means. Email marketing delivers an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent. And you are 40 times more likely to convert a lead into a customer through email than through social media.
The Email List: A Strong Marketing Foundation
The foundation of any email campaign is the email list. To enjoy a successful marketing campaign, you have to have a robust list of people who have provided you with their email addresses and permission for them to contact you.
The problem with email lists is that they shrink over time. People may change email addresses, create throwaway email accounts, or opt out of your communications. To maintain an email list that delivers leads and conversions, you need to invest in strategies that encourage consumers to opt in to your communications.
These strategies do not have to be time-consuming or complex. We have put together a guide of 7 simple ways to encourage email list growth to support your email marketing success.
Create and promote gated content
Gated content is a term that refers to content consumers can only enjoy if they provide something in return—Either payment or their email address. When it comes to growing your email list, gated content that requires consumers to input their contact information can encourage email list signups.
The content you choose to gate can be anything, as long as it is valuable to your consumer. Blog posts, for example, may not be valuable enough for consumers to sign up to see, but a white paper, e-book, or visual elements may be.
Chances are, you already have enough content to turn into gated material to boost your email list. Examine your current offerings, and add a simple sign-up form to those that are most likely to capture the attention of your target audiences. Don’t forget to promote the content too, so more consumers see it, want it, and sign up to get it.
Add a signup button to your social media pages
Consumers like to follow brands on social media to keep up with the new products and services those brands make available. That means your social media followers are ideal targets for your email list sign-ups.
Encourage them to sign up to stay up to date on the latest information coming from your business by leaving a signup button on your social media pages. The location of that button will vary from platform to platform.
However, most social media channels make it possible to direct followers to your signup form, where you can capture their email addresses and follow up with relevant and engaging content about your company.
Create a website pop-up form
To encourage more growth in your email list, you need to make sure consumers are aware of its existence. An effective way to do so is to place a pop-up form on your website encouraging visitors to register to receive communications from your business.
A pop-up form immediately grabs their attention and is hard to avoid. If you would rather not irritate people who may have already joined your list, you can also set the form to trigger based on a visitor’s actions on your site. For example, exit-intent popups trigger when a user’s mouse moves off the webpage.
Pop-up forms are also effective tools because they capture visitors’ attention quickly. You may only have 15 seconds to get them to notice you and act. The right form at the right place can convince them to use those seconds signing up for more information from you.
Encourage email recipients to share your emails
Consumers who are already receiving and reading your communications are often happy to share the information you are giving them. Try asking them to share your emails with others. Simply adding social sharing buttons or other sharing options at the bottom of your email can be enough of a nudge to encourage recipients to forward your emails to people they know who may be interested. Thanks to the power of word of mouth marketing, those recommendations could easily net you new email subscribers. Just don’t forget to add a “Subscribe” button to your emails to make it easy for these new fans to request your emails.
Request email signups at in-person events
Online locations are not the only places where you can ask people to join your email list. Chances are, your business encounters potential customers (And actual customers) face-to-face regularly. Use these encounters to pitch your email list.
Examples of in-person opportunities to add consumers to your list include the following:
- Trade shows
- Checkout at your brick-and-mortar store
- Seminars
- Conferences
- Meet Ups
- Pop Up Events
- And More
You don’t even need a lot of technology to capture these sign-ups. Just bring a clipboard or a tablet with you to easily snag contact information and grow your list.
Offer incentives for email list signups
Just receiving your emails may not be enough of a reason for consumers to join your email list. Try adding incentives to make it more likely that consumers will opt in to your communications.
These incentives often look like discounts on specific products or purchases. You can also offer free shipping, limited-time offers, giveaways, or anything else you think may appeal to your target audiences. Frequently, the content you place behind a signup form will act as its incentive.
Place signup requests throughout your online locations
In addition to popup forms on your website, there are many places where you can place a signup button for your email list. Try adding it to any of these locations to remind consumers regularly about your email list:
- After employee email signatures
- In your website headers and footers
- On your landing pages
- On your website header images
- In your video descriptions
- On your business profile
- In your guest blogs
Successful email marketing starts with a strong email list. Keep your robust with these simple strategies for growing your list. Need a marketing partner? Contact CODESM today to learn more about creating and implementing email marketing campaigns and so much more.
