Have you started building an email list?
If so how are your efforts going? Do you need some help to get things moving at a quicker pace?
But first, why do you need one to begin with?
An email list is one of the sureshot ways to make money online, boost your blog’s posts from time to time and a consistent evergreen source of on-demand traffic completely proofed from search engine ups and downs or social media hiccups.
A list is a group of people who’ve signed up to receive content from you on a regular basis.
This express desire on their part to receive information from you and the ability to get your message across on the hallowed email grounds makes them primed for conversions. Email reportedly has the highest conversion rates relative to any other platform we know of. By extension, compared to almost any other channel, the ROI associated with email marketing is much higher, be it Facebook, your own blog or pure search engine traffic.
In this guide you will receive quick, short highly effective tips to get started with list building.
Add a link to your sign up page as email signature
The first and simplest thing you could do is link to newsletter sign up as the bottom of your emails, as your email signature.
I used to do that not for my optin page but for my hire me page. One thing I found annoying is that if you get to long discussions with someone you’re mailing to the signature can turn to a cumbersome weight. So keep that in mind.
Host giveaways that encourage sharing
Post about the giveaway on all your social media channels and blog so that you can attract interested parties outside the subscriber list. This are good techniques to building your email list. Also as one of the conditions for the giveaway ensure that sharing is must and a significant point generator. This will attract more traffic and probably convert some to subscribers.
Always consider visitor intent
Study visitor intent. Consider the mindset of the user who has visited the site.
For example on a blogpost you could place a platonic text that says sign up for similar posts. Just a small egging in the right direction can result in action.
Consider the entire scope of the intent and create matching call to action that assimilates that intent.
Give your newsletter an interesting name Example covering history of enticing names
When Shakespeare wrote, “Will a rose by any other name smell less sweeter” I bet the guy didn’t think of newsletters. Think of names that would excite them about being a subscriber instead of posting something cut and dry.
For instance subscribers to the Renegade Writer blog are proud Renegades and rebels. Any other name for the list would get people but not as much. The name also inculcates in a sense of belonging to a group. Your subscribers feel and enjoy a deeper connection that the word newsletter, being so generic can never generate.
Plus use charged words: Free is a great attractor. And the word can do many miracles least of which is boosting signups.
A/B test
A/B testing can improve email signups despite how many times you’ve tested before. One reason why A/B testing remains evergreen is because the interests and geography of your traffic changes with time and what colors, copy and buttons resulted in high conversions before might need a fresh coat of paint to be effective again.
Perhaps a different color would do the trick. Or the sentence that calls them to take action can be highlighted to stand out a bit more.
Offer incentives
It doesn’t take an inordinately long time for anyone to write an eBook that can be given as an incentive a sign up offer. Ebooks despite their ubiquity haven’t waned in popularity over the years. Create something nice and announce it on all sign up forms.
Keep in mind that it need not always be an eBook. You can offer anything that’s relevant and what your audiences might feel good about.
Statements like cutting-edge insight delivered to your inbox don’t tend to create a flurry of excitement if you do not happen to be some kind of well-known expert.
The statement doesn’t deliver tangible value because people don’t know how much of an expert you really are. But delivering coupons or discounts or exclusive deals yes that works. Until you’ve established your authority it’s better to hinge your value proposition on the deliverables= the free stuff you’re bribing them with.
In addition to sign up pages have optin forms too
When visitors click on to a sign up page it means they’re clicking away from the site. It requires an additional step and as inane it may sound, we tend to spill some visitors who could have become leads with an additional click.
By having optin forms all over the place you reduce the chance for another click, make it available for anyone and make it easy to capture a lead.
Delete unnecessary questions
Keep the sign up form as long as absolutely necessary. I would go on to suggest that the only information you need is the email id. Everything else can be done without if you’re not running a corporate blog or selling leads that requires more information.
Use the comment box for optin form
If you’ve run out of spaces to add optin forms, the comment box is yet another space to sneak one in.
Add a sign up to newsletter checkbox to your comment box. It might have the lowest conversions nonetheless.
Consider additional spots for sign form placement with our list
There are certain common places where newsletter sign up forms are prominently place. The sidebar is one. A recent favorite is the top header which collapses if the visitor doesn’t opt in.
You can also place sign up forms on the footer, use an exit intent popup to place another and so on.
Offer multi-part course as sign-up benefit
If you promote an email course that’s multi-part in nature you may attract more people to your newsletter. It also depends on the niche and industry you’re in. And the course you promote should be apt to meet that particular need.
Talk about benefits of being a subscriber on the blog
This assumes that you have a blog that you use to drive the majority of your sign ups.
Take every chance you get to extol the benefits of being part of the newsletter. Expound on subscriber only benefits like first access to courses and free courses. Goodies and the low down on exclusive subscriber only deals.
Consider social proof
This was kept for the last because you won’t be able to apply the strategy without having a few subscribers first. And what I have seen other bloggers do they tend to inflate their numbers by adding together subscribers from all channels viz YouTube, email, Facebook, Instagram and the like to present a cohesive image of subscriber strength even when promoting optin forms. There’s nothing wrong with that. Consider the total number of subscribers and beef up those numbers to drive home social proof and witness an increase in opt-ins.
Add signup options to your social media accounts.
Your social media accounts are another channel that can host links to sign up forms. Facebook has a dedicated button itself that helps with that and there’s no reason why you can’t link to your site or page from Pinterest, Instagram and other such channels.
Use visitor’s haste to your advantage
As older tactics to get subscribers see their sunset newer options drive clicks and conversions.
I saw this quite recently on Brian Dean’s blog. The offer complements Brian’s style of writing and as such is tuned to get max conversions.
Here’s what I am talking about:
Here’s the welcome gate offer that pops up immediately after loading the blog post.
And here’s what appears immediately after scrolling a few paces.
The offer makes perfect sense since Brian’s keyword research guide is spread over 5 pages in 5 chapters. It’s hundreds of thousands of words in length and will be completed in one sitting only by the most dedicated of his blog readers.
For all others, to complete the post in their time Brian’s offered a pdf. Considering how well-designed and graphically intense the blog post is, the pdf is to be of similar quality and who wouldn’t want that?
It’s as good a lead magnet as any and drives conversions leveraging the lack of time that afflicts most of us.
Use content upgrades
Content upgrades are bonuses specific to the blogpost. A post on email marketing may have a checklist as a bonus.
Being specific a large number of visitors are inclined to download that and this offers additional opportunity to segment lists by interests.
The example I talked about earlier considering Brian’s post is one. A checklist is another.
Use exit intent popups
Granted they’re annoying but they convert like nothing else.
When a person is about to close the browser tab, an exit intent slams on to their face asking for the email address.
Combine the ask with a powerful message and you’re well on your way to conversions.
Welcome gate popup
A few seconds after the visitor has come to the website use a welcome gate popup to ask for their email id.
This generally covers the entire screen so they don’t have an option but give their email ids or close the popup. They however can’t ignore it.
Get targeted traffic
Traffic is the lifeblood of any business and more so when it comes to attracting sign ups.
Write pillar content that attracts lot of visitors and cover satellite topics shooting from main idea.
This might help you generate targeted leads who ultimately convert.
Again, guest post on relevant blogs and drive targeted traffic through them to your blog.
Be the first person to comment on related blogposts and continue driving traffic for months or years.
Post on relevant forums and include a signature that leads back to your blog, pulling visitors all the way through.
An email list when used the right way can be used to drive traffic to blog posts both new and old and create a fresh set of audience for a new blog post, get it indexed faster and may help attract links quickly.
An email list can also be used to build your entire business. You could switch places from affiliate marketing to purely selling your courses. There are interested parties among your subscribers who adore you and want to learn from you. Perhaps the unique way in which your write articles is what makes them besotted but with an email list you hold the ability to do all of this and more.
What are you waiting for—Get started today.
So what do you think of our nifty tips on getting leads and creating a big email list?
