If you don’t have an email list for your business, there’s a gaping hole in your digital marketing strategy. An email list is one of the most powerful assets a business can have in today’s marketplace; you need to be doing everything you can to create and maintain a healthy list of your own.
Growing Your Email List
While size isn’t everything in an email marketing list, having a bunch of subscribers certainly gives you an advantage. Here are some tips for growing your email list in an efficient and sustainable manner.
1. Use Simple Opt-in Forms
There are a handful of ways to get people to subscribe to your email list, but most are going to do so through an opt-in form on your website. If you want to make the most out of these opt-in forms, the key is to keep things simple and clean.
Take a look at this page from Virtru and notice how simple the opt-in form is. It uses a single field (only asking for an email address) and keeps the CTA button to one word (subscribe). This reduces the amount of time and effort users have to put forth in order to subscribe, thereby increasing the chances that they actually follow through.
2. Consider Your Offer
Despite the first blog being created less than 25 years ago, there are currently more than 440 million blogs on the internet. A large percentage of these blogs ask readers to subscribe to their email list. And considering that each individual is only willing to sign up for a certain number of email lists, the odds are stacked against you.
In order to convince readers to opt-in to your list, you need to create a valuable offer that compels them to provide you with their email. Things like webinar access and eBooks are widely used and tend to be successful when they align with the specific needs of the audience.
3. Provide Social Proof
When you’re really trying to make a push to grow your email list, landing pages are a great strategy. However, simply having a landing page isn’t enough. You need to make sure you’re providing the sort of content that moves people to action.
Social proof is one of the more powerful tactics you have at your disposal. Using customer reviews, client testimonials, and case study statistics, you can prove tangible value and get people on board.
Keeping Subscribers
Getting people to subscribe to your email list is just half the battle. In order to make them a valuable asset, you have to actually retain them over a long period of time. With this in mind, here are some tips for keeping subscribers:
1. Send Fewer Emails
You’re constantly thinking about email marketing and what sort of content you can send to your subscribers. While that’s great, you have to remember that you aren’t the only one sending emails. Your subscribers also receiving dozens of emails per day from other companies and brands. If you send too many, they’re going to become overwhelmed and unsubscribe.
What’s the easiest solution? Focus on quality over quantity. One good email per week is better than five low-quality emails.
2. Make Emails Personal
It’s no longer considered an email marketing best practice to send one email to all of your subscribers. The better strategy is to segment your list by key factors and tailor each email to the specific category.
3. Let Subscribers Set Their Preferences
It doesn’t matter how strategic you are about crafting emails, segmenting your list, and spacing out emails, you’re still going to run across people who will decide to unsubscribe. Instead of just letting these people opt-out with a single click, give them options and let them set their preferences. Pinpointe Marketing has some good examples of what this looks like in practice.
Maximizing Your Return
The beauty of an email marketing list is that it goes with you wherever you go. Whether your current business turns into a smashing success, or you close up shop and start another venture, you own the rights to your email list and can tap into it whenever you please. Hopefully the tips and suggestions highlighted in this article will allow you to grow your list and keep subscribers engaged.