This is How I grew My Email List Overnight And You Can Too
You hear it over and over: your email list is your strongest marketing tool. You either glow warmly with internal knowledge that you are squeezing all you can out of your email list potential, or you shrivel a little and try to avoid the subject.
Email marketing success is a bit of a niche art, but you can learn how to succeed with a few relatively simple steps. Your first goal is to capitalize on opportunities to gain access to your audience by email. You can't market to them if you don't know how to reach them. Warning: most of these methods take some effort on your part!
The steps, tips and tricks to growth hacking your email list are all action based, possible on a budget, and based on principles that will help you continue to grow your readership and email list in the future. If you start today, you will achieve results. You may not wake up to a booming 100,000 emails to roll around all over, but your list will start growing.
Promote on Twitter- Use Lead Cards
Twitter Lead Cards are one of those brilliant things you stumble on now and again that change everything. They're so important, I'm not going to bury them at the end of this paragraph, where they probably belong for organizational correctness. The lead card is available to advertisers on Twitter. If you're signed up and/or eligible to sign up, I suggest you do so.
The lead card makes it so easy for people to subscribe to your email list right from Twitter (it's link based) that they simply will be more likely to do it. You're going to warm them up a little first, and now we'll talk about how to do that. You can also use the following tactics if you can't avail yourself of the lead card, it just may not be quite as easy and therefore successful.
You already know that you should be active on social media because it benefits everything from your backlinking potential to gaining the almighty click. Along with the interesting content you share, occasionally tweet out to your followers that you'd love to share insider information with them from your newsletter- all they have to do is follow the link to subscribe. You're essentially creating your own lead card here, in 160 characters or less.
If you don't send out a newsletter and instead notify subscribers when you've posted something new, your pitch on Twitter can be that you want your audience to stay on the cutting edge of all of the information you are sourcing for them. You can take a more personal approach by being friendly, saying something funny, and inviting people to make friends at your blog by subscribing and commenting.
Source Your Social Media
You want to entice social media followers to also get on your mailing list so you have access to them directly. If you don't have a link to your subscription landing page or email sign up in your social media profile, fix that now! No coding necessary! It only takes 5 minutes!
Just like with the Twitter advice, you should post frequently about joining your network with a link so people can act on your suggestion. Try offering something through a contest (more about that later) or even though using a special 'social media only' discount code for some of your exclusive content or a video bonus. Talk about your email list like it's an exclusive club- a way for you to give your readers something extra. Promote your list, even if you don't have an offer to give as a thank you- you might be surprised who signs up anyway.
Example: Real Friends Email! Hey Guys- all this social media stuff is great, and I love interacting with you here, but I've been thinking about lasting connections and how important it is for me to stay connected with you. Please share your email address with me so we can stay in touch, no matter what! I'll send a little bonus content <or a discount code> to you, just to say thanks and welcome to my inbox!
Obviously, that's too long for Twitter, but could play well on Facebook or even Instagram.
Example: The cutting edge makes money, don't be left behind. Subscribe today for all the most current info on X.
That one's short and sweet and more about your authority than likability. The kind of business, blog or product you have will dictate which approach, or which combination of the two, will work best for you. Infographics play well on social media and you can use one in conjunction with your call for subscribers for a little extra visual impact.
Develop Opt-In Content or Content Upgrades
You can make money with exclusive, paid content through your site, but you get emails through this method too. Bloggers, freelancers and consultants who give online lessons, have an e-Book, or produce some other type of exclusive, paid content are constantly increasing their email list from people signing up to download or through the purchasing process.
If your strength is in your personality or art that you create, you can use things like Google Hangouts, offer to record voicemail messages for fans, or offer access to a subscriber exclusive song or photograph in high rez, either for purchase or just as a thank you for giving up the email address. You want offers like this to display on your website and your social media to maximize your potential audience.
Build Landing Pages
Creating a landing page that funnels people directly to a form to enter their email is another great tactic. It is less annoying than a pop up, but serves a similar function: to get them to drop that address on you. You can code up a page of your own, or use a system like Welcome Mat, which is recommended by a lot of experts. It won't change anything about your site or your homepage, but it will generate more emails into your list.
Welcome Mat can also create floating headings and banners, or smart bars, on your site so readers can opt in any time. This is probably even less annoying, and you're sure to pick up a reader or two who got lost on a fun journey through your content, deciding on post number 5 that they just have to sign up.
Employ Pop Ups and Exit Intent Pop-ups
We all hate pop-up ads, but there is still evidence that they work. Authority site, SumoMe claims that some users have been so successful growing email lists with pop-ups that conversions increased by 60%. Remember that you can always try one of these tactics, measure your results, and switch to something else if you aren't seeing the benefits you expect. Whether we like it or not, even tried and true tips are sometimes trial and error on an individual basis.
Two Page Micro Site- Gain An Email And A Share
If you're using a landing page system to attract email subscribers, consider sending them to a second page that offers an additional bonus for sharing the news of your new relationship with their social network. This page should be set up for one click sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or any other social networks you use.
This concept is similar to retail sites who offer gift cards or discounts for those who refer a friend. Feel free to study popular campaigns like that from top name brands to see how they word their calls to action. This post on Four Hour Work Week details how a two page microsite gathered emails for men's grooming brand, Harry's.
Giveaways
Giveaways are a tremendous way to maximize the appearance of value with a minimum output. You certainly can give away some of your paid content, a product you have sourced by partnering up with another online presence, or even something fun you've purchased to benefit your readers. To enter the contest, they have to sign up with their email. A sample of your product can be a giveaway too, letting someone try it and sourcing their feedback.
Move Your CTA for Emails To The Top
Why not place a call to action for email signups where you put your byline? Why not ask after the first paragraph? If you can't employ the banner model from Welcome Mat, this is a low budget way to achieve the same effect. Impact Branding and Design analyzed how much of their most popular posts actually get read by visitors and found that most readers never make it to the call of action. Shake things up by moving it from the bottom of your content to the top.
Use Social Proof In Your Calls To Action
Letting people know how many other people are subscribed to your list can entice them to sign up too. Sites like Buffer and Business expert, Noah Kagan use this language in their pop-ups and banner ads. Reviews can also influence social proof- encourage your readers to submit them.
SEO, internet marketing, and your business are always works in progress and require nurturing and fresh new tactics to keep traffic up and visitors happy. The suggestions here are expert tested and they wouldn't waste their time if they didn't work. If you use any of these methods discussed here, let us know how they're working for you by commenting with your experience.
Email marketing success is a bit of a niche art, but you can learn how to succeed with a few relatively simple steps. Your first goal is to capitalize on opportunities to gain access to your audience by email. You can't market to them if you don't know how to reach them. Warning: most of these methods take some effort on your part!
The steps, tips and tricks to growth hacking your email list are all action based, possible on a budget, and based on principles that will help you continue to grow your readership and email list in the future. If you start today, you will achieve results. You may not wake up to a booming 100,000 emails to roll around all over, but your list will start growing.
Promote on Twitter- Use Lead Cards
Twitter Lead Cards are one of those brilliant things you stumble on now and again that change everything. They're so important, I'm not going to bury them at the end of this paragraph, where they probably belong for organizational correctness. The lead card is available to advertisers on Twitter. If you're signed up and/or eligible to sign up, I suggest you do so.
The lead card makes it so easy for people to subscribe to your email list right from Twitter (it's link based) that they simply will be more likely to do it. You're going to warm them up a little first, and now we'll talk about how to do that. You can also use the following tactics if you can't avail yourself of the lead card, it just may not be quite as easy and therefore successful.
You already know that you should be active on social media because it benefits everything from your backlinking potential to gaining the almighty click. Along with the interesting content you share, occasionally tweet out to your followers that you'd love to share insider information with them from your newsletter- all they have to do is follow the link to subscribe. You're essentially creating your own lead card here, in 160 characters or less.
If you don't send out a newsletter and instead notify subscribers when you've posted something new, your pitch on Twitter can be that you want your audience to stay on the cutting edge of all of the information you are sourcing for them. You can take a more personal approach by being friendly, saying something funny, and inviting people to make friends at your blog by subscribing and commenting.
Source Your Social Media
You want to entice social media followers to also get on your mailing list so you have access to them directly. If you don't have a link to your subscription landing page or email sign up in your social media profile, fix that now! No coding necessary! It only takes 5 minutes!
Just like with the Twitter advice, you should post frequently about joining your network with a link so people can act on your suggestion. Try offering something through a contest (more about that later) or even though using a special 'social media only' discount code for some of your exclusive content or a video bonus. Talk about your email list like it's an exclusive club- a way for you to give your readers something extra. Promote your list, even if you don't have an offer to give as a thank you- you might be surprised who signs up anyway.
Example: Real Friends Email! Hey Guys- all this social media stuff is great, and I love interacting with you here, but I've been thinking about lasting connections and how important it is for me to stay connected with you. Please share your email address with me so we can stay in touch, no matter what! I'll send a little bonus content <or a discount code> to you, just to say thanks and welcome to my inbox!
Obviously, that's too long for Twitter, but could play well on Facebook or even Instagram.
Example: The cutting edge makes money, don't be left behind. Subscribe today for all the most current info on X.
That one's short and sweet and more about your authority than likability. The kind of business, blog or product you have will dictate which approach, or which combination of the two, will work best for you. Infographics play well on social media and you can use one in conjunction with your call for subscribers for a little extra visual impact.
Develop Opt-In Content or Content Upgrades
You can make money with exclusive, paid content through your site, but you get emails through this method too. Bloggers, freelancers and consultants who give online lessons, have an e-Book, or produce some other type of exclusive, paid content are constantly increasing their email list from people signing up to download or through the purchasing process.
If your strength is in your personality or art that you create, you can use things like Google Hangouts, offer to record voicemail messages for fans, or offer access to a subscriber exclusive song or photograph in high rez, either for purchase or just as a thank you for giving up the email address. You want offers like this to display on your website and your social media to maximize your potential audience.
Build Landing Pages
Creating a landing page that funnels people directly to a form to enter their email is another great tactic. It is less annoying than a pop up, but serves a similar function: to get them to drop that address on you. You can code up a page of your own, or use a system like Welcome Mat, which is recommended by a lot of experts. It won't change anything about your site or your homepage, but it will generate more emails into your list.
Welcome Mat can also create floating headings and banners, or smart bars, on your site so readers can opt in any time. This is probably even less annoying, and you're sure to pick up a reader or two who got lost on a fun journey through your content, deciding on post number 5 that they just have to sign up.
Employ Pop Ups and Exit Intent Pop-ups
We all hate pop-up ads, but there is still evidence that they work. Authority site, SumoMe claims that some users have been so successful growing email lists with pop-ups that conversions increased by 60%. Remember that you can always try one of these tactics, measure your results, and switch to something else if you aren't seeing the benefits you expect. Whether we like it or not, even tried and true tips are sometimes trial and error on an individual basis.
Two Page Micro Site- Gain An Email And A Share
If you're using a landing page system to attract email subscribers, consider sending them to a second page that offers an additional bonus for sharing the news of your new relationship with their social network. This page should be set up for one click sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or any other social networks you use.
This concept is similar to retail sites who offer gift cards or discounts for those who refer a friend. Feel free to study popular campaigns like that from top name brands to see how they word their calls to action. This post on Four Hour Work Week details how a two page microsite gathered emails for men's grooming brand, Harry's.
Giveaways
Giveaways are a tremendous way to maximize the appearance of value with a minimum output. You certainly can give away some of your paid content, a product you have sourced by partnering up with another online presence, or even something fun you've purchased to benefit your readers. To enter the contest, they have to sign up with their email. A sample of your product can be a giveaway too, letting someone try it and sourcing their feedback.
Move Your CTA for Emails To The Top
Why not place a call to action for email signups where you put your byline? Why not ask after the first paragraph? If you can't employ the banner model from Welcome Mat, this is a low budget way to achieve the same effect. Impact Branding and Design analyzed how much of their most popular posts actually get read by visitors and found that most readers never make it to the call of action. Shake things up by moving it from the bottom of your content to the top.
Use Social Proof In Your Calls To Action
Letting people know how many other people are subscribed to your list can entice them to sign up too. Sites like Buffer and Business expert, Noah Kagan use this language in their pop-ups and banner ads. Reviews can also influence social proof- encourage your readers to submit them.
SEO, internet marketing, and your business are always works in progress and require nurturing and fresh new tactics to keep traffic up and visitors happy. The suggestions here are expert tested and they wouldn't waste their time if they didn't work. If you use any of these methods discussed here, let us know how they're working for you by commenting with your experience.
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