A Comprehensive Outline: How to Grow Your Email List
Build your subscriber list from scratch and learn how to capitalize on email list marketing.
Email marketing isn’t going anywhere. And there’s a good reason it’s here to stay. Email marketing produces a return on investment (ROI) of $40 for every dollar you spend (1).
Your subscriber list might be at ground zero, and that’s okay.
After this article, you’ll walk away with proven ways to grow your email list and a plan of attack for marketing to them.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Understanding the Importance of an Email List.
Qualities of an Effective Email List.
How to Grow an Email List from Scratch.
10 Lead Magnet Examples to Grow Your Subscriber List.
Email List Marketing for Your Business.
Supercharge Your Email List With a Professional Copywriter.
As a business owner, building a robust, engaging email list is a foundational part of your marketing strategy. You may have the most active social media presence. But that can’t substitute for building a subscriber list.
And here’s why.
You don’t own your audience when it comes to social media platforms.
If Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok closed tomorrow, you would lose your entire audience in a second. All your efforts in posting, commenting, and engaging would be wasted if you didn’t collect the one thing that connects you to your audience – an email address.
Continually building and refining your email list is worth the time and effort.
A quality list of subscribers opens the door for:
Making personal connections
Creating brand awareness
Driving quality traffic to your website
Maximizing your marketing budget
Converting leads into customers
As a marketing strategist, I specialize in helping businesses like yours build their email lists and refine their digital marketing efforts.
Schedule a Free Strategy Call today.
Let’s strategize how to turn your email list (however big or small) into a powerful and priceless business-growing asset.
Besides having an incredible ROI, why is an email list so special? Keep reading to find out.
Why Building Your Email List is Important.
Let’s back up for a second and discuss the value of email marketing.
Email marketing uses email to:
Promote your products and services
Inform subscribers of new products, discounts, or other special offers
Educate and inform your customers
Keep readers engaged with your brand
Marketing through email gives you direct access to a valuable piece of real estate with your audience – their inbox. You can enter their “digital living room” daily and connect with your ideal customer.
Email marketing is your workhorse as a business owner in a competitive digital marketing landscape.
Here are a few stats about the power email marketing:
4 billion people use email each day, and that’s expected to increase to 4.6 billion by 2025 (2).
Email is nearly 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter in gaining new customers (3).
Email marketing is more likely to increase sales than social media (4).
91% of adults in the US enjoy receiving promotional emails from brands they do business with (5).
A strong email list lets you speak directly with your audience to build relationships, establish credibility, and turn prospects into customers.
There are plenty of reasons to make growing your subscriber list a priority. Let’s touch on a few.
Brand Recognition.
Subscribers purposefully give you their email address with the understanding they’d be hearing from you. Don’t take that lightly. Each email is an opportunity to share your brand’s values, beliefs, and attributes.
Establish recognition with your readers by Including your business’s name, logo, slogan, and other characteristics that differentiate your brand in each email.
Using your email list to increase brand awareness leads to:
Attracting and retaining customers
Driving more sales
Giving you a competitive advantage
Increasing customer loyalty and trust
Increasing brand recognition reminds people who you are and what you have to offer.
2. Budget-Friendly.
Marketing gets costly. The expense of traditional mailers, pamphlets, and fliers adds up.
But with email marketing, you connect with lots of people with a single email. And the best part is you can use email marketing metrics to track how well an email did.
Email marketing gives you the best ROI.
ROI = Revenue - Costs ÷ Costs (for a percentage multiply the total by 100).
For example, if you made $10,000 from an email marketing campaign and expenses totaled $1,000, the ROI is $9. You earned $9 for every $1 spent.
In terms of marketing, ROI is important for a few reasons, including:
Revealing if your email marketing campaign was profitable
Guiding decision-making when it comes to your marketing efforts
Informing where to allocate your resources
Marketing is a huge expense to your business. Even with the tightest budget, attracting new customers and retaining current ones is possible when using your email list to market your business.
3. Establish Trust and Authority.
81% of consumers say trust plays a big role when purchasing (6). Email is a perfect way to build that trust.
Consistent communication lets your audience know what they can expect. Subscribers are more likely to engage with your brand when emails are clear, transparent, and authentic.
Let your email list know they can count on your brand by consistently popping up in their inbox.
Credibility is another benefit of email marketing. Valuable and relevant content lets your subscribers know you’re a credible resource.
Build trust and credibility with your audience by:
Segmenting your email list
Responding to your customers’ concerns, complaints, and problems
Optimizing emails for mobile devices
Highlighting your value proposition
Personalizing your messaging
Email is a great way to follow up with your audience. In doing so, your audience sees you’re reliable, committed, and respectful of their time. Writing a thank you, reminder, or call-to-action email goes a long way to establishing trust and credibility with your email list.
4. Ownership of Email List.
If social media is the only way to reach your audience, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Social media can close without notice and all those followers you’ve worked so hard to earn will be lost in a second.
That’s why email list building is priceless.
Relying solely on social media to stay connected with your audience means you’re at the mercy of changes in the algorithm and policies. Often these changes result in a loss of visibility and followers.
Or even worse – your account could be closed permanently. Don’t let this be your story. Start growing your subscriber list now.
As with most things, an email list is about quality rather than quantity.
Qualities of an Effective Email List.
Improve the quality of your subscriber list with the following strategies.
Permission-Based.
A permission-based email list means someone has given you their consent to receive emails from you. This is also called explicit consent.
Consent from your email list subscribers builds trust and reduces the chances of your emails being marked as spam. As a result, engagement rates increase.
Create a permission-based email list by:
Having a clear opt-in method during the signup process. Include a checkbox on your website or landing page stating what the subscriber receives when signing up for your email list.
Including a double opt-in, also called a confirmed opt-in. A subscriber gets a confirmation email with a link asking them to confirm they want to sign up for your list. It’s the strictest way to grow your email list but ensures that the person signing up is intentionally doing so.
Sending an automated thank you email after a subscriber has successfully signed up and confirmed the sign-up. Use this email to set the stage for this new relationship. Let them know how often you’ll send emails and what sort of content they can expect.
All great relationships start when there are clear expectations and standards. Your subscribers are no different.
Segmented.
Email segmentation involves dividing your subscribers into smaller subgroups based on certain criteria. This includes demographics, buyer behavior, purchase history, or email engagement.
Segmenting your email list allows you to target and personalize your email campaigns.
You can send emails to different groups of people within your email list based on their interests, pain points, desires, or other criteria. The more personalized your emails are, the better your response rates and conversions will be.
Segment your subscribers by:
Collecting useful information during the signup process. This can include age, location, profession, gender, or income level.
Analyzing past purchases, levels of engagement, where they are in the sales process, or past interactions.
Understanding your subscribers’ email preferences. Do they prefer daily or weekly emails? Are they accessing your emails via a mobile device or computer?
Segmenting lets you send more personalized content tailored to your subscribers, ensuring they continue to stay on your email list.
High Engagement.
The goal is an email list filled with subscribers who are actively engaged and interested in your messages. They know, like, and trust your brand enough to open your emails. By segmenting your list, you can deliver content tailored to that speaks to your audience’s interests, needs, and desires.
With relevant content, there’s higher engagement. Your subscribers are more likely to click on your links, reply, and remain subscribed. All of this results in a more effective and successful email marketing strategy.
Create an engaging email list by:
Checking your subscriber list regularly to gauge any trending behavior. Not these changes and adjust content accordingly.
Asking your new subscribers what sorts of emails they want to receive. Have your subscribers tell you whether they want informational content or sales promotions.
Removing inactive subscribers. This keeps your engagement rates high and ensures your emails reach the right people.
A quality email list respects your subscribers’ preferences and improves the overall effectiveness of your email marketing strategy.
Easy to Unsubscribe.
As scary as it sounds, an easy-to-find unsubscribe button improves your email marketing metrics.
A high-quality email list is a group of people who want to read your emails. When your emails are sent to unengaged subscribers, important metrics are impacted.
Clearing out uninterested subscribers positively impacts your email campaign's open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
Make it easy for your subscribers to unsubscribe by:
Adding an unsubscribe link to an email preference page. Including a button that’s easy to see in the footer is another option.
Ensuring the unsubscribe wording is clear, concise, and respectful.
Asking your unsubscriber to share why they’re leaving your email list. This info can help you better understand your audience and their needs.
A healthy unsubscribe rate among most industries is under 2%. Every time you lose a subscriber, remind yourself it’s an opportunity to refine your marketing strategy and improve your email list.
How to Grow an Email List from Scratch.
Here’s a step-by-step strategy to build your subscriber list from scratch.
Step One: Have a Clear Objective
What are your goals with your email list?
Ask yourself, “What do I want to accomplish through email marketing, and how does this relate to my business objectives?”
A few objectives for an email list include:
Improving customer communication
Increasing revenue
Promoting new products or services
Building brand awareness
Upselling or cross-selling
Articulating what you want to achieve with your subscribers gives direction and purpose to each email sent.
Step Two: Get to Know Your Audience.
Don’t underestimate the power of getting to know your audience. After all, these are the people you want to join your email list.
Start by brainstorming who your ideal customer is.
What are their interests, pain points, and desires?
Go even deeper by considering how they want to receive information. The better you know your audience, the more likely you can create content that’s relevant and engaging to them.
Getting to know your audience includes:
Analyzing your current audience
Conducting market research through surveys or social media polls
Creating a buyer persona with characteristics of your ideal customer
Monitoring comments, feedback, questions, or complaints
Watching what your competitors are doing
Study each new subscriber to develop a better understanding of your audience.
Step Three: Decide on the Kind of Content.
What type of content will you send in your emails? Will you send newsletters, promotional emails, business updates, educational information, or exclusive offers and specials?
Regardless of the type of content, each email should provide value to your readers.
Think about what kind of content your audience finds most beneficial. Then ask yourself how this aligns with your email marketing objectives from step one.
This is often where business owners struggle.
Don’t get caught staring at a blank screen for hours wondering what your audience would want to read.
Use these questions to help you create valuable content for your readers:
What type of content will help you reach your email list goals?
What kind of content is your competitor sending?
What can you glean from social media listening?
What kinds of content engage your audience on other platforms?
As with most things in email marketing, A/B testing is important. Businesses that A/B test every email see a 37% higher return on email marketing than those that don’t (7).
Step Four: Set Measurable Goals.
Setting specific, measurable goals with your email list helps track progress and keeps you focused. But more importantly, it tells you how effective your email marketing strategy is.
Goal setting guarantees every email sent serves a purpose in your business strategy.
Metrics to set with your email list include:
Unsubscribe Rate: People who unsubscribe from your email list
Email Open Rate: Percentage of people who open your email
Click-Through Rate: Percentage of people who click on links within your email
Conversion Rate: Percentage of people who clicked on a link and then took action
Bounce Rate: Percentage of emails that failed to deliver
Return on Investment (ROI): ROI tracks how profitable your email marketing campaign is by comparing the costs with the revenue it generates
List Growth Rate: A measurement of how well your email list is growing
Tracking your metrics regularly reveals if you're hitting your email list goals. And if not, it shows you how to adjust and make improvements.
Step Five: Choose the Right Tools and Platforms.
Using the right email marketing tools simplifies the process of building and managing your list of subscribers.
Questions to ask before deciding on a platform include:
What kinds of emails will you send and what are must-have features?
How tech-savvy are you? Will you need extra support with the backend side of an email list?
What will you need as your business and email list grows?
Are you looking to integrate a current system with a new one?
Do you want a platform that offers automation, customization, and metric analytics?
Research a variety of email marketing platforms. Get to know their features, scalability, integration options, and pricing so you choose the one that works best for your needs.
Step Six. Create Compelling Offers.
A compelling offer should be valuable enough for someone to give their email address in exchange for it. An offer is often called a lead magnet. It can be a freebie, downloadable, free trial, exclusive access, discount, or an ebook.
Lead magnets act as the motivation for potential subscribers to join your email list.
Each lead magnet needs to clearly state your value proposition. This way you can overcome any hesitation your visitors have in giving you their info.
Questions to ask when creating a compelling offer include:
What does your ideal customer value most that you can provide?
Are there any problems your offer solves?
How does this offer align with products and services?
What type of content would your audience appreciate most?
Will this offer encourage more interaction with your brand?
Put yourself in your subscriber's shoes and ask, “What would it take for me to give someone my email address?” Later on, I’ll give you some ideas on compelling offers.
Step Seven: Optimizing for Sign-Ups.
Converting website visitors into subscribers is the goal. Your website and marketing materials should clearly explain how to sign up for your email list. The design, layout, user experience, and strategic placement of an email list form all impact conversions.
A well-optimized email list sign-up process eliminates any obstacles for the subscriber.
Optimize conversions by:
Placing email list sign-up forms in high-traffic areas on your website, such as the home page, footer, or as a pop-up
Keeping your sign-up forms clear and concise by opting for a simple layout
Making your call to action compelling by using action-oriented language
Delivering your opt-in incentive immediately after subscribing
Optimizing the sign-up form for mobile
The easier your process is, the more subscribers you’ll get.
10 Lead Magnet Examples to Grow Your Subscriber List.
Use one of these ideas when creating a compelling offer to grow your email list.
Checklists.
Who doesn’t love a good checklist? They’re easy for you to create, and easy for your audience to consume. Take one of your best blog posts and turn it into an actionable checklist.
Help your subscriber accomplish a task or a goal by breaking down a complex process into checkable steps that are easy to follow.
2. eBooks.
Create a comprehensive guide providing in-depth knowledge on a relevant topic for your audience. Research common questions, concerns, or obstacles your audience has and create a solution-oriented guide.
Writing an eBook takes a little more time and effort, but is worth it when positioning your brand as an authority.
3. Webinars or Masterclasses.
Live workshops or seminars are great lead magnets because they’re interactive and engaging. Providing valuable content in real-time leads to high-quality leads.
Live sessions usually occur at a certain time or have limited spots, so they have a high perceived value. They work great at tapping into your subscriber’s fear of missing out.
4. Templates.
Templates are pre-designed outlines your subscribers can use on their projects. They provide a place to start and have a fill-in-the-blank format.
For a template to be effective, it needs to provide value for your audience.
Think of common tasks in your industry and create templates that simplify these tasks. For example, a weight loss coach can create weekly meal prep templates as a lead magnet.
5. Free Trials.
A free trial is a limited-time access to a product or service.
Free trials let potential customers experience the benefits before making a purchase. A free trial offer might be the final push for customers hesitant to commit financially.
Often people take advantage of a free trial and end up being paying customers.
6. Email Courses.
Email courses are a series of emails delivered over a few days or weeks to educate your readers about a topic. Select a topic in your industry that can be divided into bite-sized chunks. Then simply set up an automated series of emails.
Not only are email courses easy to set up, but they’re also a great way to build rapport with your prospects.
7. Discount Codes and Coupons.
This lead magnet offers a discount or coupon reducing the cost of your product or service for a limited time. It encourages price-sensitive customers to make a quick decision.
Early bird discounts are a great way to incentivize customers to join a waitlist. You can also offer a larger discount for first-time customers in exchange for their email.
8. Free Consultations.
This can look very different depending on your industry. Offering a free session where your ideal customer can get expert advice tailored to their specific needs is a great way to capture an email address.
Any time you can personalize a service, the greater the chance of a conversion. Consultations allow you to make it as personalized as you want.
Offering a limited time or availability generates a sense of urgency and encourages customers to take immediate action.
9. Whitepapers.
Whitepapers are detailed reports on a specific problem and offer solutions and data.
These are great lead magnets for B2B clients or customers interested in industry insights, statistics, or research. You can conduct the research yourself. Or gather data from several sources and compile it into a report.
Using white papers as a lead magnet establishes credibility and authority in your industry.
10. Event Tickets.
Like a webinar, free or discounted tickets to events related to your industry attract a target audience interested in a specific topic.
Event tickets increase brand exposure, carry a high perceived value, and encourage immediate action. Not to mention the networking opportunities with your audience after the event.
There are lots of other lead magnet ideas to try, including:
Recipes
Case Studies
Free Samples
Facebook Groups
Podcast Downloads
Interactive Videos
Contests
Quizzes
Slideshare
Free App
Guides
Bonuses
You can even create your own lead magnet.
Use these tips when crafting an irresistible opt-in for collecting leads:
Provide a Solution to a Common Problem: Get to know your audience’s challenges and needs, and create a lead magnet with a solution. The more in tune you are with your reader’s pain points, the more successful your lead magnet will be.
Offer a Quick Win: Your opt-in should provide and deliver an immediate solution or benefit to the problem. A quick win keeps your audience engaged and builds trust in your brand.
Keep it Relevant and Specific: The more targeted your lead magnet is, the more likely it will attract your ideal customer. A generic offer might bring in more leads. But a relevant one captures qualified leads.
Easy to Access and Digest: Your lead magnet should be easy to use and access. Checklists, downloads, lists, and videos should be delivered right after someone has signed up.
High-Quality Content: A successful lead magnet needs to be valuable. Investing in an eye-catching design and well-written opt-in reflects the quality of your brand.
Use a Strong CTA: Lead magnet CTAs should be clear, concise, and compelling. Ensure it communicates precisely what subscribers get when they opt-in and what steps to take to sign up.
Once your lead magnet is perfected, it’s time to spread the word. Promote it across all platforms.
This includes your website, social media channels, blogs, podcasts, and automated email campaigns. The more visible your lead magnet is, the more effective it will be at growing your email list.
Pro Tip: Follow Up.
This can’t be stressed enough.
When a new subscriber joins your email list, follow up with a series of automated emails providing even more value. These emails continue to build trust, establish authority, and result in more sales.
Let’s move on to email list marketing. We’ll cover what you need to know and strategies for doing it effectively.
Email List Marketing for Your Business.
Email list marketing is a type of digital marketing where specific messages are sent to your email list subscribers. These people have intentionally opted in to receive updates, promotions, and other content from your business.
Email marketing aims to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and boost sales.
Marketing to your email list is important for a few reasons, including:
Direct Communication: While social media platforms act as a middleman, email marketing gives you direct access to your audience. Announcements and promotions are shared firsthand, ensuring your subscribers get them.
Customer Retention: Email list marketing provides high engagement with current customers. Encourage repeat business and customer loyalty by sending personalized birthday promo codes.
Personalization and Segmentation: Email marketing tailored to your audience’s needs, behaviors, and interests improves engagement and conversion rates. Sending an email with content based on a customer’s past purchases shows you value their business.
High ROI: It can’t be stated enough – email marketing offers the highest return on investment compared to other digital marketing strategies. 59% of consumers agree that email marketing influences buying decisions (8).
Here are 7 strategies for email list marketing.
1. Use Dynamic Content.
Personalized content in email marketing enhances its relevance and engagement with your audience. Change your offers, images, and messages based on the recipient’s profile, preferences, and behavior.
2. Optimize Send Times.
Send emails at times when your readers are more likely to interact. This increases important metrics like open and click-through rates. Track these metrics to identify the best times to send emails.
3. Leverage User-Generated Content.
Use content created by your audience in emails. Incorporate reviews, testimonials, or social media posts into your content to build trust and customer loyalty. This also encourages subscribers to interact with you.
4. Include Clear and Compelling CTAs.
Strategically placing action-oriented CTAs within an email drives conversions. Guide your subscribers on what to do next by making your CTAs easy to find and understand. Keep CTAs concise and direct.
5. Incorporate Other Marketing Channels.
Merge your email campaigns with other marketing channels like social media, content marketing, and SEO strategies. Creating a cohesive and unified marketing plan maximizes your efforts and its effectiveness.
6. Create a Drip Campaign.
This series of automatic emails helps nurture leads, onboard new customers, build brand awareness, and guide subscribers through the buyer funnel. Create these emails with relevant content that moves your readers towards a goal, such as booking a free consultation.
7. Test and Retest.
Experiment with various email formats as you get to know your subscriber list.
This includes subject lines, opening remarks, body, CTAs, and signatures. Identifying the most effective format for your email list improves engagement and response rates. A/B testing using different formats reveals which performs best.
Most of all, lean into the power of consistency. Whatever email marketing methods you use, showing up consistently with valuable content goes a long way with your subscribers.
Supercharge Your Email List With a Professional Copywriter.
Are you ready to build a robust email list but feel overwhelmed on where to begin?
Start by scheduling a FREE Strategy Call with me today.
You’ll walk away with:
Personalized advice on crafting compelling messages that resonate with your readers
Tailored strategies for building and segmenting your email list for maximum engagement
Actionable tips for creating compelling calls-to-action that drive conversions
Invest in your business and hire a marketing strategist today. I’ll build you a thriving email list focused on driving conversions and boosting sales so you can reach your business goals.
Resources
1. Litmus
2. Statista
3. McKinsey
4. Optinmonster
7. Hubspot
8. Luisa Zhou
