Get $45 For Every Dollar You Invest Here. Powerful Stuff!
According to Statista, the ROI in email marketing can get as high as $45 for every dollar spend. The average ROI is $36 per dollar spent, you can’t miss the opportunity.
But, before you start dreaming about getting $45 for each dollar you invest, you need to know a few things and the system that makes it possible.
Let’s start with a situation.
Do you get huge traffic on your website or do you have a huge following on social media?
Do you promote your business there?
What will happen if one day all your social media following vanishes? What if your website gets banned due to some reason?
All your content will vanish. The time and effort you’ve put into building such a following will amount to nothing.
Will that be the end of your business? Will you be able to promote your product to your audience without those platforms?
The problem is a serious one and can cost you years of time and effort.
When someone else takes decisions for your business, that’s definitely not a good experience.
What if we have a solution for that? What if you can promote your business without relying on any other platforms?
What if you control and regulate the entire system without any external influence?
Sounds amazing right?
You can achieve all that with an email list. In this article, we’ll learn about what is an email list, how to build an email list, and how to do it fast.
Let’s get into it.
What is an Email List?
An email list is a list of your user emails along with some personal information like the name, age, gender, profession, etc.
Emails are effective because quite often interested prospects share their emails with you.
The resistance is not that high when it comes to interested prospects. You don’t have to do a lot of convincing to sell them your product/service. So, there is a high chance of them converting into customers.
But, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows when it comes to emails.
The hardest part of email marketing is collecting emails from your prospects.
What are the challenges in building an email list?
I did say email marketing is effective, but I never said it’s easy.
A large proportion of businesses have gone online. And a large number of them are using emails to promote their business.
That means, hundreds of emails in your prospect’s inbox.
The worst part is the frustration caused by an inbox filled with unnecessary emails.
Why would someone want to give you their email address which will flood more emails into their inbox?
It’s already frustrating to sort those sales emails from the necessary ones. Why would someone want to receive more of that?
That simple fact creates so much resistance when it comes to collecting emails.
If you want to use email marketing, it’s the only way and you have to accept the challenges.
There is also a positive side to this saturation that’s happening.
Despite that kind of resistance, if someone still signs up, you will make a sale with relative ease.
Providing value is all there is when it comes to building an email list.
Now we know about the challenges of building an email list.
Let’s take a look at the steps involved in building an email list.
How to build an email list from scratch? (step-by-step guide)
Without complicating things any further, let’s first understand the basics.
These are the things you need, to create an email list in its simplest possible form.
First of all, you need a way to receive your user information and you need to have a place to store it.
There are various ways of collecting your user emails (more on that later).
To store your user information you need an email service provider.
Step -1: Register with an email service provider (ESP)
When it comes to choosing an email service provider, it’s always a bit confusing.
There are several options to choose from. The plans they offer are quite different from one another.
If you don’t have a big email list and are only a beginner, start with a FREE plan.
Register with an email service provider that offers free service.
Here are some of the ESPs and their contact limits that are completely FREE to use:
- Mailchimp (Free up to 2000 email IDs)
- ConvertKit (Free up to 1000 email IDs)
- MailerLite (Free up to 1000 email IDs)
- AWeber (Free up to 500 emails IDs)
- Sendinblue (Send up to 300 free emails per day)
There are some ESPs that offer a limited-time FREE trial, to begin with.
After the trial period ends, you have to become a premium member to access their services.
Here are a few ESPs with FREE trials:
- ActiveCampaign (14-day free trial)
- GetResponse (30-day free trial)
- Constant Contact (60-day free trial)
With FREE options, there is a cap to their functionality and the number of emails you could use is also limited.
You can access those features by becoming a premium member.
But if you are a beginner, the FREE version is more than enough to start with.
Step -2: Choose your medium:
To be able to collect emails from your prospects, you need to choose the medium that works best for you.
There are several options like websites, social media, referrals, etc.
Before we get into that, we need to understand the ways of collecting emails in those mediums.
Types of forms used to collect user emails:
Static embedded forms:
A static embedded form is a sign-up form where the user shares basic details.
They provide their email address along with their name, age group, gender, etc.
You can create these forms outside of your website and add them to your website in various places.
Make sure they don’t interfere with your website content. Decide a space on your website and stick to it.
Don’t overuse them.
Dynamic pop-ups:
Pop-ups are dynamic sign-up forms that appear when a user is browsing through your website.
There are various types of pop-ups you could use on your website.
Welcome pop-ups:
These pop-ups appear when a user enters your site.
They welcome the user. They also notify users about fresh offers, sales, and discounts on first-time purchases.
They are also used to encourage the user to subscribe to your newsletter.
You can send fresh industry news, new offer notifications, and other valuable information.
You can time those welcome pop-ups.
That means, they appear after the user scrolls a particular percentage of the webpage. They also appear when the user spends a particular amount of time on your website.
You can time your pop-ups according to your analytics data to make them more effective.
Exit intent pop-ups:
An exit intent pop-up appears when the user is about to leave the site.
There are various ways to time the pop-up for the best results.
You don’t need to dig that deep to be able to use them. Your marketing software takes care of that for you.
You can ask users to join your email list or subscribe to your newsletters in those pop-ups.
Promotional pop-ups:
Promotional pop-ups appear while the user is browsing through your website.
These are great for spreading the word about your offers and discounts.
They are also useful to promote your lead magnets (more on that later).
You can also redirect your audience to a different page with these pop-ups.
Now let’s take a look at how to use them.
Mediums you can use to grow your email list:
1. Building an email list through your website:
If your website is SEO optimized you will get a decent amount of traffic to your site.
Place your opt-in forms and pop-ups in places where your visitors can see them.
Don’t make it too lengthy by asking for unnecessary details. Keep it short and stick to the necessary information only.
It’s already hard to get the email address of your visitor, don’t make it harder for them to share.
You can also use pop-ups in your blogs and ask your audience to join your newsletter. Provide a lead magnet to make the offer even stronger.
The most important part is the CTA.
Make sure your CTA is relevant to the topic you are talking about. Have different CTA’s for different blog posts.
If yours is an E-commerce website, ask them for their email address while they are checking out.
That way you can add them to your email list and send them updates about their product.
Invite them to sign-up for notifications about new launches, offers, and sales.
Leverage anything that could bring value to your audience.
Remember, they will sign-up if you provide value and make their lives a little easier.
Value their time and don’t spam them about irrelevant topics.
Provide what you promised at the beginning.
2. Building an email list through social media:
If you have social media channels with a large audience it can get you a high number of email sign-ups.
Make sure you have a landing page where you can add a sign-up form to collect emails.
Share the link to that landing page in your bio and about page.
When someone visits your profile and clicks on the link, chances are they will sign-up for your email list.
You can also conduct contests and surveys and ask for their emails to send the results.
Giveaways are also a great way to make your audience share their emails.
When you are getting something valuable for free, sharing your email doesn’t seem like a big deal.
That reduces the resistance to a great extent.
Caution: Don’t have unrealistic expectations. Not all your followers will sign-up for your email list. A small fraction of followers will sign-up. And a fraction of those subscribers will buy.
3. Building an email list offline:
If you have physical outlets to sell your products, make sure you use them to grow your email list.
Whenever a customer buys something, ask them for their email address to send updates.
People love exclusives. Ask them to be a member so that they could get access to your “members only” discounts and notifications.
Don’t ask for too many details. Keep it short and simple.
4. Using referrals to build your email list:
If your existing customers like what you are selling, they will be happy to share it with their loved ones.
Don’t let that go in vain. Make sure your customers spread the word about your business.
Provide incentives like cashback and coupons when they refer your product or service.
Also, make it easy and profitable for the new prospect to sign-up.
You can provide a sign-up bonus and discounts for first-time customers.
Creating an opt-in form and waiting for visitors to join your email list is a slow process.
You can’t wait for decades to build your email list and promote your business after that.
Building an email list takes time and there is no other way around it. But you can speed up this process to some extent.
7 list-building strategies to grow your email list fast and in an organic way:
1. Create lead magnets:
According to a 2021 survey of global small and midsize businesses, a staggering 60.2% of all the respondents said they use lead magnets in their lead generation strategy.
That’s not a small percentage.
Lead magnets are one of the most powerful ways to build your email list.
A lead magnet is some form of FREE value you give your audience in exchange for their emails.
It could be an eBook, webinar, case study, templates, checklists, or anything valuable. The intent is to help your audience.
Make sure the lead magnet you create contains some quick actionable steps.
Also, make sure it’s relevant to your niche or the thing you are talking about.
When the user gets something that is actionable, they can see the difference in real time.
You are not blabbering about some theory to them. You are providing something they can apply. Something practical.
2. Use a relevant landing page:
To collect emails from your visitors on social media, make sure you have a dedicated landing page to collect emails.
If the sole purpose of sharing that link is to collect emails, don’t send them to the home page of your website.
Even if someone clicks on that link and goes to your home page, they will get distracted.
Instead of sharing their email, they will be too occupied with checking out your website.
Don’t beat around the bush. Be clear about your intentions and act according to that.
3. Provide free value in exchange for their email:
Suppose someone visits your E-commerce site and tries to buy something.
In that case, you can provide FREE shipping in exchange for their email address.
You can also give gift vouchers or discounts as an incentive.
The goal is to make a legit offer that’s enough to overcome their resistance.
4. Learn to use the right words:
It may not be obvious, but the right words can change how your audience reacts to your CTAs.
It’s subtle but quite effective.
For example, instead of using words like “Sign-up,” “Subscribe,” use “Get access,” “Download,” “Grab your resource” etc.
Both things have the same meaning but one is more effective than the other.
There is one more thing to take care of.
Always be clear about what it is that you want them to do. Don’t deceive them with clever words.
5. Make sure to add sign-up to your email signature:
An email signature is the details you add at the end of an email that tells your reader about you.
It contains your name, position, contact details, and links you wanna share.
That’s where you need to add your sign-up link.
There are people in your contact who may not know about your email list.
By providing a link in your email signature, you make them aware of your email list.
If they want, they can sign-up from there.
6. Use quizzes and games:
You can craft a questionnaire for your audience. Based on their answers let them know which category they belong to.
People love to find out new things about themselves and where they belong.
Quizzes also help you segment your audience according to their preferences.
This helps you to craft appropriate emails for them and increases your success rate.
You can ask for their emails to notify them about the results.
That may not sound like a genius tactic but it works.
You could also use games such as spinning boards and scratch cards to make it more fun and engaging.
When they win something ask them for their emails to claim their prize.
7. Use pop-ups, because they work:
We’ve already discussed pop-ups in the article.
Pop-ups help you to capture the attention of your audience and make sure they don’t forget to sign-up.
They are annoying sometimes if used too much. But if done right, they can get you a lot of emails that you would have lost otherwise.
Those are 7 effective ways to boost the growth of your email list.
Now let’s take a look at some of the best practices when it comes to building an email list.
Best practices in building an email list:
1. Never buy an email list:
Don’t ever buy an email list from someone else.
The best way to have an email list is to build one yourself.
When you buy an email list chances are others have also purchased that email list.
If the people in that email list are not interested in your niche market they will mark your email as spam.
A high spam score is bad news.
There is another problem.
Even if your list works, the percentage of conversion will be less.
Never buy an email list.
2. Ask for their consent:
Always ask for consent before sending them emails for the first time.
Use gated content to make sure they want to receive your emails.
Gated content means a user has to fill out a form to receive the free resource.
Send them confirmation emails to make sure they want to subscribe.
That way your emails will not end up in their spam folders.
3. Maintain your email list:
People change their emails. Some people never open your emails. Some never buy.
These are the emails that never convert and you don’t wanna keep them on your email list.
Clean your email list from time to time. You can delete the email addresses with the least engagement.
Your email marketing software will help you do that.
Don’t pay for an email that is a liability rather than an asset.
Those are some of the things to take care of while building an email list.
If you put in the effort and do things with a strategy, building an email list is not intimidating.
FAQs
1. How to build an email list for free?
There are several free tools in the market. MailChimp, MailerLite, Sendinblue, and ConvertKit to name a few.
These tools are FREE up to a certain number of emails.
It will take you a decent amount of time to exceed that limit.
You can always upgrade to a paid plan as your business grows.
You don’t need a lot of functionality while starting out. A FREE tool will do it.
2. How to build an email list without a website?
You don’t necessarily need a website to build an email list from scratch. All you need is a landing page.
These are stand-alone web pages that don’t need a website to go online. You can host them individually and collect emails through them.
But you need to keep in mind that you need a traffic source like social media to be able to send traffic to your landing page.
If you have a decent number of people following you on social media, create a landing page and collect emails from your audience.
3. How to build an email list fast?
When you say “fast” how fast are you talking about and what’s the number of emails you want to collect in that time?
Emails list building is a slow process.
If you already have a traffic source and a decent amount of people visiting your site you could do it faster than someone who is starting out with nothing.
The growth of your email list depends on so many factors and it’s different for different niches.
4. How to build an organic email list?
If you don’t buy an email list from a third-party source and build an email list from zero, that’s an organic email list.
You could use various list-building strategies like lead magnets, opt-in forms, surveys, etc.
List building is a slow process and you need to be patient to see good results.
It takes time to build an organic email list.
Conclusion:
No matter which platform you choose to promote your business, an email list is always the best and most effective way to do it.
You can test your emails, you can make the necessary changes, and keep the best-performing ones.
The best part is the control it grants you that no other platform provides.
Other platforms can’t give you that autonomy an email list can give you.
They could push updates that don’t favor your business. They could take down your profile or website.
But when you have an email list, you don’t have to worry about any of that.
Never let all your efforts die a silent death. Make sure you encourage all of your audience to sign-up for your emails list.
We’ve discussed what is an email list, how to build your email list and ways to speed up the process.
We also made a list of various free and paid options for email service providers.
I hope you learned a little more about email list building from this article.
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Thank you!
