After creating an email list, building the said list should be the next thing on your to-do list and in the post we shall discuss ways you can build an email list fast via your blog or website or even if you don’t own a website yet.
As an online business owner, apart from your blog or website, your email list is the only business asset you truly own and that’s why building one is of utmost importance.
Ways to build an Email List With or Without Having a Website
1. Create a powerful lead magnet
Everyone loves free things, this is a universal truth.
Thus, if you are looking to build an email list, adding an incentive to it can encourage more people to sign up.
A lead magnet is like an ethical bribe. Something of high value to your audience which you can offer them for free in exchange for their email address.
It doesn’t have to be anything big or grand, it just needs to be an incentive and exclusive to your email subscribers.
If your business is an ecommerce one, you can give away coupon codes on sign ups or offer a discount for new subscribers.
If you don’t run an online store, you can create valuable content in downloadable format and offer it as a free download only available to your email subscribers.
It could be a free eBook, tutorial, video series and so on.
To create a lead magnet in form of an eBook, there are a number of ways you can go about it.
You can create the eBook from scratch or have content on your blog automatically converted into a professional looking eBook by using eBook automation software like Designrr.
If you don’t have a blog or content, you can re-purpose a valuable content on the web and convert it to an eBook using the Designrr software.
If people find the content on your website engaging and valuable, you can bet they will want to subscribe for more.
You can also encourage them to share your website with their friends who may be interested in your content as well, to boost traffic to your website and encourage more sign ups to your email newsletter.
You need to give people a reason to join and freebies can do a great job at achieving that.
2. Create a landing page/pop-up
To build an email list without having a website, it would be difficult to make use of an email sign up form.
Also, some websites are not optimized to have sign up forms, and if your website is one of those, not to worry, you can still build an email list on your website with the help of landing pages and pop ups.
And if you don’t have a website, what you can do is to create a standalone landing page through which you can collect emails of your audience from your social media account, article writing platforms like Medium or through paid adverts.
A landing page is simply a web page designed to focus on a particular marketing campaign which in this case would be your email campaign.
A pop-up like the name implies is a screen that pop ups on a website or landing page in order to trigger an action from the user.
Both landing pages and pop ups typically have short and compelling content with a simple call to action to persuade the user to subscribe to the email newsletter.
These pages are conversion optimized so if you want to build an email list, you should seriously consider building landing pages for your email list building endeavor.
3. Create valuable content
Part of the reason why email marketing is so successful is because it delivers your marketing message directly to your customers. That said, one way to build your email list is to create valuable content.
Your content should reflect your business and it should convince your audience to sign up for your email newsletter.
This is your opportunity to talk to your audience directly so it is essential to ensure that your content is precise, clear, relevant and persuasive.
You want creative content that will grab their attention and appeal to them, while being short enough to pique their interest and entice them to sign up for more.
People are careful about leaving their contact details online so your content has to be good enough to trump that fear and win them over.
Don’t forget to mention your email newsletter in your blog posts and add a Call to action (CTA) so your visitors do not miss out on the link.
4. Pitch your newsletter on social media
Here’s the thing, your email newsletter isn’t going to drive traffic to your business on it’s own. You will have to put it out there where your customers and people who might be interested in your business might see it.
So pitch your opt-in forms with the URL from your autoresponder on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn etc.) and stay up to date with trending topics that may be of interest to your audience.
Now, remember that where you can generate traffic for your email list will largely depend on the demographic of your target audience.
Nonetheless, the important thing is to ensure that you are where you can make new connections and reach a wider audience otherwise your email list may never grow to the level you want it to.
5. Make your email sign up form on your website conspicuous
It goes without saying that you will have to embed your email signup link on your blog or website. However, where you place it and how it looks are equally important if you want to optimize conversions.
You can place your sign up link on top menu of your website, the sidebar, at the footer of every web page and on your About Us page.
There is technically, no “perfect” designated spot for email subscription forms, the important thing is to place it where it can easily be seen by visitors.
No matter how interested in your website they may be, potential subscribers may lose interest in it if they have to actively search for an email newsletter subscription link.
So do yourself and your business a favour by placing your email sign up form where it is click-friendly and obvious.
