Four Ways to Attract New Email Subscribers and Grow a Better List
In marketing, we're on a constant quest to connect with new prospects, new
customers, and new email subscribers. So cultivating a high-performing email
contact list should be a top priority for all marketing professionals, no matter
what their core business.
Why? Well, the average email list churns about 30% every year. A successful
email marketing strategy should include a whole slew of activities to keep that
list lively and growing.
Here are four easy steps to help build your list—and boost your business.
1. Make it insanely easy to join your mailing
list
Journalists are taught to make the most important details of a news story
prominent and easy to find; in fundraising, development pros learn to lead with
their ask, followed by supporting facts to establish need. Marketers should
follow the same model when presenting an email signup form on their website.
Many company websites corral links in footers for the sake of design; sure,
it looks clean, but that's a surefire way to miss opt-in opportunities.
Don't make site visitors work to make a connection. Put your signup form at
the top of your homepage and alongside some other engaging content. You'll get
the most eyeballs possible on your form without requiring site visitors to
scroll all the way down to the bottom.
2. Spread the word; rinse, repeat
As marketers, we're all storytellers. In marketing, your story is at the
center of your strategy. Every organization should have 3-5 key messages ready
to share with prospects at any time. But many organizations fail to plug those
messages into channels that can help grow their list, resulting in missed
signup opportunities.
Adapt one of your core messages to create a clear call to action for
prospective subscribers. Then, use that new messaging to promote your company's
signup link on social media—not just once but continually.
Your social audience has already shown interest in your organization, so
don't play hard to get! Invite friends and followers to take the next step in
engagement by sharing your signup link across social channels regularly.
While you're spreading the word, don't be afraid to harness the social power
of your staff and stakeholders. These "insiders" have a vested
interest in your company's success, and they can be some of your best ambassadors.
Also ask those in your inner circle to share your emails with their social
networks, or encourage them to post a link to your signup form on their
personal social channels so you can get more exposure with new audiences.
Third-party validation is powerful, and the really successful brands do a great
job of using their fan base.
3. Be a (strategic) tease
There's no better way to show the value of being on your email list than to
share snippets of emails on your own social networks. Previewing the goods (your
valuable content) can entice interested consumers to sign up for future
messages, which is a really big deal.
Email conversion rates are 40 times that of Facebook and Twitter, so moving
someone from fan or follower to email subscriber puts him or her in a really
good position to become a customer.
So take the time to provide a strategic sneak peek of your email content on
social media; you'll draw in quality subscribers who really value what you have
to say in the inbox.
4. Create connections from everyday touchpoints
If you're like most people, you send scores of emails every day; now,
consider all the emails your colleagues send, too. Each recipient of all those
emails could be a future member of your contact list. So consider making a
minor change to your company's standard signature block by adding a signup link
to each employee's standard email signature. That simple step makes every sent
email a gateway for someone new to join your list.
Events
are also a great forum for collecting email addresses. If you regularly attend
networking functions, conferences, or professional meet-ups, consider ways to
convert introductions into signups. A simple pad of paper and pen will do in a
pinch, or you can use mobile apps to avoid the messy handwriting guesswork and
automatically populate your list with new connections.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Four Ways to Attract New Email Subscribers and Grow a Better List
Posted by John Hornyak, X2 Media at 3:43 PM
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