At this point, you are hopefully very aware of the importance of email marketing in the health and growth of your business! If not, check out this blog and this one.
But you might be wondering how do you grow your email list so you’re not emailing an empty room. The good news is it’s not difficult, the less fun news is it does require consistency and time.
I’m going to address the elephant in the room upfront. I don’t plan on discussing buying lists and I am not going to recommend it. I focus on sustainable, engaged growth for my clients and that’s what I plan on sharing here. Additionally, the thing I will shout until I am blue in the face is getting explicit consent to be on your list. I don’t care if where you are has laxed laws around it or there were loose yeses given.
At the end of the day, it’s better to have a smaller, more engaged list of people who want to hear from you than a big list of contacts who want to know how the heck you got their info. Phew! With that out of the way, let’s talk about the most common and best ways to guide outside connections onto your email list.
Lead Magnets
There may be different terms for these (opt-ins, freebies, lead magnets), but whatever you decide to call them they are key to a good email funnel. These are free things you give to a contact in exchange for their email and possibly other info.
This will look different depending on your business, your audience, and the type of offers you have.
For example, a course creator may offer a free mini-course as an opt-in. This will more than likely be a course that leads into their main offer or on a subject that prepares the contact to buy the full course. It will also take less time as it should quickly get the person to not only take an action with you but see a mini result.
Another example is a health coach, they may offer a PDF of a health plan based on their niche and expertise or perhaps a quiz on finding a “Fun, new workout to try to match your personality”
If you want more details on these bad betties, check out this blog or this free workshop. But the big takeaway is to not only have a lead magnet but then to promote and talk about it often on your social media, in person, and on podcasts.
Talk about it!
Phone Calls
Do you offer free discovery or exploratory calls? Or paid calls? Either way, if someone has access to you directly then they should also have the opportunity to join your email list. Again consent is key here. So on your booking form be sure to have a box they can check to agree to receive emails from you.
Conferences
If you’re networking at conferences or have a booth at a fair be sure to have a way for new friends to easily give you their email. This can be as simple as a sheet of paper (in this case you’ll want to email them an opt-in form) or having a phone or tablet on hand where they can enter their details straight into an opt-in form.
Webinars
Are you hosting webinars full of great info for your audience? Then make sure to connect them to your email list. This is a great way to follow up on the topics you discussed in the webinar and continue to nurture them.
Commerce (Online or Brick and Mortar)
You have two great opportunities here whether or not a customer purchases from you.
If they do make a purchase have a button at check out or ask them at the register if they’d like to be added to your list. For those who might not be ready to buy be sure to have a paper or table in the store and a pop-up online where contacts can still be added to your list. In either case, it’s helpful to offer an incentive here (like 5% off your next purchase).
In all of these cases, it’s important to remember you need to share and talk about your email list and the benefits of joining it often. You can’t simply wait and hope someone stumbles upon an opt-in form. We cover this and more in the Fresh Growth: Keys To Build Your Email List Workshop.
If you’re looking for help with your opt-in strategy or how to connect it to an effective email series, schedule a free discovery call today.
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