Make It Easy To Enter An Email Address
In simple words, the less demanding your form is, the higher the likelihood someone fills it out for you.
Don’t make it a chore. While some marketers debate about having two fields; first name and email address, it isn’t mandatory. The pro of having two fields is that the first name does allow for customization of newsletters. But by removing the first name field, you will be able to grow your list much faster.
If speed is what you want, consider removing all fields except the email address. Fewer the steps, the better. You can always get more information when you’ve started a conversation or transaction with them.
Put Your Top Blog Posts On Display
If you already have a blog and you’re noticing that a few of your blog posts have much more traffic than others, it can be used to your advantage.
So fret not, figure out which ones have the most traffic and have them featured on your blog’s home page. Your top blog posts might be getting a lot more traffic (from organic search, social media, etc.) than your regular blog post. This, you can reap the benefits of that traffic by adding convenient subscription CTAs. Remember, a strategically placed CTA is a good CTA.
PRO TIP: Ask nicely with your CTA’s. On certain websites, you’ve probably noticed certain passive-aggressive CTA’s that are something on the lines of:
- Yes, Count me in! // No, I like being out of the loop
- Yes, Help me lose weight // No, I’d like to remain this way
This can be quite off-putting. In an effort to be different, don’t sound pushy or manipulative. Your brand is the girl next door, not the crazy ex. Be nice.
Engage New Subscribers Pronto
When a visitor now becomes a subscriber, make it worth their while. Also, enticing visitors to become said subscribers with discount codes or free downloadable PDF’s is also a great way to reel them in.
Once a visitor has subscribed, try not to welcome them to your brand’s community with a plain thank you page. Throw in some photos from your Instagram feed, add stories that describe what your company is. Give your audience an idea of what’s coming and what’s exciting about your brand. This allows them to get to know your brand a little.
For example; do you want to be the brand of the people? Then include relatable content and the story of how your brand/company aims to help everyone who needs your services. Whether it’s a founder’s tale or a glowing testimonial, get creative and experiment!
PRO TIP: Add a referral program to your thank-you page. Your confirmation page can double up to be a subscriber generating page. Offer value to those to get other people to subscribe to you.
Use Social Media To Invite Subscribers
As opposed to what a lot of people think, email marketing is not dead.
You can invite people following you on various social media platforms to join your email newsletter. Describe the perks of receiving your newsletter and how it adds value to their lives. Then create a signup landing page specifically for those followers.
And finally, post or tweet the link to the signup page. If done well, you’ll see a satisfying increase in the number of subscribers. You can even use your social media accounts to host a product giveaway in exchange for contact information like an email address and the usual liking and sharing. Encourage the participants of your giveaway to click through to your website and sign up using their email address for your newsletters. You could also get creative and even brand your mailing lists as a “membership club”. Brands that employ this method include Sephora, HnM, etc.
PRO TIP: If your product or services are very visual, include visual content on Pinterest as a way of getting people to subscribe to more content. If you offer painting services, you can include Pinterest boards of all the houses your company has helped paint. Everyone loves a good ‘before & after’ and it really shows how your services can turn a space into something truly valuable.
Seize every good opportunity to get the word about your brand out there and you are guaranteed results.
Make Use of Email Previews
Back in the day, you couldn’t really preview an email without clicking through. But now on Gmail and outlook, you can preview past the subject line. While the space isn’t particularly large, it is still a very useful screen real estate. There are always ways to optimize anything in the digital space and this tiny space is one of them.
First off, make sure your subject lines are catchy and avoid using sale jargon. You don’t want your subscribers to think you’re sending them lazy ads, which then leads to them marking your emails as spam. So a good way to go about this is to write your subject line as if it were a tweet.
Guest Blogging
Several bloggers and marketers use guest posting to increase readership. Guest posting on a relevant website or blog might introduce your business to new readers.
Start guest writing by finding industry-related websites or blogs. After finding a few decent options, pitch the website owner or editor your guest post proposal.
Make your guest post engaging and informative. A brief author bio with a link to your website or blog can help readers find and follow you.
Guest blogging can help you become an industry expert, connect with other bloggers and influencers, and grow your email list. .
