An email list is a great way to keep top-of-mind awareness of your customers and potential customers right here in eastern North Carolina. Generally, 91% of people check their emails daily. Emails are a low-cost way of staying in front of people who may be interested in using your product/services or could use more of what you sell as they are already working with you. According to Hubspot, email marketing results in impressive ROI with $36 for every $1 spent.
So you’re probably wondering how you can start or grow an email list. Below are some ways that we suggest to our clients to get started:
Prominent signup form
Place the form on your website in a prominent place a way to sign up for your email list. Don’t hide it halfway down your page and make sure you add something enticing to get people to sign up. Consider using pop-ups to encourage sign-ups sparingly. For example, don’t have an immediate entry pop-up, as it pushes users away from your site. Use pop-ups that are either timed or based on how far a user has scrolled down a page.
Add to blog posts
Every blog or article you share on your website should consider an option for subscribing for further content. This could be a simple form that lets people know about a newsletter and how visitors can read more great content. Consider utilizing a content upgrade, where you offer some additional value if someone signs up for your list. For example, that could be a checklist, guide or something else.
Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is a core part of a marketing funnel. This can be a simple downloadable PDF that you offer visitors for exclusive content. This should deliver value to your reader in exchange for an email.
Write great content
If you provide great content your readers will find it valuable and may want to share it with colleagues and others in their industry. Focus on creating great content for your target audience, deliver value, and ensure your content is “shareable”.
Sharing options
To encourage social sharing, it’s important to include simple buttons to share an email via social media platforms. Typically, this could be an option that shares directly to Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms. You could even include an option to send an email to a friend, which is another great sharing method.
Referrals
When you want to encourage sustained growth through your email newsletter, a referral system can really help. There are tools that exist to help with this. Sparkloop (link: https://sparkloop.app/) is one example. A referral program will offer rewards based on the number of people your list refers to in the newsletter. The rewards could be a product, service, merchandise, or something else that would be valuable to subscribers.
Social Media
Don’t forget social media as part of your inbound marketing plan. It’s a great way of sharing content with your brand’s audience. Repurpose some of the takeaways from each edition of your email campaigns. These takeaways can be shared as a Twitter thread or Facebook or Instagram carousel. At the end of each of these options, they should include a CTA that links back to your newsletter signup form.
Email Signature
This is a simple option, but it could be very effective over time. Simply include a link to your newsletter signup form in your email signature. It doesn’t need to be over the top or fancy, just a simple link that points people in the direction of your newsletter. It’ll be visible in every email you send, so your customers will see it time and time again.
Need help crafting email campaigns that lead to sales and referrals? Schedule a meeting with us to see how we can help you. We manage email marketing campaigns for many small businesses and we have the copywriting experience that helps execute successful sales funnels.