As a business owner getting people to buy your products and services can be a bit of a challenge.
There are many avenues you can take in the digital marketing space and one of the most effective ones is email marketing. This can present a big challenge for new business owners. If you heard that the money is in the list, but you’re not seeing it, this is because you haven’t employed some of the most important strategies necessary to grow an email list.
Here’s a look at what you can do to grow your email list from zero to an unlimited number.
Define Your Target Audience
It’s important that you have a clear picture of exactly who you want on your list, zeroing in on your target audience is an important part of digital marketing. Once you’ve identified who they are you can then dive a little deeper to find out what their needs, preferences and behaviors are and how to help them.
This way you’ll be able to understand what you can offer them in exchange for them subscribing to your email list. Remember, people are not going to give up any part of their privacy for something that they don’t find valuable.
Understanding your target audience, what they want and what they would exchange their email address for is critical to building a large email list.
Make Your Offer Compelling
The next step in the entire process is to make your target audience an offer they cannot refuse. This means that what you are offering needs to be extremely compelling. There are a few winners out there so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to deciding what you want to give away. Here’s a look at some freebies that work really well.
Ebooks and White Papers
Offering freebies that are relevant to your audience via ebooks or white papers is always a hit in most industries. You just have to make sure that you use the information that you gathered about your target audience to create the right material that they will gobble up.
Discounts and Promotions
Discounts and promotions are also a great way for you to gather up subscribers. As long as you are giving a significant discount and your promotion is of value you are likely to capture the eye of the the right people and get them to pop their email addresses into your subscription box.
Contests and Giveaways
Contests and giveaways never fail to grab attention. You can rest assured that people will sign up especially if you are giving away something that they consider of high value.
They are also likely to be generous and share your giveaway and contest with their friends and family. This multiplies the number of people who will sign up for your list.
Make an Attractive Signup Form
Whatever you are offering you must make sure that the point of contact which is the sign-up form looks beautiful in appearance. It should be simple and clear.
However, it should also be very enticing so be careful of the colors you use and the embellishment as well. Here are some good rules of thumb for your sign-up forms.
Keep it Simple
Keeping it simple is one of the biggest and most important rules you can follow when you are creating a signup form. Don’t ask people for too much; they’ll get annoyed and move on.
A name and email address are good enough. In fact, some marketers are convinced that just asking for the email address gets them more sign-ups. However, if you’d like to be able to personalize the emails that you send people you probably would like to capture their name.
It’s a personal preference so you need to decide what’s right for you. Things you should avoid are asking for telephone numbers, business names and other things that people might find frustrating and not wish to divulge.
Highlight the Benefits
You need to make sure that you are highlighting all the benefits that people are going to get from subscribing to your list. People want to know what’s in it for them. You have to let them know!
Use a Killer Call to Action
The call to action that you use is most important. Make sure that your CTA button is very hard to resist. For example, replace the word “submit” with “grab our free guide now”
Place Sign Up Forms Strategically
You need to make sure that you are placing sign-up forms strategically on the pages of your website. Your homepage is a great way to start. You can place your sign-up permanently above the fold.
Embed your form in your popular blog posts and also use pop-ups to get people to sign up. The sidebar and the footer of your buisness website are also great places to stick your signup forms to get people to grab your freebie.
Use Social Media
It cannot be stressed enough how important it is for social media to be an important part of your strategy when you are trying to build your email list. Share your links and sign up forms on every platform that you can.
You can also use social media ads to kick start things and make it easier for your audience to find you. Don’t be afraid to pin your own comment with the freebie link on social media platforms where it is available, so that people know that you have freebies available for them to pick up and make use of. Promote wherever you can unashamedly.
Growing your email list as quickly as you can is the key to driving sales and conversions to your business. Remember, this is important because no matter how many social media platforms you may be on you will never own them. What you will always always have is your email list and you can use it to push sales and create a relationship with those people who are willing to buy from you.
