Growing and Nurturing Your Email List

Every now and then, I see an article that suggests email marketing is dead; however, this is far from the truth.  I’ve met many home business owners who say the majority of their income comes from their email subscriber list. If your list isn’t producing results, it may not be because email is dead. It’s more likely that you’re using it wrong. Here are tips to growing and nurturing your email to increase profits.

Growing Your List

Part of the success in email marketing is to have a list that is growing. Many people I’ve met who are struggling with email marketing have a stagnant or shrinking list. Here are some tips for growing your list:

1) Have opt-in forms on every page of your site. For example, if you have a WordPress blog, have an opt-in list sign-up form in your sidebar. You might consider having one at the end of your content as well.

2) Entice them to sign up. Offer a freebie such as a report or video for signing up for your list. Let visitors to your site know what the freebie will do for them. So many online businesses simply have a form that says “Sign-Up to Get Updates,” which isn’t a compelling reason to join. Some online business owners indicate what their incentive is, but not in a way that entices people to join. Instead of saying, “Get my free report on how to lose weight,” say, “Start losing weight today!

My free report will tell you how!”.

3) Promote your incentive on social media. Most social media platforms have areas you can include information about your list and offer in the profile. You can promote the list itself, but you’re more likely to get results by promoting the free offer. Which would you respond to: “Join my list to learn about saving money!” or “Get ‘52 ways to save $1,000 a Month’ free.”

4) Include information about your incentive in your bios and emails. If you guest blog or appear on someone’s podcast or website, make sure your bio includes information about your incentive. Every email you send should mention your free report in the signature line.

Nurturing Your List

Growing the list is only one aspect of email marketing. Once they subscribe you need to provide value or they’ll unsubscribe. Nurturing an email list is a delicate balance of staying connected without overwhelming subscriber’s inboxes. Even more important than keeping on the list, is having them eager to open the email to see what you have to share. Here are tips for making your list an effective marketing tool:

1) Email often enough that subscribers remember you, but not so often you annoy them. This number depends a great deal on your home business. Most successful email marketers I know email two to three times a week. Emailing even just once a week, may not be enough.

2) Be you. The most successful marketers know that their effectiveness comes from selling themselves first.

Put another way, people will connect with and want to buy from you because of who you are. Your subscribers have many options for who to do business with, but if you can make a connection, build rapport and trust, they’ll choose you. So don’t be afraid to share stories and true-life anecdotes.

3) Give value. Whatever you email to your subscribers should enhance their lives. Money always follows value.

4) Make list members feel special. People who give you their name and email should be treated with the respect they deserve. Make sure they know it by thanking them as well as giving them things that no one else gets. For example, I provide a freebie every Friday that only my subscribers receive. It’s my way of thanking them and acknowledging that having their email is a big deal. 

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How to Build an Email List from Scratch: 10 Incredibly Effective Strategies

Did you know it costs five times more to attract a new customer, than to keep an existing one?

Focusing on customer retention is a valuable long-term solution for increased revenue and sustainable growth, but it’s not always easy to cultivate that kind of loyalty.

Click here to download our free beginner's guide to email marketing.

When I think about the brands I like best, like J. Crew, Spotify, and SoulCycle, I know I’m not a loyal brand advocate because of their products alone. I can get cheaper clothes, music, and groceries from plenty of other places. Ultimately, I’m a brand advocate because I believe in what they promote and I feel invested in their stories, like SoulCycle’s: “We aspire to inspire. We inhale intention and exhale expectation.” I relate to their brand messaging.

One of the ways J. Crew, Spotify, and SoulCycle cultivate customer loyalty is through valuable content. While there are many ways to do this, email marketing is one of the most powerful ways to reach your target audience -- if done correctly.

I subscribe to J. Crew’s email list to get their “Flash Sale: Midnight” offers. I subscribe to Spotify’s newsletter to receive special promotions. And I subscribe to SoulCycle’s emails to hear about unique classes happening near me.

In short, I subscribe to their emails to get value.

If you’re starting from zero, building an impressive email list can feel like an impossible feat. Here, we'll cover some high-quality strategies to build an email list from scratch. Best of all, these strategies are designed to cultivate a loyal email subscriber base, so you can use your emails to attract better long-term customers.

How to Build an Email List From Scratch

1. Create a personalized CTA (call-to-action) for each blog or landing page.

HubSpot has found personalized calls-to-action have a 42% higher view-to-submission rate than calls-to-action that are the same for all visitors -- that’s almost double your potential email subscribers.

It makes sense: the people who visit your blog post or web page are looking for something specific, so your CTA needs to meet those unique needs. For instance, if you’ve got a ton of traffic visiting your “List-Building Strategy” blog article, why not entice those people to subscribe to your email list by including a simple CTA like this: “Click here to download a free list-building toolkit.”

Of course, personalized CTAs only work if you have the resources to create that quality content in the first place, but that process doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. Instead of a toolkit, you could also offer an e-book, a fun quiz, or an exclusive article from your CEO on list-building strategies.

If you offer content directly related to your visitor’s needs, your email newsletter won’t feel like a gimmicky advertisement. Instead, it will feel helpful and valuable -- key principles for a long-term customer retention plan.

2. Create a pop-up or slide-in for each page of your site.

A pop-up might sound initially bothersome, but I’m not talking about those early 2000 pop-up’s that promised you’d “Become a Model NOW”.

Instead, I’m talking about timed pop-up ads or onsite retargeting. After a user spends a certain amount of time on your page, she can receive a pop-up relevant to the content on that page, or to her behavior. Examples include exit pop-ups, which appear when a user tries to leave the page, or scroll pop-ups, which appear after the user scrolls a certain percentage down the page.

Digital Marketer conducted a case study to determine the value of onsite retargeting. For one experiment in particular, Digital Marketer introduced a pop-up ad to returning visitors only, which appeared after a visitor spent 15 seconds on their site:

Digital Marketer ensured this pop-up didn’t show up if someone came to the page from the newsletter (in which case, they were already signed up), and also didn’t pop-up on a sales page (which could interrupt someone’s purchasing decision).

As you can see, Digital Marketer also took the time to offer meaningful content, a digital marketing toolbox, in their pop-up ad. With an impressive offer, your pop-up is no longer obtrusive or interruptive -- it’s simply helpful.

Ultimately, their campaign generated 2,689 leads in two weeks, and increased their average time on page by 54%. Pop-ups aren’t always gimmicky, and if done right, you’re able to appeal to your visitor with quality content when and where they need it.

3. Create a timed pop-up survey.

Most people don’t visit a new website and think, “Huh, so where’s the email sign-up form?” Often times, you need your viewers to feel invested in your content before you present them with a request for their emails.

To build your email list, you might want to reach out to visitors on specific pages with surveys related to that content. I’m more willing to answer an “A or B” survey question if I’m already invested in the content -- it feels like a fairer trade-off.

For instance, University of Alberta’s email subscriber list grew almost 500% in one year alone, thanks to a timed pop-up survey they implemented:

The University of Alberta’s pop-up survey only appears after a visitor remains on a news’ page for 10 seconds. At that point, the viewers’ seen some value from the content, so ideally they’re more inclined to sign up for emails from the source.

The University of Alberta’s survey pop-up is also one of the easiest forms I’ve ever seen. You enter your email and you’re done. People are often deterred from signing up when the form is too long and they don’t have the time, so a simple yes or no question might be your best bet for growing your email list.

4. Use humor or sarcasm in your CTA’s “no, thanks” copy.

We’re so infiltrated with “Yes or No” web offers on a daily basis, we barely see them anymore. To increase your email lists, you might want to try injecting some personality into your CTA copy.

I always pause and laugh when I see a CTA with a small, “No thanks, I don’t want to lose weight,” button underneath a prominent “Yes, sign me up!” link. It reminds me there’s a person behind the button, and, while it’s meant to be a joke, it also incentivizes me to hesitate before clicking “no, thanks”. It’s easy to click “no” when the CTA is “sign up for more emails!”, but it’s a little harder to say no to losing weight or getting richer.

I was reading an Optimonk blog post recently, and this CTA popped up:

I was all set to click “No” without another thought, when I read the “my business isn’t important” part. It gave me pause, made me laugh, and, most importantly, made me reconsider my almost immediate decision to exit the offer.

5. Describe value in your CTA.

We’ve talked a lot about different formatting you might use in your CTA’s (including pop-up ads or personalized offers embedded in blog posts), but what about the language in the CTA itself? You can rely on more than humor and sarcasm to get clicks.

To optimize sign-ups, ironically, you don’t want to use the words “sign up.” Who wants to “sign up” or “subscribe” to more junk emails? Instead, you want to outline the value you can offer upfront, using language like, “Download,” “Featured”, “Exclusive,” “Access.”

For instance, you might write, “Download our exclusive e-book now,” and include an email subscription form, or, you might say, “Access all our exclusive offers.” Both of these CTAs make clear the value you’ll gain from providing your email address.

Your web viewers need to hear how your emails can offer unique and exclusive content that isn’t already available on your website. They want to believe your company is offering something special via email, or what’s the point?

6. Pitch your email newsletter on your social media accounts and email signature.

You might not have a long list of email subscribers, but that doesn’t mean you don't have a network. If you have a following on Twitter, a fan base on Facebook, or businesses you communicate with via email, why not use those firm and loyal connections to build an email list?

You might try pitching an email newsletter on your business’s Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn accounts. The people who follow you on those sites already know they like you, but they aren’t necessarily the same people who receive your newsletter. Give them the option.

If you’re uncomfortable pitching your email newsletter on social media, or if you don’t have a large following on any of your accounts, you could also include a link in your email signature -- that link could go directly to your email newsletter, or it could be a link to a blog post or landing page with email subscription CTA’s.

You communicate daily with a diverse group of people via email, and when they get value from your personal emails, they might want the option to click a link and explore your company in more depth.

7. Create more landing pages.

HubSpot conducted research and found companies see a 55% increase in leads when you increase the number of landing pages from 10 to 15.

It makes sense: individual and personalized landing pages allow you to appeal to a wider demographic. Every person who visits your site needs something different, so the more landing pages you can create to answer each person’s individual concerns, the more sign-ups you’ll gain.

It’s like a restaurant menu. The more you can offer to cater for specific demographics, the more customers you’ll bring in. Someone could be looking for the best gluten-free pizza, while someone else might just want some good sushi.

8. Encourage everyone to sign up immediately.

You want to strategically place personalized CTAs where it counts -- on landing pages and blog posts. But what about the rare, but real, visitors who want to sign up immediately?

If your newsletter primarily centers around one or two topics, it’s relatively easy to create a personalized CTA -- simply write a CTA that mirrors your newsletter’s purpose, such as, “Want free SEO hacks? Sign up for our newsletter!”

9. Include a CTA on your About Us page.

Your About Us page is one of the most potent pages in terms of conversion potential. Think about it -- how often do you visit About Us pages for businesses you don’t care about?

Ideally, your About Us page will prime visitors to want more from your business, but it might not be enough to convince them to purchase. A CTA that encourages them to sign up for a newsletter is easier to concede to than a “buy now” plea.

10. Try a scroll box.

Timing is everything. Your call-to-action works best if you catch visitors when they are, in fact, ready to take action.

Figuring out when your visitor is ready to convert depends on your website viewers’ behavior, so you’ll want to conduct A/B testing to determine where you need to place your CTA. Does it work best towards the bottom of a blog page, when it slides out to the right, or does it get higher conversions at the beginning of the page, sliding out from the left?

Ultimately, it will vary depending on your page’s content and your viewers, but a scroll box is a subtle and useful option to help you catch your viewers when they’re most ready to convert.

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5 Common Mistakes Email Marketers Make

Make a simple google search using the terms “Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid” and you’ll be met with approximately 1.6 million results. Oh, so you don’t have a few years to set aside for some light reading? Good, let me sum it up for you. There are do’s and don’ts and best practices and recommendations for every intricacy of email marketing. These range from clear, distinct guidelines, to ambiguous ideas. Most are helpful, most are lengthy. So, how do you know if you’re making one of these common mistakes? You might be if…. 

1. Your content is irrelevant

In an age where we can make a simple search for a pair of black snow boots, and have said snowboots show up in our targeted ads on all social media platforms for a week, you better believe subscribers are expecting mail that makes sense for them. If someone lives in Anchorage, Alaska, chances are they aren’t regularly looking to buy those cute flamingo pool floats. So do you ensure that you’re sending your subscribers content that is relevant to them? Start at the beginning! Does your sign-up process include a chance for subscribers to give their geographical location and preferences about what they would like to receive? If not, this is probably a great place to start in order to make sure that your mail is relevant and targeted to your subscriber’s needs. 

2. Your creative needs a refresh

So often, email marketers focus on the subject and preheader of a message that the actual creative content falls to the wayside. The reality is that people are more likely to engage with your mail if something in the body of your message catches their eye. Be sure to include a call to action! Let your users actually engage with your mail by adding in easily found links to your website, a sale, or a special offer. You CAN have fun with your email! For example, below we see Apple is sending a campaign that is relevant to the quickly approaching Valentine’s Day. In their message, they keep the user invested with bold colors, holiday specific emojis, and links to shop the featured products in a subtle, yet easily identifiable way throughout the entire message. 

3. You haven’t optimized for your mobile subscribers

Studies show that 43 percent of subscribers are checking their emails on a mobile device, and that number will only grow since mobile devices aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Make sure that your images, links, and text are rendering in a coherent, eye-catching way to ensure that your mobile users are having a positive experience with your mail. An easy way to do this is to test in our Inbox Preview tool. This tool gives you exact renderings of your mail across multiple platforms and shows you the issues you need to fix before you hit send. Another useful tool is Email Client Monitor. This tool allows you to gain insight into how long subscribers spend reading your email and geographically where they are opening it to help in targeting and segmentation. It also gives you data about which platforms, browsers, and email clients your subscribers use most often to optimize your email for the most used platforms.

4. You aren’t asking for permission

Permission-based email is vital for an email program to be successful and maintain a healthy reputation with mailbox providers and subscribers. How do you know if you’re deploying these types of emails? I’m glad you asked. First, make sure that users are fully aware of the type of mail they’ll be receiving from you at the point of sign up. Do you only send a monthly newsletter? Let them know! Be straightforward about your relationship going forward and I promise, it will be a long and fruitful one. Also, make sure you’re allowing your subscribers to opt-out of your email whenever they may decide. Meaning, don’t bury the unsubscribe button! Doing so will only increase complaints. Much like it is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, same goes for your email program. An unsubscribe is better than a complaint any day of the week. Next, make sure you’re keeping subscriber’s contact information up to date. Give your subscribers an easy way to update any changes in their email addresses, so that you always stay in their most relevant inbox. Lastly, don’t buy or rent a list. It is difficult to obtain consent from these types of lists, not to mention some of those addresses may be spam traps, landing you on a blacklist.

5. Signing up for your emails is hard

People like convenience, no one likes to jump through hoops, especially when it comes to getting on an email list. More often than not, I see sign up processes that look more like the format a doctor’s office than a mailing list to hear about sales on my favorite sweaters. Keep your sign up process on one page, make the information you need from them an easy click, not a long form in which they need to write in a great deal of personal information.

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How to Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Business

 Using email marketing is one of the most important aspects of growing your online business because it allows you to build a loyal list of customers who trust you. It offers you the opportunity to upsell your customers on products or services you are not promoting on your website.

In fact, email marketing is so powerful that it can quickly bring growth to your business if you do it well. When you build an email list, you will have an entire community that is different from those who converge on your website. It means that they have willingly opted-in to receive more
information from you. You can endorse your products, recommend other products, and even sell them high-priced items.

Moreover, email marketing is a flexible and convenient way to grow your online business. However, before you start sharing anything with your subscribers, you have to do a test to determine how often you should market to your subscribers. You also have to test different kinds of email content to see which will convert well.

After reading this article, you should know what email marketing is all about and how to make use of it in growing your online business.

How to Setup Your Email Marketing Campaign

 

Step #1: Choose an Email Provider

The first step you need to take is to select an email provider. You can choose from several email providers with varying account features and fees. You may want to start with a free account to test things out first.

When you first get started, you will probably only have a small subscriber base; most start with less than a hundred subscribers. MailChimp is a popular provider that gives you the option to start with a free account. Once you grow your subscriber base past a certain threshold, you would have to upgrade to a paid account.

Another very popular email provider is Aweber. Aweber offers lots of features, and is very inexpensive which is helpful especially when you are just starting out. Aweber offers custom templates for a newsletter, automation of blog updates, creation of multiple lists, and other useful features. If you have fewer than 500 subscribers, you would start with an account fee of $19 a month for unlimited emails. Since Aweber also uses a sliding fee scale, the more subscribers you have, the more you pay.

Step #2: Setup Email Lists

In order to grow your business, you need to create an email list. Your blog readers can sign up for your email list on your blog to read more of your content or receive updates about things you don’t post on your blog. You need to focus on this list as it will be how you bring people into the foremost part of your sales funnel.

If you already have a client base, you should create a separate list for them. As clients, they will need more diverse content than new subscribers. Since you have already established a relationship with them, it will be much easier to offer them new products and services.

To make your email lists more successful it is important that you do not spam them with too much content. That is why we mentioned in the introduction that you should first determine how often you should market or send content to your list. Doing this properly will help you to retain your list members for a long time.

Now that you have a list in place, what are the things you can offer your subscribers?

You can offer your subscribers information such as tutorials, a guide, white paper, or a training course in a monthly newsletter. This is the sort of content your readers will be glad to have in exchange for their email addresses. You can use a collection of the posts on your blog to develop a tutorial or a training course or design a professional PDF file or a powerful PowerPoint presentation.

Another way is to hire a ghostwriter to write a white paper or a guide for you. Once you have this ready, you need to show your visitors how to get the guide or the training course by displaying it conspicuously on your website. You can do this by creating an opt-in form on your website.

Step #3: Creating Opt-in Forms on your Website

Now that you have learned how to create an email list and what to offer your subscribers when they join your list, you need a way to obtain their email addresses.

Depending on your email provider. there are different opt-in forms that you can create to obtain email addresses. Essentially, you should have at least one opt-in form on your website. The most popular is the sidebar opt-in form that goes in the right or left corner of your blog. Research shows that the right corner converts more than the left side so you might want to keep that in mind when selecting the placement of your opt-in form.

Another popular opt-in form placement is below every post on your website. This can be very effective because it can serve as a call to action. Your readers have just finished reading your post, and they can easily subscribe to see what else you have to offer or read more of your posts. This is where the guide or training course you have created earlier comes into play. Simply use a call to action such as “Subscribe to this blog and get free access to our guide/training course as well as exclusive information only available to subscribers.”

#4: Build a newsletter for your subscribers

While most of the content that goes on your website will automatically be available to your email subscribers, a newsletter takes things a step further by ensuring that your subscribers can have access to exclusive information only available to subscribers. However, you have to make this content unique and helpful.

If you want your customers to appreciate your content, make it a habit to send them the newsletter every month. Package it with lots of actionable, useful content—which you can easily come up. You will be providing value to your subscribers while growing your online business.

Conclusion

If you use email marketing right, you can easily build different income streams for your online business. This ultimately will give you more capital to expand and grow your business. Pay close attention to the steps above, take action, and be consistent in your email marketing campaign.

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