We recently wrote about the importance of email marketing for online publishers, and if you have any doubt in its value – or if you haven’t even bothered to create an email list for your site – you should read November’s post immediately. The reason so many businesses rely on email marketing is because it works (like, really, really works).
Today I’ll be providing you with some beginner’s tips and tricks for growing an email list full of valuable, engaged followers (so that you can market to your heart’s content)! Stay tuned next week for some next-level advice.
Create a basic sign-up form.
First thing’s first – give people a way to opt in to the list. If you’ve had a sign-up form on your site for years, you’re rolling your eyes right now, and that’s fine! This one goes out to all those publishers just getting started with email marketing.
Start by signing up for an email marketing platform to collect and manage your lists (and make mass emailing a breeze). MailChimp, ConstantContact, and AWeber are just a few of your many options. Personally, I’ve worked with about every email marketing program under the sun, and I live and die by MailChimp. It’s completely user-friendly for beginners! But to each his own – figure out what is easiest for you to navigate and get rolling.
Most platforms offer sign-up form code and a URL that you can easily load into your website without any hassle.
Get creative.
Consider all the different ways you can share a sign-up form (or variations of it).
Beyond embedding the code on your website’s sidebar or footer, share the sign-up URL on all your social media accounts, put it in your email signature, and if you have any team members, ask them to do the same. This way, it’s easy for people to join your email list wherever and whenever they intersect with your business.
Looking for an idea that converts? Try a redirection prompt. For example, when a person submits a comment on your blog, redirect them to a thank you landing page with a link to sign up for the email list. Or try a pop-up lightbox. Pop-ups (or pop-unders… or sideways slides…) get a bad rep, but research proves they work! Don’t overdo it, but adding one to your site can help without hurting.
Start testing.
We’ve talked about A/B testing many times before, and here’s a moment when it can really deliver the goods. You don’t know what will resonate with your audience until you give it a shot! Certain areas of your blog might yield up to 20% more sign-ups than others, so spend some time testing out your sign-up form in different areas of your site. The placement of your form, the colors and language you use, and the social proof you pair with it all make a difference in your ability to attract new subscribers.
There is no best practice beyond what proves effective for your specific site. For you, it might be a yellow button in the footer that says, “Join 1,500 other subscribers today,” and for another publisher it might be a red link in the sidebar that simply says “Sign-up for the mailing list.”
Every audience is different. Find out what makes yours click and starting collecting addresses for later!
It’s okay to beg – but don’t borrow or steal.
Before you go, it’s important to remember: always get permission from people to join your list and don’t rent or purchase lists. Why? While not illegal, emailing people without their permission is largely believed to be unethical (and spammy). Plus, a purchased list is a dead list.
People who receive an email from someone they didn’t agree to get email from simply won’t open it. It will either land in their junk folder, or they’ll immediately unsubscribe along with a curt email letting you know they don’t know how you got their email address. It’s not worth your time, money, and it’s a pretty bad business practice.
The suggestions above will help you grow a list full of loyal followers who are the most likely to open your emails and click through the content inside (and therefore increasing your traffic and revenue – awesome!). Organic growth is the way to go every time!
photo credit: Dirk Gently via photopin cc
