How to Grow Your Email List
Reading Time: 10-12 Minutes
I'm sure you've heard over and over again that you need to focus on ways to grow your email list.
Especially with the challenge of trying to keep up with all the changes happening on social media.
But what if there was a way to stay in touch with your audience without having to fight through the noise?
whispers There is!
That's why growing your email list is so important. With an email list, you have an engaged audience that wants to hear from you and interact with you.
In order to have this audience, you need to start by figuring out how to grow your email list.
That's why you're here 🙂 .
By the end of this blog post you will learn:
What you need to grow your email list
The benefits of email marketing
How to grow your email list using your website, social media, paid ads, and your customers
How to Grow Your Email List
So before even thinking about growing your email list, you need to create your email list.
What I mean by that is that you need to have a way to collect email addresses and a way to send emails (in a legal, privacy-friendly, and compliant way).
So before going any further here's a list of what you should have in place.
What You Need to Grow Your Email List
A branded email address (like hello@yourdomain.com)
An email service provider (like Convertkit, Mailchimp, Klaviyo)
A privacy policy that is easily accessible (Shopify has a great Privacy Policy Generator)
Time to craft and send emails (this part is important)
A process to maintain a zero-inbox
Favorite Email Service Provider
My personal favorite email service provider is Convertkit. It's robust, affordable, and can grow with you as you grow your email list and your business. I also like that they have a lot of amazing features in place that help to protect your reputation so you don't end up in the spam or junk folders. The process to create your emails is also very user-friendly, offering a variety of options including images, videos, different layouts, and more!
Source: Convertkit
The Benefits of Email Marketing
Growing your email list can be time-consuming and a long-term objective. But, it definitely has a high payoff for the time investment.
99% of email users check their email every day - Source: Hubspot
There are so many good reasons why you should focus on growing your email list.
Benefit #1: Direct Connection With Your Audience
This is the best and most important benefit. An email list gives you a direct connection with your audience. You are able to send them your message, promotion, or update directly to their inbox. You don't have to sift through the algorithms and other people's content. This also allows you to build a more intimate relationship with your audience since you get to communicate with them in a more intimate way.
Benefit #2: Easy Way to Increase Sales
Because you have a direct connection to your audience, you also have a direct path to more sales. If you see you're running behind on your monthly sales goal, you can send an email to your list to remind them of any promotions or offers you may have.
Benefit #3: Cost-Effective Marketing
Email marketing is a great way to market your business without breaking the bank. You may need a small budget (like less than $20 per month) to maintain your email systems. But that is a huge saving compared to trying to maintain a sizable ad budget as a small business.
We have explored what you need to grow your email list and all the benefits. Now, it's time to jump right into how you make this happen.
Different Ways to Grow Your Email List
So there are a variety of ways to grow your email list ranging from expensive to inexpensive or easy to more technical. The possibilities are endless and can go as far as your creativity will take you. There are three main ways to grow your email list:
Your Website
Social Media
Paid Ads
Your Customers
Using Your Website to Grow Your Email List
Your website is your digital storefront, your home base, and your own corner of the internet. This is your space to share everything your business has to offer. So why not show off how to join your email list? There are a couple of ways you can do this including:
Adding a sign-up form to your blog post
Having a pop-up that appears after someone has been on your site for 15 seconds or more
Including a call-to-action button that links to your sign-up form on your homepage
Using Social Media to Grow Your Email List
Social media is probably a big piece of your marketing, so it makes perfect sense to use social media to grow your email list. Social media allows you to reach people that may not know about your business. Think of it as tapping into uncharted territory. You can encourage your followers and those who stumble upon your social media profile to sign up for your email list. Here are a few ways to make that happen and the best part is these can be applied to any social media platform!
Adding the link to sign up for your bio
Including it in your captions as a call to action
Promote signing up in your stories
Send a DM with the link to sign up*
** A quick note about that last point...
Don't be creepy in the DMs
No one likes an unsuspecting link or message just appearing in their DMs from someone they don't know. So please, don't just go through your followers list and send your link to every person. Be polite and respectful. Introduce yourself if it is someone you haven't spoken to before. You can let them know that you have an email list or lead magnet.
Ask permission to send them the link before you send it.
Trust me, this will go a long way and ensure you don't come off as a sleazy spammer.
Do onto others as you would like done onto you.
You wouldn't want someone invading your personal space, right?
**PSA over 🙂
Using Paid Ads to Grow Your Email List
This option is not for the weak or faint of heart...because it can be costly. It is 100% possible to use paid ads to grow your email list. But I have to warn you. It might take a bit of trial and error and potentially losing a few dollars. I recommend going this route if you are fully using every other avenue to grow your email list.
Bonus Tip: Make sure you have double opt-in enabled so you can ensure only the most interested and engaged people join your email list.
Your Customers Can Grow Your Email List
Your customers trusted you enough to buy your product or service. They will definitely trust your business enough to join your email list. You just need to ask! You can encourage your customers to join your email list by:
Adding a checkbox asking them to agree to sign up during your checkout process
Sending a follow-up email after purchase asking them to sign up to stay in touch
Create a Lead Magnet to Grow Your Email List (Optional)
There is a bit of controversy around this one, but hear me out first. Creating a lead magnet or freebie is a great way to encourage people to sign up for your email list. More sign-ups means more growth right? But this may not be the case for all businesses. It's not mandatory to create one, but it definitely helps. The key is making sure you are providing something of value that would make signing up for your email list appealing. Share what your subscribers can expect to see or create a freebie/lead magnet that makes signing up a no-brainer.
Promote Your Email List!
The only true way for your email list to grow is by promoting it. People will only sign up if they know about it. Make it easy for them to sign up.