17 Effective Ways to Grow Your Opt-in Subscriber List
Who wants to create their own base of email addresses for mailing? Everyone wants. We all understand that the larger the list of email addresses, the higher the revenue from email marketing. In this article you will learn the 17 effective ways to grow your opt-in subscriber list.
1. Determine the target audience
It doesn't matter what’s your tactic of sending messages to your subscriber base. If the foundation is not properly laid, the tactic will not work. In this case, we are talking about understanding your target audience. Who do you want to be your subscriber? What needs are you trying to satisfy, what problems are you helping to solve? Create an ideal customer profile to help your business as a whole.
2. Create a high converting sign up form
Only after you have finally decided on the target audience should you move on to creating free content that motivates you to subscribe.The easiest way to do this is to choose the most popular of your products and highlight a separate topic for it. Be very specific. If this offer does not give a high conversion rate in subscriptions and you do not increase the number of subscribers, change it.
3. Choose the optimal content format
How do subscribers interact with content? Who are your readers? Do they like reading long blog posts or they love infographics and gravitate towards videos? It might be worth recording a podcast, then you will understand what exact audio attracts your customers the most. Or is your target audience millennials who should be approached in a completely different way?
Determine if the format suits the preferences of your target audience. Ebook, short course, video tutorials, webinar, infographics or phone call recording. Test several content options and choose the one with the higher conversion.
4. Create a subscription page
In order to build a database of email addresses for mailing, do not forget to prepare a separate page describing your proposal. Start with a compelling headline and describe the benefits the user will receive from subscribing if they provide their email address. Next, create a list of 3-5 key benefits of your proposal. Add a registration box and create a powerful call to action.
5. Simplify the subscription process
Have you come across such pages where, in order to subscribe to the newsletter, you need to really struggle? If you want to quickly build a database of email addresses, do not follow the example of the owners of such sites.
In order to build a mailing list or increase the number of subscribers, it is enough if the user provides his name and email address. Only ask for more information if there is a really compelling reason for it. Add information that you will not send too many emails and will not share Email addresses with third parties. In general, the fewer fields in the form, the higher the conversion rate to subscriptions and the faster you will create a database of e-mail addresses for mailing.
6. Make the sentence as clear as possible
Make sure that your offer is clear to the subscriber. For example, not just “Register for Updates,” but tell your subscribers exactly what they will receive. For example, "Subscribe and get a discount of 10$ on your first order." And do not consider that users know what to do. Every day, there are those who subscribe to the Email Newsletter for the first time. Therefore, tell subscribers that they have to do.
Don't forget to add that it's free and that by providing an Email address, they agree to subscribe to your Email campaigns.
7. Where can I get email addresses for mailing? Start a blog!
If you haven't already, start a blog. Blogging shouldn't take up a lot of your time, start with one post a week, because your goal is not to become a “thousand blogger”. You blog in order to build a subscriber base and increase your subscribers with relevant content and their further engagement.
8. Start Email campaigns
Start Email campaigns right from the beginning of creating your subscriber base. This newsletter doesn't have to be fancy. You can get away with a teaser and a link to the latest blog post or thought tips, pictures, links to resources or a short offer of cooperation. Make your email newsletter as useful as possible and ask your subscribers to share it with friends and colleagues.
9. Record video
Basically, readers believe that blog content is text posts, although this is far from the case. Try different content formats.Make a short video and embed it in a post, or make a transcript video and publish as a post. Subscribers will love to see you in the video. Moreover, this method is one of the most effective methods of gaining the trust of readers.
10. Add infographics
Create your own with free services or find a designer to make the infographic. Well-crafted infographics have viral potential. Subscribers love seeing vivid visualizations that explain a complex concept, broken down into individual elements for better understanding.
11. Create a separate sentence for each post
For every blog post, make a unique "freebie" based on that post. For example, if you are making a video, you might suggest a resource list or checklist that will become your goodie. If you sell or create landing pages and do not know where to get a base for mailing, you can offer a free template that subscribers will receive after they subscribe to the newsletter.Yes, building a mailing list takes some effort. Use this method and create cheat sheets, lists and other useful materials and make it easier for yourself.
12. Place your offer in the most visible place
Some owners or marketers may be hesitant to ask for email addresses for newsletters. This behavior should be avoided. However, in a situation where you do not know where to find email addresses to send, never buy ready-made subscriber bases on the Internet. If the site is designed as a blog, place the subscribe offer at the top of the sidebar for readers to see.
13. Submit your subscription form
Add a subscription form to the site, the number of fields depends on what information you need.On the site of famous bloggers, you can see that they post subscription forms in several places. Analyze the sites of leading bloggers and test the number, placement and different forms of subscription.
14. Add social proof
If you already have a decent sized follower list, it's worth bragging about it. So if you have 10.000 subscribers you should say that out loud. People take up someone else's initiative. This is why busy restaurants attract even more people and the sudden queues arouse curiosity.
15. Place the subscription form on the page
Place a subscription form on every landing page, especially on the About the Author page. This is one of the most visited pages on the site, as subscribers love to know who is running a blog or site.
16. Give an incentive to subscribe
Previously, also you can create a separate page for capturing subscribers, the advantage of which lies in the fact that such a landing page can be successfully promoted using various channels, including social networks.
17. Encourage subscribers to share your content
Even if you've posted some of the world's most awesome content, it's clearly not enough to post to a site and then hope subscribers find the article. You should share the published content yourself and not only on your page, but also ask users to share it. Add an incentive to repost after every blog post. Ask readers to repost on social media and keep it simple. Don't complicate your choice.