How to Build an Email List from Scratch: 9 Methods Backed Up By Research
Email marketing, without a doubt, has the highest ROI of any marketing channel. At an estimated $40 return on each $1 spent, you can’t afford to invest in email marketing.
Another beautiful reason to build a proper email list is that. If your customers give you your email address, they’re already warm leads. They’ve shown you that they’re interested in what you have to say, and they want more.
While building an amazing email list is already a top priority for most brands. Actually being successful at it is a totally different ball game. With so many things to think of when running your online store, it’s normal to get overwhelmed by the idea of building your own email list from scratch.
Lucky for you, there are tons of ways to build an email list with persuasive opt-in forms that integrate easily with your WordPress site.
And our 9 methods are easy to set up and get immediate results.
So what have you got to lose?
What is an email list?
An email list is a database of users and customers who have subscribed to receive more of your content. This can be people who have signed up to receive your special offers or just people who want to get your blog posts or newsletters.
What’s amazing about building your email list is that you’re the proprietor of that list, unlike other methods of marketing.
A third party like Facebook or Google can’t take it from you. Your email list essentially belongs to you as long as those people keep consenting to let you contact them.
Remember when I said that email subscribers were warm leads?
When you spend time nurturing those leads, you can transform them from subscribers to loyal, die-hard customers.
The 9 Strategies to Email List-Building
Maybe you’re not convinced. Maybe you think there’s a corner or two you can cut.
You think it’s better to buy an email list.
Don’t do it. Full stop.
Seriously.
A lot of business owners and entrepreneurs build their shiny new sites and think they can just purchase an email list and call it a day.
The biggest problem, aside from being probably illegal and definitely sketchy, is that this method values quantity over quality.
Because these dodgy people on the internet trying to sell you these lists are going to tell you they’re “quality” because they want your money. I don’t care if you sell only shoes and this list claims to have the biggest shoe shopaholics in the world.
Those people won’t care about your shoes.
There are even more reasons why buying an email list is a terrible idea:
● You don’t own that list: If you’ve bought it on the first page of a Google search, how many other people have bought that list?
● Spam Traps: Chances are, if these people are getting emails from the thousands of others who have bought this list, they’re sending anything they don’t know right to spam. Know what kills your domain reputation for the customers who do want your emails? Getting all your messages sent to spam.
● Your email service provider will terminate your account. If your reputation goes down the tubes, and a lot of people are complaining about spam from you, your service provider will likely terminate your account. Never mind the rating your domain will have on apps like WOT (Web of Trust).
● You could get fined: If the contacts on your email list are located in the EU, you’re violating the GDPR. If a contact did not expressly consent to you contacting them, you could get fined by the EU and those fines are not cheap. So if you’re trying to turn the channel with the best ROI into the reason your business shuts down, feel free to buy a list.
But if you put in the legwork, and you build your list organically, you’ll have a list of people who actually, want to hear from you.
#1: Get an awesome email marketing provider
A great email marketing provider will help you send bulk emails to your subscribers. A service like MailChimp will usually get the job done, but it’s also important to shop around for an email provider that makes you feel comfortable and isn’t unnecessarily complicated. The email marketing provider you want will:
● Integrate easily with your WordPress site
● Provide signup forms and popup boxes
● Allow you to segment your lists so you can better target your subscribers
● Enable you to create automated messages based on those segments
Once you set up your account, you’ll be ready to start building your email list.
#2: Use a standard opt-in form
There are a ton of WordPress plugins that allow you to create an opt-in form on your site, but chances are, if you’ve chosen an especially awesome email marketing provider, they already integrate with WordPress.
A standard opt-in form is just a simple text-input box either in the header or the footer of your site.
But maybe you want to get fancy- and I encourage it.
You can have a hidden box that either pops up or has a tab on the bottom or the side of your content.
Like so.
Using a standard opt-in form means that customers who want to sign up will know exactly where they have to go.
#3: Use Popups to Grab Their Attention
Standard opt-in forms are great, but they’re not active. Sometimes, you need something a bit less passive to get the results you want.
While you shouldn’t go crazy with them, a good popup form can be ultra effective at snagging that email address, especially when paired with an incentive.
A great email marketing provider will allow you to customize not only the way the forms look and their design but also when they should and shouldn’t appear.
For example, you can typically set a popup to appear after a certain amount of time, or after a certain amount of pages, after a certain percentage of the page scrolled, or if the user moves their mouse towards the back button (famously known as exit-intent).
You should test options like these regularly to see what works best for your WordPress site and your visitors. Regardless, this kind of popup will definitely help you see more subscribers.
#4: Sweeten the deal with an incentive
Popups work great on their own.
But a discount or another offer will sweeten that deal and incentivize your visitors to hand over their email addresses.
Chances are, if they’re already interested, all they need is a little push.
#5: Make signing up interactive and fun
Popups are effective- they’re tried and true. However, because they’re so effective, that means one thing.
Everybody is using them.
It’s a bit of a double-edged sword, your customers expect it, so it’s not so annoying. But they’re expecting it so it’s not interesting either.
But there are ways to turn the mundane into fun by adding dynamic gamification into the mix. For example, Omniscient offers a Wheel of Fortune feature that allows you to create a range of discounts. A customer can get and use that as your incentive for signing up.
This makes it more interesting to sign up for your content and paints your brand as more dynamic.
#6: Use a great landing page to build your email list While you can employ all of the above tactics directly on your site, it’s possible to build your
email list off of your page.
Using a landing page is especially useful for seasonal promotions or situations where you want to build a list of people interested in one specific thing.
Why do this? Fewer distractions and more precise targeting.
By testing your landing pages you can use them effectively to build concentrated email subscriber lists.
#7: Laws of attraction: create a lead magnet
A lead magnet is usually some kind of gift you give your customers in exchange for their email addresses. Typically a dematerialized, downloadable resource, it’s a great incentive to get customers to sign up and express their interest.
You can also combine some of these tactics. And put your lead magnet on a landing page to pack an even bigger punch.
We follow our own advice.
Like any content, a good lead magnet should be related to your business. Don’t send out your best gardening tips if you’re selling auto parts. It won’t make sense.
#8: Give it away, give it away now
Everyone loves getting something for free. A great giveaway can be a powerful method of collecting email addresses.
Because if a customer is interested in getting your products for free, they’re also interested in buying your products.
Your prize can also be something you don’t sell, but as I mentioned, make sure there’s an obvious link to your products. For example, if you sell electronics, a great giveaway could be a fancy case for a laptop.
You can also make it a tiered giveaway, and offer additional entries for other means of engagement with your brand:
Again, a giveaway is a great reason to try out your snazzy new landing pages too.
#9: Reward your customers from your referral programs
Sharing is caring, and when you incentivize your customers to share the amazing offers. They get from your site, they will boost your email list and bring in new customers.
There are a few ways you can get referrals from your customers:
● Adding the option to forward your newsletters and emails with friends and family
● Adding sharing options at the end of your dynamic content (like your amazing lead
magnets, landing pages, etc)
● Including a discount for you and/or the referee
● Adding sharing options as bonus entries to your giveaways
Not only does this improve your own customer loyalty, but it also reduces customer acquisition cost.
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With all the ways you can build your email list, and all the easy ways you can do it with the right WordPress app, there’s no reason not to get started immediately.
Armed with your curated email list, you’ll be boosting your sales in no time.
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