There is a lot more to list building than merely offering a sidebar sign up for your “newsletter.” Building a list that includes hungry customers who want your offers requires that you know the audience, understand who you are and that you have a plan that goes further than the freebie. After all, you cannot keep people on the email list if you’re not using it. If you’re not using it, there is no point in doing the work building it.
Here are 5 tips for ensuring your list building success:
Tip #1: Develop Compelling Lead Magnets
Based on your product funnel, you can create various lead magnets designed to attract and educate your ideal customer at each stage of their buying journey. A well-made lead magnet is laser targeted to a specific individual and solves one problem for them fast.
Related Article: 7 Steps to Creating Lead Magnets That Work
Tip #2: Build an Easy to Use Opt-In Form
In order to get more list subscribers, they have to have a way to get on the list. The most common way is via an opt-in form on the landing page for the lead magnet. You can also add an opt-in box right under a blog post and anywhere on your page, you want to get people to sign up. The main point is to ensure they find it and that it’s easy to use.
Convert Kit* provides several easy-to-use opt-in form and landing page templates that you can host either on their site, or on your own site through their WordPress plugin.
Related Article: 8 Tips for Creating Landing Pages That Convert
Tip #3: Generate Targeted Traffic for Your Offers
Now that you have a freebie, a landing page, an opt-in form, you can start generating traffic for your offers and really kick your list building into high gear. Use a combination of content marketing, blogging, advertisements, and affiliate marketing to bring traffic to your offers. The more entry points you can create, the more sign-ups you’re going to receive.
Related Article: 11 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Landing Pages
Tip #4: Create an Email Marketing Content Plan
Your email marketing content plan will include the messages you want to send based on your subscribers’ behavior and each freebie, product, or service (virtually every single entry point to your list), as well as the content that you want to use to attract the traffic to your subscribers via your blog and social media.
Related Article: 12 Solid Reasons to Develop a Content Marketing Plan
Tip #5: Create an Email Monetization Plan
Plus, you have to monetize your email if you want to make your list building efforts worthwhile. The way you do that is you include calls to action on every message you send to them via email. Tell your audience what to do, and they’re more likely to do it. You’ll need a series for each freebie, product, or service that capitalizes on the behavior of each.
Related Article: 15 Ways to Monetize Your Email Messages
Final Thoughts
Don’t just build a list without using the list. There is no point in doing that because people will forget you exist if you don’t keep sending emails to them. Some people are afraid to send too many emails to their list because people may unsubscribe. If you’re sending targeted information to your list and they unsubscribe, that is a good thing because it’ll ensure a list full of hungry customers who want the information you offer.
Stay tuned for more as we go into each of these tips in more detail in future articles.
*Note: This post includes affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission should you make a purchase.