10 tips for building a high-performing email list

Despite the rise of social media and unsolicited spam email, email remains the most effective way to nurture leads and boost customer loyalty.

Email marketing campaigns are essential elements of an overall marketing strategy, with the goal of building your audience and converting prospects into customers.

1. Provide a reason to subscribe

People are more likely to subscribe to your email list if you provide a compelling reason for them to do so.

In the example below, the company offers a 10% discount to new subscribers. You can also offer a free download, a chance to win a giveaway, or any other incentive that would be valuable to your target audience.

Whatever you choose, make sure your offer is relevant to your business and provides value.

2. Make your subscription form easy to find

Don’t bury your subscription form on your website. Make it easy for your website visitors to find your form and subscribe to your list.

The most common place to put a subscription form is in the footer of your website. You can also place it in the header, on your contact page, and in a popup.

You can also create a dedicated landing page for your email list. This is a great way to explain the benefits of joining your list and encourage people to sign up.

3. Offer an incentive to sign up

If you want someone to give you their email address, you need to make it worth their while. This is where lead magnets come in.

A lead magnet is something of value that you offer for free in exchange for someone’s email address. This could be a discount on your products or services, a free downloadable resource, a one-time offer, or anything else that you think your target audience would find valuable.

The key is to make sure that your lead magnet is something your audience actually wants. Otherwise, they won’t be motivated to sign up for your email list.

4. Use a double opt-in process

The double opt-in process is where a person subscribes to your email list and then confirms their subscription via an email confirmation link.

This two-step process is a great way to ensure that the people who are signing up for your email list are truly interested in hearing from you. It also helps to prevent fake or mistyped email addresses from being added to your list.

When you use a double opt-in process, you can be more confident that the people who are on your email list are engaged and interested in what you have to say. This can lead to higher open and click-through rates, and can help to improve the overall performance of your email marketing campaigns.

5. Promote your email list on social media

Social media is a great place to promote your email list. You can create posts that tell people about your list and the benefits of joining.

You can also create posts that showcase your lead magnets. For example, you could create a post that shares a snippet of your lead magnet and encourages people to join your list to get the full thing.

You can also use social media to share links to your email sign-up forms and landing pages. For example, you could share a link to your sign-up form in the bio of your social media profiles, or you could create a post that includes a link to your landing page.

Social media is a great way to reach new people and get them to sign up for your list. And, it’s a great way to keep your current audience engaged and excited about what you have to offer.

6. Create a referral program

Referrals are a great way to grow your email list because they allow you to tap into your existing customers’ networks.

One way to incentivize referrals is to create a referral program. With a referral program, you can reward your existing customers for referring new people to your email list. Tools like ReferralCandy make it easy to set up and manage personalized referral campaigns, track referrals, and offer rewards that motivate your customers to spread the word.The reward can be anything from a discount on their next purchase to a free gift. The key is to make the reward valuable enough that your customers will want to refer people to your list.

7. Attend industry events

You can build your email list by attending industry events, like trade shows, conferences, and more.

When you attend these events, you can meet a lot of people in your target audience in a short amount of time, which can be a great way to grow your list quickly.

When you meet people at industry events, make sure to ask for their contact information and permission to add them to your list. You can also offer them a free resource or something else of value in exchange for their contact information.

8. Use contests and giveaways

People love the idea of winning free stuff. That’s why contests and giveaways are a great way to get people to join your email list.

You can run a contest or giveaway where people have to join your email list to enter. Or, you can run a contest or giveaway for your existing email subscribers and encourage them to share the contest with their friends and family. For every person they refer to your email list, they get an extra entry into the contest.

This is a great way to incentivize your existing email subscribers to help you grow your list.

9. Create a lead magnet

A lead magnet is a free piece of content that you offer in exchange for someone’s email address. This could be an ebook, checklist, template, white paper, webinar, or anything else that your target audience would find valuable.

The key to creating a successful lead magnet is to make sure that it’s directly related to the product or service that you want to sell. If it’s not, then you’ll attract the wrong people to your email list, and they won’t be interested in buying from you.

For example, if you sell social media scheduling software, you could create a lead magnet that shows people how to create a social media content calendar. This would attract the right people to your email list, and it would also help to position you as an expert in your field.

10. Create a sense of urgency

People are more likely to take action if they have a reason to do so right now. You can create a sense of urgency by offering limited-time deals or promotions that are only available to people who sign up for your email list.

You can also use countdown timers in your email sign-up forms to let people know how much time they have to sign up in order to get your special offer. This can help you get more email sign-ups and increase your conversion rate.

Conclusion

The above list-building tips are essential for reaching your target audience and improving email engagement. Whether you’re creating a new email list or improving an existing one, the next steps you take will make a significant difference in your email marketing results.