Do you need help with your email marketing strategy? Want to know the most effective ways to grow your email subscriber list?

Email marketing has remained a cornerstone of digital marketing for years. In 2017, it continued to be one of the most powerful tools for reaching your audience, nurturing leads, and driving conversions. But, to leverage the full potential of email marketing, you need a strong and growing email list.

Building and growing your email list is not just about quantity; it’s also about quality. In this blog post, we’ll explore seven effective ways to grow your email list in 2017. These strategies focus on attracting the right subscribers and nurturing them to become loyal customers.

Digital Marketing Philippines share their email marketing tips in this infographic.

 

Create Valuable Lead Magnets

To entice people to subscribe to your email list, you need to offer them something of value in return. This is where lead magnets come into play. Lead magnets are incentives that encourage website visitors to share their email addresses with you. In 2017, creating compelling lead magnets was essential to growing your email list.

Here are some effective lead magnet ideas for 2017:

  • Ebooks: Create informative ebooks that address common pain points of your target audience.
  • Cheat Sheets: Provide quick reference guides or cheat sheets related to your industry.
  • Webinars: Host webinars and offer access to recordings in exchange for email addresses.
  • Templates: Share downloadable templates that help your audience solve specific problems.
  • Exclusive Content: Promise access to premium content that’s not available elsewhere on your website.
  • Discounts and Promotions: Offer exclusive discounts or promotions to email subscribers.

The key to successful lead magnets is to make them highly relevant to your target audience’s needs and interests. When you provide value upfront, people are more likely to subscribe to your list.

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Learn design & marketing. Grow your business.

Optimize Your Signup Forms

Your signup forms are the gateways to your email list, so it’s crucial to optimize them for conversions. In 2017, user-friendly and visually appealing signup forms were a must.

Here are some tips for optimizing your signup forms:

  • Keep it Simple: Don’t overwhelm visitors with too many fields. Ask for essential information, such as their name and email address.
  • Mobile-Friendly Design: Ensure that your signup forms are mobile-responsive to capture subscribers on all devices.
  • Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Use compelling CTAs that clearly communicate the benefits of subscribing.
  • A/B Testing: Continuously test different form designs, CTA text, and placement to identify what works best for your audience.
  • Pop-up and Slide-in Forms: Implement pop-up and slide-in forms strategically to capture the attention of visitors at the right moment.

In 2017, it was important to strike a balance between capturing email addresses and providing a seamless user experience. The easier it is for people to subscribe, the more likely they are to do so.

Leverage Social Media

Social media platforms were a goldmine for email list growth in 2017. With billions of users on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you had ample opportunities to reach a broad audience.

Here’s how to leverage social media for email list growth:

  • Promote Lead Magnets: Share your lead magnets on social media with enticing captions and visuals to drive traffic to your signup forms.
  • Run Contests and Giveaways: Host social media contests and giveaways that require participants to subscribe to your email list for entry.
  • Live Q&A Sessions: Host live Q&A sessions on platforms like Facebook Live, where you can mention and promote your email list.
  • Share User-Generated Content: Encourage your followers to create and share content related to your products or services, then feature it in your email campaigns to build community and drive subscriptions.

In 2017, social media played a significant role in connecting with your audience and directing them to your email list. It was all about engaging and nurturing your social media followers.

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Click. Scan. Improve. Get your website audit here.

Implement Content Upgrades

Content upgrades are a powerful way to grow your email list by offering additional, highly relevant content to your blog readers. In 2017, this strategy gained momentum as marketers realized its potential.

Here’s how content upgrades work:

Let’s say you have a blog post about “10 Effective SEO Strategies.” Within the post, you offer a content upgrade, such as a downloadable checklist of the 10 strategies. To access the checklist, readers must subscribe to your email list.

The key to successful content upgrades is ensuring that they complement the content your audience is already engaged with. This way, you’re offering something they’re interested in at the right moment.

Run Facebook Ads

In 2017, Facebook advertising was a cost-effective way to grow your email list quickly. The platform’s robust targeting options allowed you to reach a highly specific audience, increasing the chances of converting ad viewers into subscribers.

Here’s how to use Facebook ads for email list growth:

  • Create a Compelling Ad: Craft visually appealing and persuasive ads that highlight the benefits of subscribing to your email list.
  • Target the Right Audience: Use Facebook’s targeting options to narrow down your audience based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.
  • Use Lead Generation Ads: Facebook offers lead generation ads that allow users to subscribe to your list without leaving the platform, streamlining the process.
  • A/B Test Ad Elements: Experiment with different ad creatives, headlines, and ad copy to optimize your campaign’s performance.

Facebook ads were a valuable tool in your email marketing arsenal in 2017, and they continued to be a cost-effective way to acquire new subscribers.

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Talk strategy. Plan design. Start strong.

Collaborate with Influencers

Influencer marketing was on the rise in 2017, and it presented an opportunity to tap into a broader audience. Collaborating with influencers in your niche allowed you to leverage their credibility and reach.

Here’s how to collaborate with influencers for email list growth:

  • Identify Relevant Influencers: Find influencers whose followers align with your target audience.
  • Reach Out and Partner: Approach influencers with a mutually beneficial proposition, such as co-hosting webinars or co-creating content.
  • Create Exclusive Content: Develop exclusive content or offers for the influencer’s audience that require email subscriptions.
  • Promote Through Influencer Channels: Allow the influencer to promote your email list through their social media, blog, or email newsletter.

In 2017, influencer collaborations helped you tap into an engaged and already interested audience, making it easier to convert their followers into subscribers.

Focus on Email Segmentation and Personalization

Once you’ve grown your email list, it’s crucial to engage and retain your subscribers. In 2017, email segmentation and personalization were key strategies to achieve this.

Here’s how to leverage segmentation and personalization:

  • Segment Your List: Divide your email list into segments based on factors like demographics, behavior, and interests.
  • Personalize Content: Tailor your email content to the preferences and needs of each segment.
  • Send Targeted Campaigns: Create and send targeted email campaigns to specific segments, delivering relevant content and offers.
  • Automation: Implement automated email workflows that trigger based on user actions, such as welcome sequences, abandoned cart emails, and product recommendations.

Segmentation and personalization allowed you to deliver more relevant content to your subscribers, increasing engagement and conversion rates.

Conclusion

In 2017, email marketing remained a potent tool for businesses to connect with their audience and drive revenue. To make the most of this channel, you needed a growing and engaged email list. By implementing the seven strategies outlined in this blog post—creating valuable lead magnets, optimizing signup forms, leveraging social media, using content upgrades, running Facebook ads, collaborating with influencers, and focusing on email segmentation and personalization—you could effectively grow your email list and nurture it for long-term success.

As you move forward with your email marketing efforts in 2017, remember that building a high-quality email list takes time and ongoing effort. Keep testing and refining your strategies to adapt to changing trends and consumer preferences, and your email list will continue to be a valuable asset for your business.

 

 

Mark Walker-Ford

Author:
Mark Ford

Categories: Email Marketing
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