Email list building is a strategy you use to collect email addresses from those who come to your website or any Internet “property” where you can put an opt-in form on.
Online (and offline) business owners can use email list building to build a database of prospective clients.
They can then email this database anytime they want with anything they want.
Things like company updates, special offers, new offers, new content, etc.
Email list building is a vital strategy because it’s “on-demand” communication with people who are interested in what you have to offer.
When someone comes to your website and uses your opt-in form to get on your list, they are telling you they are interested in your information and what you have to offer.
There aren’t many other marketing strategies that can compare to the power of email list building!
Another reason email list building is so important is because you own that email list and have total control over it. It doesn’t matter if the search engines change their algorithms or if a social media site changes its rules and/or limits/bans your account.
You will always have your email list that you can email.
Even if you are using a managed service like GetResponse to build your email list. You can always download the leads in your email database and take them wherever you want.
However, email list building is not an easy strategy. Nothing that works this powerfully is going to be easy. But if you have patience and a strategy all the time and effort that it takes will be more than worth it! Just this little fact from dma.org backs up my statement of email list building is more than worth it.
“For every $1 spent on email marketing, the average expected return is $36. In comparison, PPC advertising yields $2 for every $1 spent.”
source: dma.org
And speaking of numbers email list building is one of the easiest tactics to track also. You can track things like how much traffic your lead capture page gets, how much your other opt-in forms on your website get conversion rates (how many people opt-in at your lead capture page or how many people buy a product after the opt-in), and so much more! Being able to easily track things makes it easier to see what is and isn’t working. You can put all of your time and money only into what’s working in your list-building strategy.
So, with all of this said, let’s jump into how you can get started with your own email list-building strategy.
Here Are The Components That Every Email List-Building Strategy Must Have!
Component #1: Lead Capture Page
Having a page on your website that is devoted solely to building your email list is the first component you should create. You can use this in any way you want to build your list. Offer a lead magnet, notifications offer, discount offers, etc. Whatever your business needs and goals are will depend on how you create this page and what you offer, but its sole purpose as I said needs to be to get people onto your list.
Component #2: Traffic
Once you have your lead capture page ready then the next step is of course putting people in front of it. You need to get traffic to your lead capture page or no one will ever get on your email list.
Luckily, there are many ways to drive traffic to your lead-capturing page. You can use paid traffic, SEO, organic social media marketing, and the list goes on and on. Pick one traffic strategy to start with and if it works for you keep using it and add other strategies for more traffic. You can see what is and isn’t working for you using the next component.
Component #3: Tracking
This is a component that many never add into their email list-building strategy and when you don’t have this component you’ll never know what is working for you and what isn’t. This could lead you to wasting a lot of time and money. Find a tracking solution like Google Analytics, and get it setup so that you can track how much traffic your lead capture page is getting, from what sources, and how much of that traffic actually opts-in to get on your email list. You may find other variables you want to measure also, but these things are the essentials.
Now I want to give you a few “optional” components. While these are optional components, the more of these components that your email list building strategy has, the better!
Component #4: Multiple Lead Capture Pages
With most online businesses you won’t just have one lead capture page. You can create multiple lead capture pages offering different things to get people on your list. By doing this you can build a huge database of email addresses who are all interested in your business and/or the topic of your business. When you use tracking you can also see what lead capture pages work best for you and put more focus on getting those lead capture pages more traffic.
Component #5: Multiple Lead Capture Forms
There are more ways to build your list than just lead capture pages. You can use lead capture forms in many ways. You can use lead capture forms to use “content upgrades”, “content locking”, pop-ups, scroll/notification bars, put them on the sidebar of your blog (or in any other spot of your blog/website), within gamification strategies, and the list goes on and on and on. Study email list building strategies regarding lead capture forms and you’ll see there are hundreds of ways that you can use them to always be encouraging your traffic to get on your email list.
Now what I’ve given you here is a complete guide on building your email list.
However, each component needs to have its own strategy that you personally create based on the goals of your business.
Start with the first component and get it created for your business, and then move through each of these components until you have a list-building strategy that is working well to build your email list!