Email marketing may not be new and it may not seem flashy, but the fact is that it remains a powerful tool for reaching customers… especially customers who you may not be reaching through social media or through traditional advertising.

There’s much that can be said about the right and wrong ways to craft, optimize, schedule, and monitor marketing emails. However, an even more foundational practice is cultivating a powerful email marketing list. The better your list, the more effective your email outreach will be.

With that said, what are some actionable steps businesses can take to ensure their email marketing lists are consistently growing? We have a few methods that can help you start increasing subscribers today!

How to Grow Your Email List

1) Add signage in your retail store.

It’s tempting to think about email marketing as a purely “online” endeavor, but if you have a brick-and-mortar location, there’s no reason why you can’t install some physical signage, encouraging customers to sign up for your newsletter. Make clear the advantages in doing so… for example, regular promos and opportunities to save, along with updates on new products, services, or events. Give away a discount for signing up and you’ll see an exponential number of hand raisers.

By using this method with a regional car wash client we were able to increase their list by more than 100,000 subscribers. Once we did that, we began sending out emails with promo codes, and our client’s sales exploded!

2) Add an opt-in form on your website.

Of course, it’s also important to have a place where visitors to your website can opt in to receive email updates. The big advantage to this strategy is that the people who sign up will be folks who have actively sought out your company and shown an interest in your products and services. In other words, they are more likely to be “warm” leads or return customers.

Aim for simplicity, providing a clean, simple opt-in form in a place of prominence on your home page. Also, remember what we said before: It’s important to let customers know about the savings, promos, or useful information they can receive, providing them some incentive to sign up.

3) Incentivize subscription.

As referred to above, there’s certainly nothing wrong with sweetening the deal for your potential subscribers. Provide them with some free (or discounted) stuff when they add their name to your email list.

You don’t necessarily need to give away the farm here but do be sure you offer a reward that’s going to be worthwhile. Offering a dollar off a $100 item probably won’t make much of an impact; a 10% off discount, on the other hand, just might.

Note that there is also merit to designing buttons that cause your website visitors to think twice before turning you down. For example, instead of a “no thanks” button, present them with a button that says, “no, I’m not interested in 10% off.” The former is pretty easy to dismiss, the latter, not so much.

4) Make new subscribers feel welcome.

When you do add a new name to your email marketing list, be sure to make the newcomer feel truly welcome. Specifically, be sure you have an automated welcome email that thanks them for signing up, reminds them of the benefits they’ll receive, and invites them to contact you directly with any pressing questions or concerns.

You might even use this welcome email to drive traffic to some recent company blog posts, YouTube videos, or current promotions. Fresh, relevant content is always more valuable than a basic “please confirm your email” message.

5) Advertise your email list.

If your business already has a reasonably active social media presence, then chances are you’ve already got a lot of would-be subscribers lined up. All you really need to do is let them know that your email list exists and provide them with a link where they can sign up.

Again, it’s so important to offer a reason for doing so. Convey the value of your email list, rather than flatly asking people to sign up for no particular reason.

6) Use an email marketing platform.

Finally, note that a big part of maintaining subscribers is ensuring that you’re delivering real value in your emails, on a consistent basis. The most efficient way to do this is with automation. Make sure you have an email marketing platform that allows you to manage subscriber information, segment your list, target the information you offer, and schedule emails in an optimal way.

That’s something we can help with here at enCOMPASS. In fact, we’re here to help our clients develop email lists that drive real results, both in terms of website traffic as well as sales revenues. If you’d like to learn more, reach out to chat with us at any time.