An essential element of building any successful business, brand, or podcast is a mailing list.
Why?
Because a mailing list allows businesses to communicate with their customers and keep them updated on new products, services, promotions, or latest podcast episodes. And here’s a fun stat…did you know that email marketing has the highest ROI of any marketing strategy? (For more of the benefits of email marketing, check out this post.)
So email newsletters are a fantastic way to build your brand and your community. But before you can reap the many benefits of email marketing, you’re going to need a mailing list.
But building a mailing list can be difficult. It’s difficult to know where to start, and once you start growing your list, it can be difficult to hold on to subscribers. And that’s exactly why we wanted to share this post!
So here are some of the best strategies for growing your mailing list quickly and effectively.
1. Start with your current customers
One of the best ways to grow your mailing list quickly is to start by collecting email addresses from your current customers, brand supporters, or your podcast listeners. But a word of caution here. You cannot simply import all the email addresses you’ve collected from your customers through other interactions. Your customers must give their permission before you can add their email addresses to your mailing list.
This can be done in a variety of ways. You could send individual customer care or follow-up emails where you promote your new newsletter. You can then provide the option for your customers to consent to be added to your list.
Or, you could add an extra step to your check process where customers are given the option of giving their consent there. However you plan on collecting email addresses from your current customers, just be sure it conforms to the legal requirements of email marketing.
As long as you play by the rules, starting with your current customers should see your mailing list off to a flying start.
2. Add a sign-up form to your website
Another great way to grow your mailing list is by adding a sign-up form to your website. Now it’s time to approach all those potential customers! The key here is to make it easy! You want as little ‘resistance’ as possible when it comes to getting website users to subscribe to your mailing list.
Pop-ups are great for this. Make them eye-catching to grab attention, and add enticing information for that final push. As an additional tip, try to be original here. Let them see a glimpse of all that they could enjoy if they sign up today!
You could also consider offering incentives for signing up. In your sign-up pop-up, you could let them know of the discount they could receive if they sign up, or the free resource you’ll send their way as soon as they subscribe. These are all great ways to seal the deal and get almost every person visiting your website subscribing to your mailing list.
Related read: A Successful Podcast Website Needs These 12 Key Things
3. Approach your circle
The next strategy to help you quickly grow your mailing list is to share it with friends, family, colleagues, and even other businesses you’ve built relationships with and who are aligned to your niche.
This strategy is another one for fast mailing list growth. But it also has additional benefits. First, when it comes to your family and friends, they are (hopefully!) some of your biggest supporters! So they will be all too happy to sign up to your mailing list. It’s also a fun way to see all that you’ve got going on. And as an added bonus, they will more than likely share your newsletter with their contacts, which means your list could experience some more quick growth.
Now focusing on your colleagues and other businesses you’ve worked with. Because of this relationship, they are likely also very interested in the type of content you’re sharing via your newsletter. They likely form part of your niche or an aligned niche, and so your newsletter content will be of interest to them. But secondly, it’s a great opportunity for both you and them to grow your professional networks. Signing up to each other’s mailing lists provides more opportunities for support or collaboration in the future. A win-win for all involved!
So don’t be afraid to reach out to your circle! If you’re proud of the brand you’ve built and the type of content you create, there will be no reason why your approach will be met with anything other than support!
4. Use the power of the giveaway
I know I said all the above strategies are really effective ways to grow a mailing list quickly (and they are!) but possibly the strategy that yields the most growth is giveaways.
People love free stuff! And they love the idea of potentially winning something really cool! Just take some time to analyze your social media content. Take a note of the number of posts that are offering giveaways…and the number of giveaway posts you’re tagged in! I’m willing to bet it’s a fair amount! And that’s because the brands know the power of a great giveaway!
So, why not utilize this power to grow your mailing list? The key points to remember for successful giveaways are 1. Your prize needs to be attractive to your target audience. If they’re not enticed to enter, they won’t! And 2. Make sure “Sign up to our newsletter!” is part of the entry criteria, otherwise, the strategy will obviously fail.
But just a word of caution here. While it is true that hosting a giveaway is a great way to grow a mailing list, this strategy doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily retain that growth. It is very common to experience a noticeably drop in newsletter subscribers once your giveaway is over and the winner is announced.
And this is because people who were not your intended target audience signed up for the giveaway to win that previously-mentioned really cool prize. But this is just the nature of giveaways, so don’t be disheartened if you see a drop in your mailing list after a giveaway. It just means you’re honing in on your target audience. Serve the new sign-ups that are part of your target audience well and hold on to them, and the giveaway will have been effective.
5. Offer sign-up incentives
We have alluded to this strategy above, but it’s definitely worth its own entry! Another effective way to convert those email sign-ups is to offer some great incentives just for subscribing to your mailing list.
The great thing about this strategy is that you can really tailor it to your specific target audience, as well as to your particular niche.
If it’s products that you offer, you could offer a discount code for new sign-ups. If you’re a podcaster, you could offer a bonus episode, or a discount on your super cool podcast merch! You could even create niche-related content, such as templates, cheatsheets, or an ebook that you offer to all your subscribers.
And another plus when it comes to incentives is that they are adaptable! You can make seasonal or limited offers that can really help drive subscribers to your mailing list. The possibilities are endless, which makes this such a useful strategy for growing your mailing list!
6. Utilize your social media platforms effectively
The next strategy for growing your mailing list quickly and effectively is to use social media to promote your mailing list and drive traffic to your sign-up form. This is a great way to convert your followers into newsletter subscribers, and you should see a nice jump in those subscriber numbers.
This strategy is most effective when you create content that works the best on the different platforms you use for your brand.
For Facebook, for example, creating engaging posts or short videos that stop your target audience mid-scroll. Use your image or video to share your incentives or offers, create intrigue and anticipation, and nobody will want to miss out on your newsletter! Then be sure to place your sign-up link in the caption, as well as in your About section, and you’ve perfectly positioned yourself to gather more sign-ups.
Your engaging posts and videos will work well on Instagram, too! However, as you can’t add links to your posts, you need to amp up the drive a bit. Add the link to your bio for starters, and add it to your stories when you periodically share posts that promote your newsletter. And then use your posts or reels to create an urgency to sign-up. If you can capture all that your newsletter offers, or paint a picture of what people will miss out on if they don’t sign-up, you should see a spike in your mailing list.
And for Twitter, again, use those super eye-catching images! And then be sure to pin this tweet so that anyone who lands on your profile sees your mailing list sign-up call-to-action immediately.
7. Run targeted ads
As your budget allows, you may also find that running ads on social media targeting people who are interested in what you have to offer is an effective way to boost those subscriber numbers.
Ads are particularly effective if you have a clear picture of who your target audience is, the type of content they’re after, and which on which platforms they’re likely to engage with your content.
On that note, ads can be a bit of a trial and error experience. But if you have the budget, and you know the type of content that your target audience is looking for, then ads promoting your newsletter should prove successful.
8. Send out regular emails with valuable content
So, you’ve implemented the above strategies, and you’ve seen some amazing growth in your subscriber numbers! Congrats! But these strategies are only effective if you can keep those numbers!
And to that effect, these last two strategies are how you’re going to keep your mailing list sign-ups, well, still signed up!
The most important thing to remember when it comes to keeping your mailing list is to always offer emails that are jam-packed with value. That means no spam! You want your newsletter to spark joy when your readers see it in their inbox, not dread because you’re trying to sell them something!
Now, this definitely doesn’t mean you can’t promote your offerings via your email! You totally can! But it must be done in such a way that adds value to your audience.
Remember, email marketing is one of the best ways to build relationships with your audience! And this relationship is what leads to a strong community and loyal brand supporters. But this only happens if you serve your audience well. So pack those newsletters with value, showcase your winning personality, and find ways to engage your audience in the conversation. And your mailing list will be a healthy hub of connectivity and communication. A winning combination for anyone looking to build their brand.
9. Optimize your emails to increase click rates
And finally, if you want your emails to convert readers to loyal customers, you need to make sure that your readers are actually opening and engaging with your emails.
And so the final strategy when it comes to building your mailing list is to make sure that you optimize your emails to increase click rates.
There are several ways to optimize your emails, but some of the most effective include:
- Use a catchy subject line that accurately reflects the content of your email. But remember, steer clear of anything that reads as spam!
- Keep your emails value-packed. This does not necessarily mean they have to be short, (although on average, people are more likely to engage with shorter emails) they just need to be full of value from start to finish.
- Include images or videos in your email, as these are great for increased engagement.
- Personalize your emails. Stats show that recipients are 26% more likely to open personalized emails.
- Segment your lists. By grouping your audience by particular demographics, you will be able to send targeted emails to each specific group. This can help you better meet your audience’s needs, but can also lead to greater engagement from their side.
Take a bit of time to come up with strategies as to how you can best optimize your emails, and analyze the data from your previous campaigns, and you’ll soon see a pattern emerge. Then use this information to keep optimizing each email you send out, and each campaign will yield the desired results!
To Conclude
Growing your mailing list can be a challenge, but it’s well worth the effort! Not only does a mailing list give you direct access to customers, but it also allows you to build valuable relationships with them that leads to brand loyalty. And the best way to grow your mailing list quickly and effectively is by using the strategies we’ve outlined in this article.
So don’t delay! Build that mailing list today!
