You probably know the importance of email list building. You might have even heard “the money is in your list” or you have learned a little about email marketing to know it’s the most effective way to reach your customers. 

Want to get started with email list building but don’t know how to? Our article to your rescue! Today we will dive deep and understand what is email list building, its importance and the best email list building strategies. In addition, will also share effective ideas for email list building.

What is EmailAn email (or electronic mail) is a method of exchanging communications through the internet. It is one of the most used features on the web and the number one mean... List Building?

It is the process of collecting email addresses from your customers, visitors and other people associated with your business. This is done using sign-up sheets, events, social media accounts, websites and more.

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In simple words, it refers to the process of collecting email addresses from different people. This is done in order to expand your subscriber database and empower your business communications with existing and prospective clients. 

As an email marketer, an authentic email list is your most powerful tool. According to statistics, 59% of individuals believe email marketing either positively or negatively affects their purchasing decisions. In addition, 80% of professionals believe email marketing is an excellent way to increase customer retention.

An engaging email list allows you to reach your customers by building your brand’s story. In addition, it has a better reach than any of the other paid media channels and is cost-effective. 

However, email list building isn’t easy. It requires more than a simple lead capture form on your website. Therefore, understand that building an email list will require patience and an effective strategy.

The Importance of Email Lists

On average, email marketing sees a 4300% return on investment for businesses in the USA. 

Direct Marketing Association

Since email subscribers join your email list on their own and verify their identity, it’s obvious they’re interested in hearing from you. This is why they’re likely to keep purchasing from you in the future.

For most businesses, emails get 10x higher conversions than their social media campaigns. Here are 5 reasons why email list building is important:

1. It’s personal. Emails allow you to directly reach your customers’ inboxes. It’s personal, direct and has unrestricted reach.
2. It’s purposeful. Every subscriber opts in and grants you permission to send emails. Therefore, they’re interested in receiving the content they requested.
3. They’re targeted. The subscriber has already shown interest in hearing from you. Since you know what their preferences are, you can offer customized deals and offers to achieve better results. 
4. It’s yours. You don’t own any of the social media channels. Their policies may change any day and you might even lose all your followers. However, you do own your email list and it’s not affected by anything.
5. People use emails several times every day. Research conducted by Radicati showed that there are 3.8 billion active email accounts. On the other hand, Twitter and Facebook have 100 million and 1.4 billion daily active users. This means that email marketing is your best bet. It’s a long-term investment that has a higher return on investment. 
6. It’s direct. Subscribers read emails in the privacy of their inboxes. Your messages don’t appear on the newsfeed or on a public timeline. They can reach out to you anytime they want. Therefore, it builds a connection and establishes trust.

6 Email List Building Strategies

While you can’t build a comprehensive email list overnight, these email list building strategies will help increase your subscriber base. 

#1. Use Signup Forms

They’re one of the most popular email list building strategies as they’re non-intrusive. They act as a reminder for visitors that they can subscribe if they wish to. Add a signup form on your high traffic pages in visible areas such as splash pages, sidebars, footers and headers. 

#2. Use Overlays and Popups

Did you know that popups have a 3.9% to 9.8% conversion rate? Use overlays and popups that adhere to Google’s interstitial ad guidelines to make the most of them. You can use a variety of popups such as welcome popups, exit-intent popups, or promotional popups. 

#3. Introduce Gamification

It’s the process of applying interactive elements of game playing to encourage users to opt for your emails. You can use scratchcards, popups, spin-to-win/wheel of fortune, surveys, tests and quizzes. In addition, you can also organise sweepstakes, giveaways and contests. Offer exclusive prizes such as free shipping or 20-30% discount or other offers that your customers will like. Everyone loves free stuff so they don’t mind giving you their email address in return. This ensures that your customers feel like they’re getting something valuable in return for their email address. 

#4. Use Squeeze Pages

It’s a page dedicated to capturing leads on a landing page. It’s designed to “squeeze” or extract information out from visitors by restricting their access to the desired offer or content by acting as a ‘gate’ i.e. a lead capture form. 

#5. Invite to Sign Up for Notifications

This is one of the most effective email list building strategies. It works well for almost all types of notifications such as pre-sale, new collection and back-in-stock notifications.

#6. Utilize Referral and Loyalty Programs

They’re an excellent way to build your email list from scratch or grow your existing email list. Use them to encourage new subscribers and nudge existing subscribers to generate lifetime value. 

Building a List Through Social Media

One of the best ways to drive traffic to your website is through social media marketing. Here’s how you can leverage social media for email list building:

• Embed signup buttons on social media accounts. It’s a free and easy way to advertise your company’s newsletter to your social media followers. Add a CTAA CTA is a phrase or word designed to get an immediate response from the reader. As the name suggests, it's usually something that involves a precise action performed by... button on all your social media profiles to encourage your followers to join your email list.
• Contests and giveaways. Make your brand more personal, interactive and reachable by organizing contests. In addition, include Q&A features quizzes and polls to generate more user engagement. Promote your giveaway/contest and drive traffic to a landing page. Ask your followers to then sign up to take part in the contest/giveaway.
• Facebook ads. Facebook allows businesses to run lead form ads. These ads help you gain subscribers without them leaving the platform. 

Building a List Offline

Your website is your best option for email list building. However, you don’t have to solely depend on it. Here’s how you can use offline channels for email list building:

• Direct mail. Include a QR code or a CTA that links your customers to sign up for “paperless” news. People love getting digital updates about sales and promotions rather than getting physical newsletters/pamphlets. 
• Trade shows. They offer excellent opportunities for businesses to network with fellow wholesalers and directly sell to customers. Therefore, capture email information by hosting a giveaway or using sign-up sheets. In addition, you can also encourage sign-ups via your business cards.
• In-store. Convert foot traffic into a rich email list by using a sign-up sheet. Be creative while requesting your customer’s email addresses. However, ensure that you have their consent to receive your emails.

12 Ideas for Email List Building

Here are some of the lesser-known but highly effective ideas for email list building.

1. Host events. Events such as book clubs, topic talks or lunch gatherings are an excellent way to gain email addresses. 
2. Encourage people to ‘join the club’. Offer anniversary or birthday discounts that encourage visitors to enrol themselves. 
3. Try telemarketing. You and your staff interact with a lot of people throughout the day. Before hanging up, always ask if they’d be interested in joining your email list. Give them a quick brief of the perks of joining to convince them.
4. Use your blog. Add CTAs at the end of your articles to encourage readers to subscribe to your emails. 
5. Collaborate with fellow bloggers. Consider sharing your email list with a fellow blogger or a neighbouring business. In addition, you can offer some space in your newsletter encouraging your subscribers to follow them and vice versa. 
6. Build an online community. Set up a community and encourage interaction between your customers and your brand. 
7. Add an opt-in form to your email. Anyone who receives your email will then see a way to directly join your email list.
8. Involve employees. Offer exciting rewards to your employees every time they collect valid email addresses. 
9. Use receipts. Use a customized credit card receipt with a line/field for customers to mention their email addresses. 
10. Encourage competition. Consider sponsoring a contest where they have to share their photo/video with your product. In addition, ask them to send it via their email and subscribe to enter the contest. 
11. Offer freebies. Email list building can be done by offering freebies such as buying guides or e-books. 
12. Participate in street fairs. Collect emails at the fair. In addition, sweeten the deal by offering an instant discount to new subscribers in exchange for giving you their email address. 

3 Best Practices to Keep in Mind

Follow these email link building best practices to ensure you’re not violating any rules or policies:

• Don’t purchase email lists. People generally mark such emails as spam as they know they did not subscribe to your emails. In addition, it’s illegal to buy an email list. Therefore, we recommend consulting an email marketer to help you understand the GDPR rules and laws to ensure you don’t violate any laws in the future.
• Use social proof. Show how many people have joined your email list. This helps build trust and also instils FOMO (fear of missing out). It’s a great way to tempt new visitors to join your email list. Therefore, use a CTA such as “Join a community of 200,000 subscribers!”
• Send a series or a single welcome email. Welcome emails are a great way to instantly delight your subscriber. Nurture your lead early on so that they feel valued. In addition, welcome emails help you establish a connection with the customer. 

In Conclusion

It doesn’t matter which industry you’re in or what the size of your business is. Email marketing has always been and will always be one of the most effective marketing strategies of all time.

Therefore, turn your visitors and followers into returning customers by encouraging them to join your email list.

Curate a highly personalized email list to guarantee repeat purchases from your customers. 

Therefore, carefully select and review the landing pages that you can use for capturing email addresses. Test and optimize your strategies so that you have a decent email list.

We hope we helped you understand the concept of email list building through our article. Therefore, start with lead generation and slowly work your way towards gaining more subscribers. 

In addition, if you need any help with email list building, MailsenPai’s only a demo away!