50 ways to grow your email list

50 WAYS to grow your email list page: 1

50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List Written By Casey Swanton Casey is currently a Response Consultant for Professional Services at Return Path. Casey’s agency experience has involved strategic consulting with high visibility brands including Disney, Mars and Adecco to develop, implement and refine email, mobile and social programs that balance a high ROI with a positive, meaningful brand experience for consumers.

Her approach unifies the goals of her clients with the wants and needs of the end user, ensuring that both have more rewarding and positive interactions.

Who Should Read This?

Beginner Beginner content is intended for marketers just starting out or for those who just need a refresher.

Intermediate Intermediate content is intended for marketers with some experience in the subject matter including strategies and tactics.

Advanced Advanced content is for marketers who have an advanced level of understanding of email marketing and are looking for advanced strategies and tactics.

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Contents: 5: Introduction 6: The Basics Build a Foundation for Positive Subscriber Experiences

11: Bread & Butter The Website Opt-in

15: Beyond Digital Getting the Brick and Mortar Involved

17: Out Of The Box Making Print and Outdoor Media Work Harder

18: Client Services Capture Making the Most of Each Touch Point

19: Get Social Tying Email to Social Media

22: There’s An App For That?

Collecting Email in Mobile

23: Searching For Subscribers SEM and SEO

24 : Mixing It Up Cross-brand Strategies

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Q

Return Path Products

Placement.EQ

Certification.EQ

Insight.EQ

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Placement.EQ Maximize inbox placement with superior accuracy and visibility into active subscriber data, seedPlacement.EQ lists and sending reputation.Certification.EQ Insight.EQ Insight.EQ

Certification.EQ

Protect.EQ

Protect.EQ

Protect.EQ Protect your users and your brand by gaining full visibility into known, unknown and potentially fraudulent email traffic.

Certification.EQ Boost inbox impact by increasing delivery speeds and bypassing email filters with the most respected whitelist in the industry.

Protect.EQ

Secure.EQ Secure trust in your brand by monitoring and blocking phishing and integrating the latest email threat intelligence into your security program.

Insight.EQ Make your email program best in class by seeing how subscribers engage with your brand, how content renders, and side by side benchmarks on key metrics.

Certification.EQ Protect.EQ

Professional Services Customized consulting solutions from email intelligence experts that drives email performance, produces measurable results, and improves your program ROI.

50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Increasing both the size and quality of a subscriber email list is usually a top priority for marketers, and with good reason.

Not only does the email channel typically show a high ROI when compared to other direct marketing channels, it offers marketers a means to further engage and inform their subscribers. Additionally, email can be integrated with other channels to augment outreach efforts and enhance overall campaign performance.

The following recommendations can help increase the number of successful email sign-ups by increasing exposure for the email program and making it easy for email prospects to find and complete the opt-in process.

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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THE BASICS: 1

Build a Foundation for Positive Subscriber Experiences

Regardless of which methods you employ to grow your list, make sure that your approach is subscriber-centric and user-friendly.

A primary goal of building an email list should be to create a rewarding and satisfying subscriber experience from the initial opt-in to the re-engagement email and beyond.

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Include clear permissioning and a link to the privacy policy on all opt-in pages and forms.

Setting expectations with new subscribers is essential for growing an engaged and happy subscriber base.

By ensuring that subscribers understand what types of emails they’ll be receiving from the very start, they’ll also be less likely to mark future messages as spam!

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Leveraging a splash page that focuses on the email opt-in is a great way to grow a subscriber base for major launches, new brand awareness strategies, upcoming key events and any other promotion that depends on building anticipation as well as an email list.

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Give prospects an easy way out of the subscription process and back into your website content if they chose not to opt in. This sounds counterintuitive, but prospects who have a positive brand experience are more likely to optin down the line.

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Create a simplified, mobile-friendly landing page that includes an overview of email program benefits, an opt-in, and basic navigation back to the main website. This ensures that a greater audience will be easily able to opt-in.

Additionally, these same site visitors may choose to opt-in on another page once they have had more time to explore your content. See number 12 to ensure that you close the loop for prospective subscribers!

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Make it easy to opt in by including a limited number of required fields that are clearly identified as such.

If your brand strategy requires a high level of data, consider adding a secondary page or section where users are able to volunteer additional information or adjust preferences.

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Keep your opt-in form design simple and intuitive and you’ll see a lower abandonment rate.

Clearly spell out how your email program can benefit your subscribers and customers and set expectations on what kind of messaging they’ll receive.

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Offer email-exclusive deals, information and opportunities to increase the value of your email program for subscribers.

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Have an optimized triggered welcome email in place to confirm the opt-in and welcome new subscribers to your program. While this won’t help grow your list, it’s an important step to start things off on the right foot and stave off list attrition!

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BREAD & BUTTER: The Website Opt-in 11

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Make the email opt-in on your home page noticeable and easy to find! The longer that site visitors have to search for it, the fewer will successfully complete the process.

50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Put an email opt-in call-out on your content pages or within website headers or sidebars that are consistent across all pages of your website.

The example below from Ford allows subscribers to sign up for email once they’ve already had a chance to explore areas of the site that are relevant to them.

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13

Include an email opt-in on shopping cart checkout pages, but try not to pre-check the sign-up box.

Ensuring that the opt-in is voluntary and intentional can help reduce the chance of spam complaints and opt-outs down the line.

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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For sweepstakes and contests, include a benefit statement, clear permissioning and a checkbox to opt-in to receive promotional emails.

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For any sign-up forms for webinars, demos or other online events, call-out your email program and provide a way to opt-in.

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Make sure that your website footer includes an email program call-out and/or link to your opt-in page.

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Make sure that your content is worth sharing!

If you have great offers, tips, information, images or content, your subscribers will be more likely to spread the word.

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

Include a clear, motivating call-out within the email creative that encourages and/or allows your subscribers to forward an email to their friends.

If possible, for all emails that are forwarded through calls to action within the content, add a banner or call-out to the template that includes motivating copy and a link for the friend to sign up to receive emails.

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Include an opt-in link in the footer or content of all commercial emails so friends are able to opt-in even if the email was forwarded through the forwarder’s email client.

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Feature a prominent forward-to-a-friend link within your welcome email series to capitalize on new and engaged subscribers.

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Consider sending an email that highlights sharable content and/or the multi-channel share features that are available for subscribers to spread the word about your brand, products or offers. For true Refer-A-Friend programs, create motivating, user-friendly landing pages.

50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

Include a call-out to join your email program on transactional emails for customers who are not subscribed to your email program.

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BEYOND DIGITAL: Getting the Brick and Mortar Involved 24

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Turn in-store customers into email subscribers by informing shoppers of the benefits of the email program and offering them an option to opt-in at the point of sale.

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Take some of the pressure off of your in-store employees to spread the word by including signage and point of purchase call-outs that briefly highlight the benefits of your email program.

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If you’re already sending email receipts, modify the template to include a call-out for your email program and a link to the opt-in form.

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Include an email program plug and benefit statement on printed sales receipts.

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Leverage QR codes as a quick way for savvy in-store customers to jump right to your mobile friendly opt-in page.

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If you have a loyalty program in place, ensure that it is tied into your email program.

Allow members to opt-in to receive standard sales emails in addition to loyalty program communications.

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OUT OF THE BOX:

Making Print and Outdoor Media Work Harder

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On print advertising pieces in magazines and newspapers, call-out the benefits of the email program and include both the website address and/or a QR code

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Plug your email program on printed collateral and brochures.

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

Promote your email program to customers and prospects on your physical mailing list. On direct mail pieces, call out the specific benefits of an email subscription or online membership and provide simple, clear instructions on how to opt in.

Highlight the benefits of the email program on advertisements displayed in spaces with a captive audience, like public transportation ads.

Provide a link or QR code that directs visitors to the mobile site or mobile opt-in page.

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CLIENT SERVICES CAPTURE: Making the Most of Each Touch Point

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Provide your call center with scripts that briefly highlight the email program and allow callers to opt-in to receive promotional messaging.

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Add a descriptive link about the email program in the email signatures for client/prospect facing representatives. This strategy works great for B2B or for brands that leverage one-to-one lifecycle or customer service email programs.

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GET SOCIAL: Tying Email to Social Media

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If you have a presence on Facebook, create an email opt-in tab that calls out the benefits of the program and allows visitors to join your list.

50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Do not require Facebook visitors to like your brand before opting in to receive emails. Across all age groups, email still has a commanding lead on how people would like to receive promotional based messages. Requiring a “like� and an email address may contribute to page abandonment and the loss of an opportunity to contact the visitor across both channels.

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For Facebook, customize the text, image and links that are published to the site when a subscriber shares email content and offers.

Ensure that the messaging that is displayed is engaging and actionable for friends.

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Within your social profiles, ensure that website links direct users back to a relevant landing page that contains a benefit statement and opt-in for the email program. This can be accomplished by updating the footer, header or side bar to contain an email program call-out and opt in form.

What to do

What not to do

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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Promote the benefits of your email program on the social sites that you have presence on and provide a link to the opt-in page.

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Call out specific email exclusive offers on social sites and provide links back to the opt-in page.

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On all Pinterest-friendly content, ensure that when the pinned image is clicked, users are linked back to a content page that contains an email program opt-in.

Ensure that these pages offer navigation back to main content pages to allow visitors to further explore your brand and your site.

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If your brand is very active on Pinterest or your website sees frequent traffic from the site, ensure that the sidebar, header or footer on all of your content pages contain an easy to locate email opt-in.

Make opting in easy for interested visitors as pinned images can often link to deep site content.

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

Pinterest Image links to relevant web page with email opt-in

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THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT? Collecting Email in Mobile 44

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If you have a mobile app, add an email opt-in option within your app settings, intro screens or content pages.

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Already linking to an email account and sending transactional messages? Include a permissioning statement and checkbox to opt-in to receive promotional emails and extend the opportunity by including an opt-in link within the email content.

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SEARCHING FOR SUBSCRIBERS: SEM and SEO

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Call-out your email program on SEM ads, especially if you have an offer for new subscribers. Not only will you get more email addresses, you may capture more sales from prospects who are shopping around for savings.

50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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If your brand leverages search ads, include a link to your email program opt-in.

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MIXING IT UP: Cross-brand Strategies

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If your brand is included in another company’s promotional email, ensure that the landing page includes an opportunity to opt-in to the email program.

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If your brand is involved with, or contributes to altruistic causes and your logo is featured on their site, request that the logo be a live link that directs traffic back to a relevant site page that contains an option to opt-in to the email program.

If your brand is cross-promoted on another brand’s preference center or opt-in form, make sure that permissioning is very clear or use a double opt-in process.

This can help increase subscriber trust and reduce the chances of spam complaints and optouts down the line.

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About Return Path

Canada

rpinfo-canada@returnpath.com

United Kingdom

rpinfo-uk@returnpath.com

Germany

rpinfo-germany@returnpath.com

USA (Corporate Headquarters)

France

rpinfo-france@returnpath.com

rpinfo@returnpath.com

Return Path is the worldwide leader in email intelligence. We analyze more data about email than anyone else in the world and use that data to power products that ensure that only emails people want and expect reach the inbox. Our industry-leading email intelligence solutions utilize the world’s most comprehensive set of data to maximize the performance and accountability of email, build trust across the entire email ecosystem and protect users from spam and other abuse. We help businesses build better relationships with their customers and improve their email ROI; and we help ISPs and other mailbox providers enhance network performance and drive customer retention.

Information about Return Path can be found at:

returnpath.com Brazil

rpinfo-brazil@returnpath.com

Australia

rpinfo-australia@returnpath.com

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50 Ways to Grow Your Email List

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