If every business could double their email list in the first quarter of the year, they would. Problem is there is no set formula to growing an email list that will work every single time. But often times with some analysis, there are small changes that can make a big impact.
We noticed last year that the house list growth was stalled, and recommended to the client that we focus on growing the list more proactively in 2016. Their content strategy was strong, so we knew that it was a matter of better promoting the great content.
We also knew that it was time to improve their inbound marketing strategy. It was not good enough to just reach a higher number, but to nurture and convert them into leads for their awesome two-year program for leaders.
The best way to grow your email list is to create quality content that your target audience chooses to access for themselves. Yes it takes more energy and time, but it will bear fruit.
Here are a couple of strategies we tested that could help you grow your list size as well:
Popups are great tools for gathering people’s information, but we didn’t just ask them to sign up for our newsletter. Instead, we positioned it as something of value. We tested a variety of different messages in different places to determine what converts the best.
We created a free resources from existing content people could access in exchange for their email. This starts a relationship with subscriber that is completely automated. Our series has a 61% open rate and 42% click rate. Numbers are nice, but I have ancedotal evidence that this is shortening the cycle between when a leader joins the list and when they sign-up for their two-year program.
We used Fishbowl Prizes, a great software for running online prize giveaways and collecting email addresses. We limited this to our online store as it felt a little off brand.So far it has generated the most names. What has surprised us it that the quality of names are significantly better than we expected. Since we are looking for quality not just quantity, we will continue to test to determine the value of these leads.
The results
The list size grew in the first quarter as much as it did all of last year! We didn’t expect to get there this quick, but now we can focus on other important goals.
If you would like other tips, tricks and ideas on generating new leads for your business then download our free ebook to learn more!
