8 Ways to Grow Your Email Marketing List

Small business owners know that email marketing is an effective way to generate leads and sales. But if you’re just starting out in business, and don’t have a big list to market to, it can be a huge challenge. Experts recommend hosting an online webinar and collectjng email addresses at registration. But if you don’t have a big list to advertise the webinar to in the first place, how can it be a successful email collection device?

Here are a few ways to build up a small email marketing list into a big one:

1. Produce great content – Send out a newsletter to your current subscribers with your best stuff. Include social sharing buttons and “Email to a friend” links that make it easy for your readers to share your content with their friends, colleagues and family.

2. Create a lead-generation offer – Write a special report or ebook and offer it on your website in exchange for an email address.

3. Promote an online offer – Run a contest and promote it on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc. Have entrants submit their email address to enter.

4. Create an Email signup tab on Facebook – Constant Contact and MailChimp are two email service providers that make it easy for you to create a custom tab on Facebook to collect email addresses.

5. Collect addresses offline – Attend trade shows or networking events and collect business cards from contacts you meet. Send these contacts an email after the event asking if they’d like to be on your mailing list to receive your content.

6. Use Social Networking Sites – Promote your ebook or other offer on the social networking sites you use, such as Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and require an email address in return. Pin a picture of your ebook on Pinterest, and include a link to your email signup page in the pin description.

7. Leverage YouTube – Include a call to action and URLs at the end of your YouTube videos to encourage viewers to sign up for your list. Include links to relevant landing pages in your video description.

8. Leverage your website – Make it easy for your website visitors to sign up for your email list. If you’re offering a free ebook, display the signup form throughout the site, or at least in prime locations, such as your Home page, About Us and Contact Us pages, as well as the main page of your blog.

If you need more help growing your email list, contact Gloria Rand today for a free consultation.