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10 Ways to Grow Your Email Subscriber Lists

Ever since spam became a four-letter word, permission-based email marketing—also known as opt-in email—has become the email marketing best practice for marketers looking to engage their customers without annoying them. And the key to permission-based email marketing is great subscriber lists.

When you’re building your subscriber lists, it’s easy to be tempted by list rentals, list purchases, and co-registration (i.e., when signing up for one company’s emails, users “agree” to receive emails from other third parties as well). Although co-registration can work when done carefully, all three practices tend to offer more pitfalls than they’re worth; you’ll likely end up looking like a spammer to customers, angering the ISPs, and ultimately damaging your deliverability.

Building your email lists the opt-in way certainly takes more creativity, strategy, and effort, but the results, you’ll probably notice, will tend to be dramatically better than those from rented or purchased lists. After all, people who opt-in to your email lists have clearly demonstrated an interest in your company and are far more likely to open, read, and act upon news and offers they receive from you.

So how can you start building your subscriber list? Here are ten online and offline tactics that can help:

Promote it on your home page: Place your newsletter sign-up form prominently on your home page, making sure it’s above the fold, so that visitors who don’t scroll down still see it. Almost all email marketing solutions—including TruePresence’s very own TrueMailer—make it easy for you to collect subscriber information online.

Promote it on every page: You never know how and where visitors will navigate through your site, so cover all your bases. Put the subscription form (or a link to it) on every page of your site if possible.

Promote it at the point of purchase: If your site sells products online, allow customers to check an email opt-in box at check out. This tactic works in person too: as you ring up your customers (or complete any other official “closing” of business), ask them if they’d be interested in receiving your e-newsletter. Place an email sign-up sheet or business card drop box by your register to make it easy to collect the customer’s contact information.

Make it your call to action: Make email sign-up one of your calls to action (e.g., “Sign up for our free Super Saver Newsletter at www.SaverShoeRepair.com) on every marketing material you use—brochures, sales fliers, business cards, print ads, etc.

Offer exclusive discounts and coupon codes: Customers typically won’t sign up without some sort of incentive. Invite them to sign up for your email in exchange for valuable subscriber-only sales and discounts.

Give giveaways: Better yet, give subscribers some instant gratification for signing up, like a free white paper, product trial, or automatic contest entry.

Start something viral: Almost all email solutions allow you to add a “Forward To a Friend” link to your emails—make sure you include it! Encourage readers to forward your email in the body of your message.

Talk it up at tradeshows: Do you exhibit a lot? All the leads you talk to are also potential email subscribers. Get permission to email as you exchange business cards. Include an email opt-in box on your contest entry or data capture forms.

Make mention in your telemarketing: Ask customers if they’d like to receive your emails when you’re on the phone with them. Train your employees to do the same.

Find a promotional partner: You no doubt have newsletters you enjoy or strategic partners who cater to the same clients as you. Ask them to promote your newsletter to their email lists in exchange for your promoting their newsletter to your lists.

Bonus tip: Get an Internet marketing partner like TruePresence to help you custom build an email subscriber strategy around your business! Contact us to learn more.