Recently we talked about why co-registration is a bad idea when it comes to building your subscriber list. Along with purchased and rented lists, co-registration falls into the category of questionable or downright unethical list building tactics. This month, let’s take a look at some creative and legitimate ways you can beef up your subscriber numbers and make sure your email reaches as many inboxes as possible.
Obvious ideas such as asking for registration during a purchase and including a registration page on your website still rank among the most effective tactics for increasing your email list subscriber numbers. But beyond that, in order to reach the less reachable segments of your audience, try implementing one or more of these ideas:
Pair sign-up requests with fabulous online content.
A webinar, YouTube video, or embedded video demo on your site can all provide enough incentive for someone to sign up for your newsletter. Just be sure to follow-up with equally engaging and informative email content.
Experiment with off-line events.
If you own a brick-and-mortar store, put a fishbowl at the checkout counter where people can enter to win a drawing. Make sure it’s clear that they’ll be signing up for your email list by doing so, however.
Refer a friend.
Include a “forward to a friend” button in your emails and on your blog or website content pages. Make it easy for people who already love what you have to offer to share the love with their contact lists.
Implement social media sign-ups.
Place a sign-up option on your Facebook registration page and blog registration page, and consider adding social media sharing options within your email campaigns and blog content.
The bottom line is if you’re following the cardinal rules of list building (provide great content, be memorable, and get permission) you can let your creativity drive your list building efforts. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and try something new. You can use testing and analytics to determine which efforts are the most effective, and then keep tweaking your approach for maximum results.
At eConnect Email – a full service email marketing agency, we’re all about helping you get your email content in front of as many eyes as possible. We’ll help you build your subscriber list, manage your contacts, and optimize content in order to ensure the success of each email campaign you design.
Do you have some creative ideas on how to build your subscriber list? If so, we’d love to hear them, please share them below.