Reuben's Blog: How to Start an Email List

how to start an email list

Need a little convincing about the importance of email marketing? Seventy eight percent of online business marketers have seen a bump in email engagement over the last year.

That’s a good reason to read this blog post on how to build an email list.

What is an Email List?

So what is an email list? This is a collection of addresses small businesses get from email subscribers that sign up. An email list is the foundation of what makes email marketing campaigns tick. And having an email list sign up strategy is essential.

Why an Email List is so Important

Email list building helps your businesses develop relationships with your target audience. It’s one of the interactive elements that works. Here’s just a few reasons why corralling email addresses are so important.

You Want To Sell Stuff

Online businesses want to sell their products and services. A good way to do that is to send an email right to an existing subscriber’s inbox from your email list.

You’re Creating Relationships

Email is a great way to engage new subscribers. And existing subscribers too. It’s extremely easy for them to reply and start a conversation. Another reason to build an email list. Getting your customer service team involved works too.

You’re Building Trust

Marketing emails build trust. Prospects on your email list feel like they’re having a private conversation. And they’re comfortable about asking questions through this marketing channel on social media.

You Own These Mailing Lists

Ecommerce businesses own an email list they put together . Other marketing channel options like social media can change policies. And they own your followers.

How to Start an Email List in 10 Simple Steps

Starting a good email list is the first step to a successful email marketing campaign. Put one together using the following steps.

1. Understand Your Target Audience

Making sure your emails are targeted to the right people is critical. Tracking your email list analytics can help. If you already have a email list and customer base, take a look at the demographics of new subscribers. Checking your competition’s social media posts works too.

2. Create a Website

Website visitors are a good source when you’re starting an email list. An opt in form on landing pages can land email addresses to add. Add a call to action at the bottom of each landing page. That’s a good resource for your listing building efforts. A website is a great email marketing launch pad. Don’t forget to add social media buttons that promote social sharing.

3. Choose an Email Marketing Service

An email service provider is another good tool for email list building. A good email marketing platform needs to have certain features.

They need to segment email addresses into groups.
They need to offer email marketing automation. That’s the ability to send personalized bulk emails from any email list.
They should let you create newsletters as part of your advertising campaigns. And make it easy for people to sign up. Post links on social media where possible.

There’s more advanced stuff too. But those are the basics when building an email list.

Constant Contact offers social media tools like Facebook ads. Great for email marketing

Drip is another excellent email service provider. They offer outstanding integration for landing page builders like WordPress. And easy to add opt in form choices.

Mailchimp has a free plan. But these kinds of free resources don’t have advanced stuff that’ll make a difference like in depth segmentation. Still, a trusted name to build your email list and get started with email marketing.

4. Set Up Your Email Marketing Account

There’s a few email marketing steps to work through. Remember you can use a Gmail account with an email list. Check out the add on.

Gather your contacts from your email list. Don’t have an existing email list? Put signup forms on your on your website or landing page.
Collect emails and put them into separate lists.
Add the contacts into your account. Up load them from a spreadsheet or import them from Outlook or Gmail.

5. Craft a Tempting Offer

Having a great email list is one thing. But you need to get people to sign up. Here’s some good lead generation offers that work for email marketing.

A Free eBook. People love totally free stuff. This is a good incentive on opt in forms. A link to an offer works well on a landing page to bump up your email list.
A Sneak Peak. A link to a document works. Or a video. Don’t forget a call to action like “Sign up to see the rest.” That’s an incentive to boost email list numbers.
Show off Subscribers. You’ll get more people to sign up when you tell them how many subscribers you have in your email list.
Dangle Valuable Content. Be specific with your message. Give away tips and deals, savings and ‘how tos’ when they sign up for your email list.
Use Pop Up Forms. There are several types. Exit pop ups, drop downs, slide ins. Use exclusive discounts to make these attractive.

These are all great lead magnet tools. Proven ways to get subscribers to sign up for your email list.

6. Create Your First Email

Any email list starts with the first one you create.

good email list building starts with an engaging subject line. Don’t use clickbait titles.
keep paragraphs short.
use visuals

Don forget to use bullet points. Using a gmail account? Link to social media sites like Facebook. And keep an eye on ad metrics like the click through rate.

7. Create an Email Sign Up form

An effective opt in form is the springboard for successful marketing emails.

Create a standalone landing page with unique urls for a bigger email list.

Transparency on a sign up form is respectful. Tell customers what you’ll be sending them and when.

These are a foundation for email marketing. And a great way to take advantage of organic traffic.

8. Place Sign Up forms and Links Throughout Your Website

Successful email marketing also needs a plan. An autoresponder sequence sends out emails automatically.

Static forms like a blog post will increase your conversion rate. Potential customers like to learn something. Use Pop ups with links to subscribe on them on a landing page.
#subscription forms work too. Here are some that will bump up your email list.

WordPress has plugins for landing pages. Use them to post links to increase organic search results. And boost your email list.

Generate subscribers to your email list with OptinMonster.

9. Collect Email Addresses

An email list building strategy is simply a plan for collecting email addresses. Another foundation for email marketing.

Get more subscribers on your Facebook business page with a signup form.
Facebook Ads work to build an email list. Target ads by demographics. Another advantage to Facebook page marketing.
Free Tutorial Videos. These work on social media platforms like YouTube. Get more email subscribers by showing off your goods and services this way. Put a link on a landing page.

Be careful when you build an email list. The general Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) doesn’t apply in the USA. But there are state and federal regulations.

10. Have an Email Content Plan

An email list that works has an email marketing content plan backing it up. This post has gone through everything you need. From setting up an account to devising offers and finally collecting email addresses. Remember to use social media to full advantage.