Email Marketing can generate great ROI in just about any industry or niche, as such it comes as no surprise that you’ll want to grow your email list to accelerate your sales or close more deals. Although it can take some time to see substantial growth in your subscribers regardless of the method used, the sooner you start collecting leads, the better.
I will list three methods from which you might be able to use at least one for your business and start growing your list. Note that while some of these methods may have a relatively low cost, some will require an ongoing investment.
Website Pop-Ups
If you have an existing website and you get a good amount of traffic, you may consider setting up a pop up using a builder like OptinMonster, which also happens to have a WordPress plugin.
Pop ups can be annoying and for this reason you want to implement these carefully so that it does not have a negative impact on your website visitors, potentially costing you more than what you might be getting. One of the main reasons would be User Experience.
On the other hand, you are essentially getting free leads if you implement this correctly but you will no doubt need decent traffic to generate them. How much traffic you will need depends on your industry and what you entice a potential subscriber with.
You may also consider having sign up forms on sidebars of popular pages, just make sure your lead magnet promotion is closely tied with your particular audience and at which point of the customer journey or sales funnel they are on so you can use the right message at the right time.
For more on growing your email list using this particular method, as well as how to avoid potential pitfalls, check out this article I previously published for Ecommerce businesses, but which can work just as well for any type of business.
Social Media
You can use Social Media to generate excitement for your brand by introducing a contest or a giveaway. If you have a large following, you might be able to get away without spending much other than what you are actually offering. You could consider running a promotion for a few weeks with something that’s highly valuable to your audience. Just make sure you have a good landing page set up so that any potential visitors you get have a higher chance of converting.
Another great SM strategy is using Facebook Lead Generation campaigns to collect emails right on their platform. This allows you to collect emails from users without having to visit your website. Just be careful as these leads can get pricey pretty quickly. You could easily end up paying $5 just for an email address of which you may need dozens just to close a deal. It can also take some time for the Facebook algorithms to better understand your target audience requiring a larger upfront cost.
Another popular method I would recommend is using Social Media Influencers. A dominant influencer in your industry or niche can really give you the push you need to grow to collect more leads. Moreover, you can generate an ROI almost immediately if you have a good strategy and product in place. However, influencer marketing is no walk in the park and in order to use this method effectively, you have to consider some things such as the 4 tiers of social media influencers so that you know which is the right tier for your business depending on how big or small it is, as well as how to use YouTube to find these influencers and even how to spot the occasional fake influencer.
Google Ads (Paid Advertising)
Although we have already gone over some forms of paid advertising to collect emails like Facebook ads and even Influencers, another popular approach is Google Ads in particular.
With Google Ads, you can easily target people who may be looking exactly for what you are offering. Depending on which part of the sales or conversion funnel they are on, the cost it will take to get them to visit your website.
If for example you want to use Search Campaigns to target people with specific keywords they may be using, you may be able to get away with clicks for as low as $1 or as high as $50, or higher, depending on how far you are willing to go. Do note that even if you are offering something for free in exchange for a lead (this time an email lead). You will need to consider that your visitor to conversion may be low.
As an example, let’s say you pay $2 per click and your conversion rate for a lead is 5%. You will need to get 20 clicks or $40 just to get one email so this is something you have to be especially careful and figure out how valuable that lead could potentially be.
YouTube ads is another great approach. If you get a good video script and a awesome video ad and combine it with the right targeting, you might get leads at a much cheaper rate than with Paid Search. Just be mindful of the set up costs and get familiar with advertising using this method as you might be wasting your money without even realizing it.
Be sure to figure out your close rate when using these more expensive methods.
Conclusion
I would have to say that all 3 of these approaches are perfectly valid for growing your email list. Which one you should use may depend on where you are with your business and the resources you have available.
It is safe to say that the most effective way to generate leads will always result in some type of investment, especially if you don’t have a website with sufficient traffic or a brand with a large social media presence.
On a final note, be sure to qualify your leads and attract the right type of audience to your landing pages so that you have a higher chance of building a high quality email list. Just collecting emails that may have little to do with your product or services may be a waste of resources.
