As bloggers, we’re constantly working to create killer content and find the best ways to reach people with that content.
If you’re wondering why your blog isn’t gaining the traction you want, why your emails and offers aren’t performing, or how you can expand your reach, the answer could very well be your email list.
List building is a crucial part of blogging successfully in my book. These are the loyal readers who want and look forward to hearing from you. Plus, subscribers are more likely to click through your emails, sign up for your offers, and purchase your products.
The big question is: How do I build my list?
I get this question a lot from readers and I decided to turn my answer into a post.
Here are 8 Explosive List Building Strategies I Use To Grown My Subscribers! Hopefully, they’ll help explode your list too!
1. Use A Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is an offer or incentive for readers to sign up to join your email list. This can be a freebie, an upgrade, or any incentive a reader might be interested in.
Many people also use quizzes as lead magnets. These are the type that take you through the quiz but require you enter your email address to receive results.
A good quiz can have a conversion rate as high as 50%!
The idea is that your offer (be it a quiz that gets participants hooked) or freebie is so enticing someone can’t resist signing up. The lead magnet should be of value to the consumer so that an email address in exchange feels justified.
2. Offer Content Upgrades
This is one of the most successful and popular ways to build your email list. And luckily, it’s also one of the simplest.
A content upgrade is exactly what it sounds like. It’s an extra item that enhances the content you already offer for free. I can never say it enough, but people love value.
Offer a printable or worksheet to go along with a blog post. Offer a free course or access to an exclusive interview.
People are more likely to opt-in when you offer them exclusive content that can really provide value to them. Create a resource library of content upgrades. Hook them with your awesome content, and then offer an extra upgrade to let them know why joining your email list is worth it.
For example, when readers visit our awesome crochet posts, we offer a content upgrade to receive our Ultimate Collection of Crochet Cheat Sheets.
Conversion rates generally range from 3-8%. It’s a lower conversion rate, but because content gets much more viral traffic than a typical landing page, it ends up working out quite well.
Readers are there because they’re already interested in crochet, so we offer them something else that can provide value and communicate that joining our email list is relevant to their interests.
We use SumoMe to easily create our content upgrades. You can get a free sumo me account for your blog here.
3. Place Your Opt-In Strategically
You want your opt-in to be eye-catching, easy to locate, and convenient for readers to use. But most of all, you want your opt-in to be accessible.
People can’t sign up for your newsletter if they never see an opportunity to do so. The best thing you can do is to place your opt-in multiple times on your pages.
Place it in areas where people’s eyes naturally float such as the top and sides of the page. Link it in at the bottom of blog posts too. Make your opt-in noticeable. Choose colors that pop, and publicize your incentive and call to action in the headline so that consumers will know exactly what they get when they join.
Consider using a heat map like SumoMe on your page to track where visitors click. This will let you know how long into your posts visitors scroll so that you can place an opt-in or content upgrade strategically.
4. Join Social Media Groups
Part of building your list is actually driving traffic back to your site so that people can join your email list. That’s where social media groups can help.
Joining Facebook groups and Pinterest group boards in your niche can help expose you to like-minded blogging communities and drive traffic back to your blog.
You’d be amazed at how effective these groups are. I definitely was. They’re so helpful for, not just driving traffic, but also for getting great insider tips from people doing exactly what you’re doing.
That kind of insight is gold. Apply to join a few great groups, but only ones that are in your niche (relevance is key). You might not be accepted to all of the ones you apply for, but just joining a couple can be significant.
Social media can really help boost traffic, and that means more eyeballs on your blog and more chances for readers to join your email list!
Some of my favorites include:
5. Use Landing Pages
Landing pages, like this one, are pages you can build that advertise one specific item such as a digital course or a resource. On the page, a reader can either subscribe to receive access to the item, buy the item or not.
These pages are statistically high converters because people who click on the landing pages are usually already interested in accessing the resource.
You can create landing pages for specific niche resources (both free and paid) and then pin them on Pinterest to appeal to a targeted group.
6. Use ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is a software that makes creating awesome landing pages and opt-ins really easy.
You can create opt-ins and landing pages for anything you want and insert them into your blog posts. They offer lots of templates for any aesthetic, which is so helpful considering I’m not a web-designer.
Plus, ClickFunnels tracks the analytics of your landing pages. It tracks your conversion rate so you know exactly how effective each page is in gaining sign-ups or purchases.
It even has the capacity to host a webinar on the platform and add pop-ups to your pages. The thing to know about ClickFunnels is that it isn’t an email service, it simply integrates to work with whatever you already use. That means you don’t have to learn a whole new email service provider to use it. And I’ve found ClickFunnel pages to be high converting in my experience.
You can sign up to start creating your own landing pages and opt-ins here.
7. Host Webinars
Webinars are great for building engaged subscribers because they’re such warm and personalized environments. That’s why I love hosting my own webinars so often.
On a webinar, people are able to get to know you faster because they hear your voice and maybe even see you. It speeds up the time that they can get to know you and like you.
Forming relationships is crucial to building a list of loyal subscribers and, eventually, buyers. Any opportunity you can take to speed up that relationship building process is time well spent.
Plus, webinars allow you to really delve in deep by sharing your expertise which makes you a trusted authority in the eyes of your participants. When viewers trust your expertise, they begin to want to hear more from you.
And webinar participants have already signed up for your webinar. So you can use the email address given at sign up to send your newsletter to.
Otherwise, these participants are more likely to voluntarily sign up for your list anyway.
8. Create A Newsletter
It’s important to keep your subscribers interested once they’ve joined your mailing list. That means emailing them regularly.
A great way to do that is to create a weekly or bi-weekly newsletter to go out on a regular schedule. When you’re emailing your subscribers regularly with great content and useful tips, they’re more likely to spread the word and encourage friends to sign up as well.
Just make sure your newsletter doesn’t turn into a one-stop sales pitch. You should find a balance between providing valuable tips, interesting updates, and promoting your products.
It’s important to be personable and let readers into your life. After all, blogging is about community. The more a reader feels like they’re getting to know you, the more they trust you. Then, you can form a lasting relationship.
A strong relationship will help you build higher email open rates and more click-throughs to your blog and offers.
Building my email list has been such an important part of Ideal Me’s success. It’s helped me develop strong relationships with my subscribers which has resulted in a loyal group of avid readers and buyers.
Growing your email list doesn’t have to be daunting. These are 8 of my favorite, most effective strategies that I’ve used to successfully build my own list.
This is what’s worked for me and what I always recommend when I get emails asking how to build an email list.
But if you want to know more about my blogging strategies and how you can create your own profitable blog, check out my How To Turn Your Passion Into A Profitable Blog This Weekend free webinar training.
Happy list building! Let me know which of these strategies is your favorite.
