Building an email list is one of the hardest things smart digital marketers do. They know that’s it’s valuable to their business. Having the email list of customers means you can contact them whenever you want.
Yes, I know you’re doing a lot of things right now. You’re creating content, providing customer support, and building your online store or blog. Yet, you still have to build an email list.
It may seem hard, but an email list is the most important and valuable asset any business that has an online presence could have.
Don’t even think about buying an email list. It’s a big no. When you buy an email list, you’ll be getting a list that’s been sold hundreds or thousands of times to different kinds of businesses. That’s not the kind of email list that’ll help you grow your business.
In this article, you’ll learn 15 fast ways to build your email list. After discovering these 15 smart ways, you’ll be adding tens to hundreds of new subscribers to your list daily.
1. Add a link to a landing page on your social media bio
Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook let you add a link to your bio. Add a link that drives visitors to a landing page where you ask for their email addresses. Smart marketers use this tactic to build their email list.
Don’t use your bio to talk about how much you like traveling or beaches. Your followers would know you like traveling from viewing and reading your social media posts. So, you don’t have to use your bio for that.
There are lots of marketers using their bio to promote their landing pages.
You should do the same thing.
Add a link to your bio and make it fun by adding emojis. Use a few keywords that relate to the product or service you sell.
You can use your bio to offer a free ebook or guide to prospects.
2. Pin a Tweet with a call-to-action
Over a hundred million people use Twitter daily. Twitter is my favorite social media platform because it allows me to engage with thought leaders in my industry and get real-time news.
Twitter allows users to pin a Tweet to the top of their Timeline. You can take advantage of this feature to pin the link to a landing page where you offer something irresistible.
Below is a perfect example of a pinned Tweet that directs users to a landing page.
Pinning a Tweet to the top of your timeline is easy. Just go over to the Tweet you want to pin and click the gray arrow right top of the Tweet. Select “Pin to your profile.”
That’s all you have to do.
Visitors to your Twitter profile will see the pinned Tweet first before your latest Tweets.
If you’re active on Twitter, your profile will receive frequent traffic. People who see your Tweets and comments will want to learn more about you. And your pinned Tweet lets you take them to your site immediately and collect their emails.
3. Promote an Instagram post
Yes, you can run Instagram ads that promote a post.
Instagram doesn’t allow users to insert a link in their post. But that’s not an excuse not to promote a post on Instagram.
Even though Instagram doesn’t allow links in posts, they still let you add a description and an image that asks users to find the link in their bio.
Create an attractive image. In the description, make it clear that the link to the offer is in the bio.
Below is an example.
If the offer is enticing, Instagram users won’t hesitate to visit your bio and click the link.
I’ve seen lots of digital marketers using this list building tactic. It’s effective if you have an excellent offer for users.
4. Add a call-to-action button to your Facebook Page
Despite the almost non-existent organic reach on the platform, Facebook pages remain a goldmine. A Facebook page is your business home on Facebook. It’s where Facebook users will go to when they want to see new updates from your company.
Facebook allows marketers to add a call-to-action button to their Facebook pages. You can use this feature to collect your customers’ emails.
When your fans land on your page, they’ll see the button and may sign up. To collect a lot of emails using this tactic, you’ll have to invest in getting fans to visit your pages.
If most of your fans come back to your page regularly, it increases your chance of converting them.
5. Create a Private Facebook Group for Your Subscribers
Consumers love exclusivity. They like to have access to information, forums, products, and services that aren’t available to everyone.
By using exclusivity, you can make it more appealing for a web user to join your email list.
One way to do that is through a private Facebook group for subscribers. It’s someone who has joined your email list would have access to this Facebook group.
That tactic works. Some brands are using it to build a community around their brand while they grow their email list in the process.
On your private Facebook group, post helpful tips that add value to the lives of your subscribers.
If your prospects know that they’ll get a lot of value from joining your email list, most of them will want to become subscribers.
For example, Ahrefs has a group where customers and prospects talk about their products.
6. Pin your call-to-action to Pinterest
Pinterest lets you add a link to your post. The feature offers you the opportunity to grow your email list if your prospects are on Pinterest.
Canva is an excellent tool for creating beautiful visuals for Pinterest. Study the kind of images your audience loves and create them.
Below is an example
7. Use Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are hot right now. They get massive engagements.
If you have a business account with 10,000 followers or more, Instagram allows you to add links to your stories. Followers can get to the link when they swipe up on the image or video.
For users who don’t have up to 10,000 followers, they can use Instagram Stories to send prospects to their call-to-action link in the bio. So, if you don’t have 10,000 followers, you can still use Instagram stories to grow your email list.
Use power words that’ll make people act when you want them to visit your bio to click the link to your landing page.
8. Publish original content on your blog
What is original content?
It’s a kind of content (or piece of information) your audience can only find on your blog. If your original content is interesting, other websites and journalists may mention it on their sites and link back to you.
Influencers on social media may also share your original content with their followers.
The piece will drive traffic from other sites and social media.
And here’s where things get even more interesting:
As other sites link to you, backlinks to your site will increase. And that improves your site’s reputation and authority in the eyes of search engines.
Search engines will start driving more traffic to your site because more backlinks are pointing to it.
More traffic increases opportunities to collect more emails on your site.
A site that receives 100,000 targeted traffic from search engines will collect more email addresses than a site that receives 10,000 visits.
Recently, Brian Dean of Backlinko published an original content where he analyzed 5.2 desktop and mobile pages and shared his findings on page speed factors.
This original content continues to get links from news outlets and industry blogs. Digital marketing influencers continue to share the content on social media and their blogs. That’s a lot of new backlinks pointing to Backlinko.
That will help Backlinko get more traffic from search engines. That leads to more traffic. And more traffic means more emails!
9. Offer content upgrades to visitors
What’s a content upgrade?
A content upgrade is an offer related to a specific article, video, podcast, etc., on your site.
Readers of a blog post would see an opt-in form offering them to get a content upgrade in exchange for their emails.
For example, this HubSpot post is titled “How to Create a Professional Promo Video on a Shoestring Budget.” It has a content upgrade related to the topic.
Unlike a site-wide offer, a content upgrade is only specific to a topic or blog post. Visitors won’t see it on other blog posts on the site.
Content upgrades work.
If you want to grow your email list, you should offer content upgrades for your highest-trafficked blog posts. If a blog post is receiving lots of visits monthly, you should get more emails from it.
You can use OmniKick to present your content upgrades to visitors on your site.
10. Promote your upcoming products
Yes, you can collect emails from visitors who are interested in the products you’re launching in the future.
Some startups used this tactic to collect emails and build interest before they launch their products.
They send visitors to a page that only asks for the visitors’ email address and tell them that they’ll be notified when the product is launched.
Even if you’ve launched your business, you can still use this tactic to gain some emails. Tell your website visitors about your upcoming products. Ask them to drop their emails to be notified when it’s available.
Web users want to be the first to try a new product when it launches. They’re always interested in new products and services. You can use their interest in your new product to grow your list.
It doesn’t matter if they buy your upcoming product or not. You’ll be able to email them later in the future.
11. Optimize your About page to collect emails
Your About page is a great place to collect emails. If someone is looking at your About page, it’s because they’re becoming interested in your company. They want to learn more.
By adding a simple opt-in form using a tool like OmniKick, you can collect their emails. The best time to ask for someone’s email is when prospects are showing interest. And everyone who visits your About page is interested.
So, don’t waste the opportunity to collect emails on your About Us page.
12. Add your call-to-action to your Quora bio
Quora is one of the best fun places online. If you search on Google frequently, you’ve probably come across Quora.
Quora is an amazing question and answer platform. If you’ve heard of Yahoo! Answers, Quora is a better version of it.
The platform is like a community where you can ask and answer questions. They’re lots of questions to answer.
When you drop a brilliant answer on Quora, some people may check your bio to learn about you. That’s the perfect place to tell them about you and ask for emails.
Some people write answers that receive hundreds of thousands of views on the platform. That’s free promotion for their brands.
For example, Ramit Sethi is using his Quora bio to ask users to sign up for his email list
13. Add your call-to-action to YouTube video descriptions
YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world, only behind Google. YouTube is a video platform. You need to upload videos that discuss topics related to your niche.
You’re missing out if you’re not uploading videos on YouTube.
YouTube lets you write descriptions for every video you upload on the platform. Add your call-to-action in those descriptions.
YouTube users read descriptions.
If your call-to-action message captivates them, they’ll visit the link. And when they do, you can ask them to give you their email address to get the offer.
14. Medium
Medium is a powerful content platform. Some web users visit Medium to consume unique, thought-provoking content.
Medium is an authority site that ranks high in the Google search engine. I come across Medium articles in Google regularly. Some publishers of these high-ranking articles use them to send traffic back to their landing pages.
When visitors land on their pages from Medium, they offer them an ebook or tool in exchange for their email.
For example, Darius Foroux uses Medium to send traffic to his landing page, where he collects emails.
15. Use Exit-Intent offers to collect emails
OmniKick has a powerful exit-intent technology that detects when a visitor is about to leave your site. You can create a popup with OmniKick and turn on exit-intent tracking.
The tool will display the popup when it detects a visitor is about to leave.
Smart marketers are using OmniKick to build their email lists. You can achieve the same.
It’s free to start using OmniKick. Sign up today.
