Growing an email list isn’t just for those with visually captivating, multi-page websites. It’s for anyone who wants to use email to engage their audience and grow their business.
And considering that email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter, you definitely don’t want to put your list growth efforts on hold until your website is ready (or, if you don’t plan on building a website at all).
Thankfully, there are a number of simple approaches you can take in the next hour to help you get moving – and they don’t require a huge chunk of time or a team of design experts. To kick-start your email marketing efforts, let’s take a look at 6 quick ways you can promote your sign up form.
1. Set up a landing page.
Don’t have a website? Not a problem. Using a landing page platform, such as Unbounce, you can create a simple landing page that hosts your sign up form and provides basic information about your business.
One benefit of using a platform like Unbounce is that you get access to pre-designed templates, which means it shouldn’t take longer than an hour to set up a page. To give you an idea of what you’d have to work with, here’s an example of one of their templates:
As you can see from this template, you have a place to brand the page with your business name, inform visitors of your business value, feature a sign up form, and add additional relevant information as you see fit. And even though it’s not visible in the example, you’ll have access to an editor that allows you to change some of the visual elements, such as color scheme, to design it to fit your brand.
If you take this approach, you’ll want to make sure the page includes:
- Your business name
- A logo (if you have one)
- Brief description about what your business does
- Ways to contact you (phone number, email address)
- Sign up form
- Social media links (if applicable)
To optimize email sign ups, I’d also encourage you to include a description of your emails and the value they bring to subscribers. The more you highlight what subscribers will get out of it, the more likely they’ll want to sign up if it resonates with them.
If you have any incentives to offer (ebook, checklist, coupon), be sure to also mention that here as well.
How you can use this page: Since this page has additional information about your business, it’s ideal for individuals who may not be familiar with your brand. You can share the link with prospects at conferences, your social channels, paid ads and more.
2. Create a single-page website.
If you plan on creating a more robust website in the future, you don’t have to wait until it’s finished to start growing your email list. Instead, you can get started by publishing one simple page.
By doing so, you can begin earning organic traffic from people searching for services or products your business offers. You can also direct your existing customers to the page so they can learn more about you and get on your email list.
Using a website building platform like Wix or Weebly, you can select a template design and drag and drop different elements to create a super simple website (no coding required!). Some platforms allow you to publish or hide pages as you see fit, so you can have your homepage with your sign up form live as you continue developing the rest of your website.
Again, you’ll want to at least include your business name and logo (if you have one), information about what your business does, contact information and your sign up form.
How you can use this page: Since this page will have information about your business, you can use this link just as you would with the landing page we previously covered – you can share the link with customers at your store, on your business cards, in social channels and more.
3. Use a web hosted sign up form.
If a landing page or single page website has more bells and whistles than you need, you can take an even simpler approach by using a web hosted sign up form provided by your email service provider.
With AWeber, for example, customers have the option to share this type of form directly from their account. After creating a sign up form, they can publish their form in three different ways: 1) By copying and pasting the code onto their website, 2) Sending the code to their web designer to add it to the website, or 3) Sharing a link that directs to a page (hosted by AWeber) with their form.
The design you create using our sign up form generator will automatically carry over to the page, which means you can customize the content and design to your liking, like so:
Again, be sure to set clear expectations as to what your emails contain.
How you can use this page: This page is perfect if you’re looking for a no-frills web page to promote email sign ups. If you’re publishing social posts that encourage people to subscribe to your email list, for example, you can link to this page so they can easily sign up after they click through. If you have an email newsletter you want clients to subscribe to, you can also feature this link in your email signature.
4. Share your broadcast archive page.
Want to give future subscribers a sneak peek into the emails you send? Simply send a link to your broadcast archive page to show the value of being on your list.
AWeber users have the option to save the one-time emails they send to subscribers. When they do, the emails are stored on a page that can be shared with others:
In addition to being able to view every email you’ve ever sent, visitors to the page also have the option to subscribe to your email list:
So if you want to let your emails speak for themselves, the broadcast archive page is a great way to show that off.
How you can use this page: I recommend sharing this link just as you might share the link to your web hosted sign up form (via social posts, in an email, etc.). However, keep in mind that while you’re letting your emails speak for themselves, you’re limited as to the call-to-action and context you can provide to convince someone to sign up to your email list. As a result, this is ideal for those who already have some familiarity with your business, and wouldn’t need an additional explanation as to who you are.
5. Promote your email list on social media.
If you primarily interact with customers on social media platforms, there are plenty of ways you can promote your email list. While your strategy will depend on the social platform you use, you’ll at least be able to add a link to a web-hosted sign up form or landing page in your social profiles or posts.
You can also explore the unique lead generation opportunities different social platforms offer to help you cross-promote your email list.
If you have a large Facebook following, for example, you can run paid ads that direct people to subscribe to your list. You can also use their Call-to-Action feature on your business page cover photo and link to your hosted sign up form:
6. Leverage offline networking with mobile sign up form apps.
If you often interact with potential customers during conferences, networking events or meet ups, chances are you’ll need a simple way to get them to sign up to your email list.
With a mobile sign up form app, such as Atom, people can easily subscribe to your email list in less than a minute directly from your mobile device:
The benefit of an app like this is that it provides an easy user experience for someone who’s signing up to your list in person. And since it functions just like a sign up form you’d have on your web page, you can include information about your email list and customize the design. The best part of all? You don’t need access to the internet in order for people to subscribe.
How you can use this page: While any event where you’re face-to-face with customers and prospects is ideal for using a mobile sign up form app, you can also set this up at your brick and mortar store. It even comes in handy if you strike up a conversation with someone in line at the grocery store!
Start growing your email list today!
When you get creative with how you think about building an engaged community of subscribers, it becomes easier to see how you can get started with just the basics. And hopefully now you have a few new tricks up your sleeve to make that happen.
Are you ready to start growing your list using one of this tips above? Or do you have a strategy of your own that wasn’t mentioned in this post? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Source: B2C
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