7 Tips To Organically Grow Your Email Subscriber Base

by Whitney Trujillo January 02, 2019
woman looking at her phone

Email marketing is an ideal way to reach your customers. If you want some sure-fire ways to grow your email subscriber base, read on.

1. Create amazing content that people want to read.

Simple as that. Send emails they want to read, that provide value and that they will share. If you are not sure what your readers want to read, ask them! Sending out a poll or questionnaire can provide you with valuable information about how to serve your readers.

2. Make it easy for people to share your email by adding social media and “email a friend” buttons.

Emails with social sharing buttons increase click-through rates by 150%. Don’t forget to add a link to subscribe at the bottom of the email to make it easy for friends to sign up. There is nothing worse than receiving an email, wanting to sign up to the newsletter, and having to go to the website to find out how.

3. Tailor your emails to your customers.

Segment your database of subscribers and send targeted emails based on your research and marketing personas. Your customers will find value in emails that are customized to their preferences, behaviors, and needs. And back to number #2, they might even forward the emails to their likeminded coworkers or friends!

4. Continue to constantly learn more about your audience.

Track what they are clicking on, reading, and sharing and develop targeted content based on your findings. You might even want to send a simple poll to find out what your subscribers want to see more (or less) of.

5. Don’t forget the importance of your subject line.

Make them straightforward and please make sure they don’t sound like a sales pitch. Using words like “free” or using all capital letters can automatically make someone assume the email is spam or not worth opening. Simply tell them what is in the email. If it’s a newsletter or an announcement of new content tell them that in the subject line.

6. Host a webinar or get-together.

By having your primary goal to provide valuable information to your base, you can achieve your secondary goal: capturing their email. The online technology learning company Skillcrush does a great job of this  – they provide valuable information for women interested in tech through their informational webinars and they very smartly ask for your email to rsvp to the webinar. After the webinar, send them an email thanking them for attending with a link to sign up for your newsletter making it easy, fast and appropriate.

7. Take the time to really build your social media community.

Once they are engaged you can easily convert them to active email subscribers. Use Twitter Lead Generation Cards to let your followers become email subscribers in one click.

And for a few other quick and easy solutions to grow your email list:

  1. On your website, under “Contact Us”, add a checkbox to “sign up for our newsletter.”
  2. Ask your team to put a link to the email sign up to the bottom of all their emails.
  3. Offer incentives for your website customers to sign up. These incentives should not feel invasive so think strategically about when and how your customers will view the offers. Perhaps have a small pop up open during checkout offering 20% off their order if they subscribe to your newsletter.

Try implementing some or all of these tips and you will see your email subscriber base grow.

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