Email marketing is a highly profitable investment. If you manage to build up a sizable email list, it effectively means you can get more eyes on your product, cultivate another outreach channel and generate more conversions.
There is no doubt that putting together and maintaining an email list will yield unmatched returns for your business. That’s why it’s so important to go about email collecting the right way and to use all available options to your advantage.
You must remember that the emails in your list aren’t just random addresses scraped online. They are ideally relevant emails of high-quality leads that have already engaged with your website/product or are likely to do so. These addresses are active, accurate, and belong to real people with real pain points that your solution can fix.
Without further ado, we’ll explore the 10 successful and proven strategies to build a high-quality email list with accurate addresses of high-value leads.
Let’s dive in!
1. Utilize an email marketing tool
Effectively building an email list starts at the very fundamentals. More specifically: you have to find the right email marketing tool for you and your business. Email marketing tools offer emails bases, where you can look up prospects’ emails and segment prospects.
Finding the right tool is a crucial step, since the tool you choose can amplify or undermine your marketing efforts.
Start by evaluating your business’s needs, and identify key characteristics:
- How easy is it to use,
- Are there automation capabilities,
- Can the tool integrate with other platforms,
- Does it provide advanced analytics
- Is it conducive to scalability?
You can then research on different tools, read reviews from users and take advantage of free trials before finally deciding. The right tool will make your email marketing more efficient, enable segmentation and personalization as well as give insights that will help improve campaigns.
Closely offers multichannel outreach along with detailed analytics. It also provides a handful of robust outreach functionalities at the best prices on the market! Try out one of the best outreach automation tools.
2. Provide value in exchange
One of the most effective ways to build your email list is by providing valuable content in return for email subscriptions.
You can offer these quality resources, also known as lead magnets, in exchange for prospects’ email addresses. After all, no one would give their email away for without anything in return.
These resources can range from different content types, such as:
- eBooks,
- white papers,
- checklists,
- PDF guides,
- templates, etc.
that address your audience’s pain points or interests. Ensure the content is well-designed, informative, and actionable.
It’s generally advisable to A/B test different types of contents to understand which ones resonate best with your audience and help you achieve high subscription rates. This method not only wins subscribers but also positions you as a thought leader in your industry.
3. Create a Landing Page for Sign Ups
If you’re looking to fully commit to building your email list, it’s best to consider creating a separate landing page to achieve just that. Essentially, you need the visitors to do one specific task: enter their email. Letting these leads navigate your site with walls of text, varied visuals and informational overload will not bring them closer to handing over their email address . In fact, they may get distracted and even less likely to follow through with the email capture.
Hence why you can significantly improve your subscription rates by having an optimized landing page dedicated to sign-ups through emails. Your landing page should be visually appealing, easy to navigate and clearly explain why your prospects should become subscribers.
Use captivating titles, catchy text and engaging imagery that captures attention. Emphasize on the value of what you are offering and incorporate testimonials or social proof that will help create trust among potential subscribers. To reduce friction and increase conversion rate, keep the form simple as it requires minimal information during signing up. Lengthy forms are usually a no-go when it comes to email capture.
4. Design Pop Ups
The word “pop up” is usually associated with annoying UX, a nuisance you can’t close covering your whole screen and just poor treatment of the consumer. However, that is far from the truth. Carefully engineered pop ups don’t disturb the user in any way; they convey a clear message, and they are placed just right, at the user’s convenience. When you design your pop up to truly engage and interest your prospect, it becomes a seamless part of the experience.
Make your pop-ups visually appealing with clear values attached onto them; include exit-intent pop-ups which target visitors who might leave your site soon or timed-delayed pop-ups that are displayed after a visitor spends a certain amount of time on particular pages.
As with practically anything in marketing, it’s best to A/B certain variables like pop-up placement, copy, CTAs, design, etc. so as to identify which combinations achieve best results.
5. Write converting CTAs
To convert website visitors into subscribers to your email lists, it is essential that you create impactful and action-oriented calls to action (CTAs). The CTAs should have clear, concise and convincing language that prompts immediate action.
Put them in areas of high-traffic like blog posts, product pages, the homepage etc. A/B testing different versions of your CTAs can help you find the most effective wording and placement to maximize conversions. Make sure that your CTA button is visually distinct and use phrases such as “Join Now” or “Get Started Today” — this creates a sense of pressure and urgency, which makes the lead more likely to act.
6. Run a contest
Contests are an excellent way to gather email addresses and increase engagement since it fosters a fun and interactive environment for your prospects. Plan a contest with attractive incentives that resonate with your target audience, such as exclusive products, discounts, or experiences.
Promote the contest through various channels, including your website, social media, and email. Encourage participants to refer friends for additional entries, further growing your list. This approach is not only great for email list expansion but also increases brand visibility and engagement through word-of-mouth promotion.
That way, your users are effectively advertising your brand for you, making people more likely to connect with your company since real people are trusted more than marketing teams.
7. Utilize social media marketing
Leverage social media channels for promoting your email list and driving sign-ups through emails. Share portions of valuable content with intriguing visuals added to appeal more. Post details about the subscriber’s advantages and share what special offers are included, such as exclusive content, early access to new products, discounts and the like.
Engage with followers by responding to comments/messages and reply with a direct link for signing up making it simple to subscribe. Consider investing in paid advertising on social media to reach a wider audience reach and increase the numbers of sign-ups.
8. Create a referral program
Implementing a referral program can expand your email list by incentivizing current subscribers to refer others. The key is to design a program that offers valuable perks or discounts for successful referrals, ensuring the rewards are attractive enough to motivate participation.
Promote the referral program through your existing email campaigns, social media, and website. If someone trusts a company and likes what they do, they will likely want to share it with their friends or peers, since it shows that the good recommendation came from them.
Referral programs are also unique because they strengthen the relationship between the initial users and your brand, but you’re also supplied with another high-quality lead coming from a real-life recommendation. All of that on top of email list building — tons of benefits!
9. Leverage your existing connections
Expanding your email list is the prime time to turn to your closest connections. You may already be friends with someone on LinkedIn or X, or have someone in your network who values your content and would readily engage with your brand. You can kindly drop a message to these connections letting them know you’re building an email list and would be grateful if they could refer friends.
The people who are already interested in what you do and that have a closer relationship with you are more likely than anybody to share your brand with others, this is why this is a reliable, but perhaps not a substantially scalable, way to collect more emails.
10. Build off of available content
You may have already created great informational articles, blog posts, videos or other content forms in the past, so you can utilize this existing material and offer bonus content for subscribers.
This “bonus” information can be shorter than the original, but it has to go beyond what was already mentioned. Maybe now that you’re more experienced, you can add a premium “3 sales tactics that got our team to 30% close rates” version on top of your existing “15 hacks to boost closing rates”.
Don’t make this additional content readily available on your website and grant access to interested users in exchange for their email.
We’re excited to share the best tips and strategies that will help you drive in more leads and grow your business. Stay updated!
