Best Ways to Grow Your Email List Faster

Everyone knows how important a large email list is. It is a way of keeping in contact with your followers, promoting products, sharing new content and encouraging people back to your site. But building a big mailing list can take a long time. So how do you grow your email list faster?

In this article we will look at the different types of opt in forms and pop ups available to help you collect emails. We will discuss the importance of lead magnets, and how you can use competitions, webinars, and content lockers, amongst other options, to incentivize people to join your mailing list.

Add Opt In Forms to your Website

Opt in Forms are a must have if you are looking to grow your email list faster. Make it easy for your viewers to sign up by having opt in forms prevalent on your pages. Add an opt in form to the bottom of a post, or in a sidebar. Then if readers feel the urge to sign up to your mailing list, the option is there.

However, if you really want to grab your audience’s attention, you need to add pop ups to your site. There are numerous ways to display an opt in form as a pop up, but here are a few…

Entry Pop Ups

An entry pop up appears as soon as a new visitor arrives at your site. This is the type of pop up that many people object to, as they are being asked to sign up to a mailing list before they have even had a chance to check out the site.

However, if you are offering a great deal or promotion, it is best to use an entry pop up. Display a discount or a limited time only offer, in exchange for an email of course, on an entry pop up. This can’t be missed by your audience and will be likely to generate some leads.

Scroll Pop Ups

A scroll pop up will appear only after the reader has scrolled down the page. This helps pique the viewer’s interest in the article first and then encourages them to sign up to a mailing list after.

Although you can choose when to display the pop up, usually most scroll pop ups are set to appear when the reader has got 70% of the way down the page. This gives them time to have read enough to be interested in the article, helping keep them on your site once the pop-up appears.

Exit Intent

An exit intent pop up appears just as a viewer is about to leave the site. This pop up has been found to be extremely effective at collecting email addresses and keeping users on the site for longer. By catching a visitor just as they are about to leave and collecting their email, it increases the chance they will return to your site and become a long term follower.

Install an Opt In Forms Plugin

There are many plugins that offer a variety of opt in forms and pop up designs. OptinMonster is a feature rich solution that offers multiple opt in form types, a drag and drop builder to let you customize your forms, A/B split testing, analytics and a lot more. If you are really serious about growing your email list faster, then OptinMonster is a sensible choice.

Use a Lead Magnet as an Incentive

By simply asking your audience to join your mailing list, your rate of sign ups may well be slow. If you want to increase your mailing list quickly, you should consider offering a lead magnet as an incentive.

A lead magnet is basically a bribe, something that you will give people if they part with their email. Lead magnets can come in all different shapes and sizes. Most commonly they consist of an eBook, course or guide, a voucher or discount, quiz, survey or a free trial.

Because so many sites now have lead magnets, you need to make sure that whatever you are offering makes an impact. When designing a lead magnet, keep in mind that it needs to be something that your target audience will want.

A lead magnet that is relevant to your site’s niche and will appeal to your viewers is a must. It doesn’t have to be long or time-consuming to create, but it does have to be high quality to impress your audience.

Here are a couple of other, slightly more interesting, ideas for lead magnets…

Run Competitions

Competitions are great fun and people love to be in with a chance of winning a prize. Wishponds Social Contests is a WordPress plugin that will help you create amazing contests, sweepstakes, promotions and lots more besides.

There are numerous competitions you can run, from simply asking people to filling out a quiz or commenting on a blog post to uploading photos, voting on videos or submitting tunes. In return for entry to the competition, you get to collect an email address.

Host Webinars

Offering your audience free viewing of a webinar as a lead magnet is a great incentive for people to join your mailing list. WebinarJam is an impressive webinar tool that you can use to create fun, yet professional webinars.

As well as helping you collect leads, webinars have many other benefits including driving traffic, increasing revenue and helping with SEO. So if you haven’t run a webinar before, it might be time to try.

Use Content Lockers

A content locker plugin allows you to lock valuable content away. Viewers can then access this content by liking you on social media, sharing content or parting with their email address. This is a win-win situation for all involved, as your audience gets to see secret hidden content and in return, you get to grow your email list faster.

Bloom from Elegant Themes is an opt in forms plugin which offers content lockers. This premium plugin has a wide assortment of beautiful opt-in forms, and is another great option for an opt-in forms solution. OptinMonster also offers a content locker but to access it you need to join either the Plus or Pro plan.

Activate Facebook’s ‘Call to Action’ Button

Using social media is an effective way to grow your email list faster. Facebook has a call to action button for business pages, that can take viewers straight to your website contact or landing page. Many people often follow business pages on Facebook without ever visiting their websites. Activating this button is a good way to convert traffic from your Facebook page to your website, and generate leads.

Final Thoughts on How to Grow Your Email List Faster

All of these ideas are good options for helping to increase your mailing list. Some will suit your site and audience, where’s others won’t, so choose wisely. That said, all websites can benefit from effective opt-in forms. With so many great tools and tactics available, now’s never been a better time to start growing your list.

What top tips have you got for someone trying to grow their mailing list quickly? Please share in the comments below…