When you grow your email list, you’re not merely collecting email addresses – you’re setting the stage for long-term engagement.
An email list is your direct line to an audience that’s eager to hear from you.
Whether through engaging content, lead magnets, or simply asking for referrals, you can build your email list in multiple ways.
In this blog, we have listed 15 ways to grow your email list, examples, and detailed steps on how to implement each of them.
Let’s dive right in.
Capture email addresses at strategic times using Retainful’s advanced triggers like exit intent, scroll depth, time spent, and more.
What is an email list?
An email list is a collection of email addresses that a business or individual gathers from people who have expressed interest in receiving updates, promotions, newsletters, or other communications.
Email lists are built based on permission from individuals who opt-in to receive emails. This is crucial for compliance with laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM, which require explicit consent for email communications.
Many email marketers use a double opt-in process, where a confirmation email is sent to new subscribers to verify their intent. This ensures a higher-quality and engaged email list.
Why growing an email list is important?
A well-maintained email list provides a direct line of communication to your audience, drives higher engagement rates, and ultimately contributes to your business growth.
Here are the benefits of building an email list:
Nurture leads to customers.
The primary goal of email list building is to capture the leads and convert them to loyal customers.
You can send them email marketing campaigns that nurture them, educate them about the brand, and drive repeat purchases from them in the long run.
Personalized interaction with subscribers
With an email list, you can tailor messages based on subscriber preferences, behaviors, and demographics, making the communication more relevant and engaging.
Higher Engagement Rates
Email marketing typically boasts higher engagement rates compared to social media.
Emails have better open and click-through rates, which means subscribers are more likely to read and act on the content.
Regular email communication helps keep your brand top-of-mind for subscribers, encouraging repeat business and fostering customer loyalty.
Targeted Email Marketing
Targeting is getting difficult on Facebook ads and other social media platforms. With email marketing, you can reach the right audience with the right content at the right time.
Building an email list allows you to segment your email list based on various criteria, such as behavior, demographics, and purchase history.
This enables highly targeted campaigns that are more likely to resonate with specific groups of subscribers.
How to grow your email list? – 15 Ways
Building an email list is difficult as users are often skeptical about sharing their email addresses due to privacy concerns and fear of spam.
But you can convert traffic to your website into leads with the strategies in place.
Here are the 15 best ways to grow your email list.
1. Use popup forms on your site.
The best way to grow your email list is to convert traffic to your website into leads. You can do this by using popups.
Implement pop-up forms on your website that appear after a visitor has spent a certain amount of time or is about to exit the page.
These popups capture the visitor’s email addresses by showing the message or valuable content.
There are various types of popups you can use in your site:
- Timed popup – Appears after a visitor has spent a certain amount of time on your website.
- Scroll-triggered popup – Triggered when a visitor scrolls down a specific percentage of a page, indicating interest in the content.
- Exit-intent popup – Appears when a visitor is about to leave the website
- Full-screen welcome mat – Full-screen overlays that appear when a visitor lands on your website.
You can use email capture softwares to implement these popups and signup forms in your site.
Here is an example of a popup displayed in a landing page.
2. Offer Valuable Content
The best way to grow your email list is to let your content do the talk.
Create and offer free e-books, guides, or whitepapers on topics relevant to your audience. To grow your email list, make these resources available in exchange for email sign-ups.
Develop comprehensive e-books or guides that provide in-depth knowledge on these topics.
These are the resources you can offer to build your email list:
- Ebooks
- Guides
- Checklists
- Cheat Sheets
- Webinars
Design attention-grabbing sign-up forms effortlessly using Retainful’s pre-designed templates drag-and-drop editor.
3. Use lead magnets
For email list building, offer lead magnets such as checklists or templates that provide immediate value in exchange for an email address.
Curate lists of tools, websites, books, or other resources that your audience would find beneficial. For example, a “Top 50 Tools for Digital Marketers” list.
To grow your email list fast, you can also offer exclusive access to in-depth articles, industry reports, or case studies that are not available to the general public. For instance, an “Annual Industry Trends Report.”
Here is how HubSpot promotes its lead magnet in the blog.
4. Add Sign-Up Options to Your Checkout Process
If you run an e-commerce site, include an email sign-up option during the checkout process for building an email list. Highlight the benefits of joining your list.
Add the sign-up checkbox or field on the checkout page where it’s easily noticeable but not intrusive, like near the order summary or shipping information sections.
5. Include Sign-Up Forms in Your Blog
If you are seeing significant traffic on your blogs, the best way to grow your email list is to convert this traffic to sign-ups.
Readers who spend time on your blog are already interested in your content. Sign-up forms allow you to capture these engaged visitors and convert them into subscribers.
To grow an email list fast through your blogs, use embedded sign-up forms directly within the content of your blog posts. Place them at strategic points, such as after the introduction, mid-way through the post, and at the end.
Keep the form simple by asking for minimal information, typically just the email address and maybe a first name, to personalize future emails.
You can show a sign-up form popup like this when someone is reading.
Or include a in-line form like this.
6. Create a high-converting landing page
Unlike a homepage that serves multiple purposes, a dedicated landing page has a single objective – encouraging visitors to sign up for your email list.
The best way to grow your email list is to have a well-designed landing page with a strong CTA can significantly increase the number of visitors who convert into email subscribers.
Drive traffic to your landing page through targeted marketing campaigns, such as social media ads and email marketing.
Here is a landing page of Justin Welsh (running one of the most successful newsletters)
7. Host Informative Webinars
Webinars attract participants who are genuinely interested in the topic being presented, ensuring that the leads you collect are high-quality and relevant to your business.
For email list building, host webinars on topics of interest to your audience. Registration with an email address is required to attend and follow up with attendees post-webinar.
8. Include a link in your email signature.
To use email marketing for building an email list, generate a unique signup link for your newsletter that directs people to a subscription page or form.
In your email signature, create a new line or section specifically for your newsletter. Include call-to-actions like “Subscribe to our newsletter” or “Stay up-to-date with our latest updates,” and hyperlink it to the signup link you created.
You can include a simple share option like this at the email footer.
9. Make it easy to share
To grow an email list, ensure that your newsletter is easily shareable by including social media sharing buttons or embedding links to your newsletter on your website and in the emails.
Place clear and compelling calls to action throughout your website, like “Sign up for our newsletter”.
10. Encourage referrals
If your content is great, your subscribers will naturally share your newsletter or your products with their friends and colleagues, But to increase the number of referrals and grow your email list fast, you have to give incentives.
To build an email list through referrals, offer rewards that appeal to your audience, such as exclusive content, discounts, or other valuable perks.
Embed social media sharing buttons in your newsletter to make it simple for subscribers to share.
11. Use Facebook Ads and Groups
You can leverage social media for building an email list.
Facebook Groups allow you to engage with niche communities related to your industry. By participating actively, you can build relationships and trust, which can lead to organic sign-ups.
Here are some tips on how to use Facebook to grow your email list:
- Create targeted Facebook ads offering a lead magnet (e.g., ebook, webinar, discount) in exchange for an email signup.
- Participate in relevant Facebook groups and share your lead magnet, encouraging members to join your email list.
- Embed email signup forms directly on your Facebook page.
12. Use LinkedIn to build thought leadership.
For building an email list through Linkedin, craft a compelling headline and summary that highlight your expertise and the value you offer. Include a call-to-action (CTA) inviting people to join your email list.
Use LinkedIn’s document feature to share downloadable resources like e-books and guides that require an email sign-up to access.
Include a link to your email sign-up form in your LinkedIn profile’s contact info section and within your summary.
Here is how Justin Welsh does it in his LinkedIn profile.
13. Leverage social proof
Social proof build trust in people like nothing else can. You can use it to grow your email list in your sign-up forms and emails.
Display subscriber count badges on the sign-up forms and landing pages to showcase the size and popularity of your email list.
See how Tim Ferris implemented social proof in his sign-up form.
14. Run contests and giveaways
Contests and giveaways generate buzz and engagement on social media, increasing your brand’s visibility. It can quickly attract a large number of participants, resulting in rapid growth of your email list.
For email list building, design an entry form that requires participants to enter their email addresses to participate.
15. Offer free trial
In exchange for an email address, offer a free trial of your service or product to build your email list.
Here is how Neil Patel collects email addresses while signing up for a free trial.
How Retainful can help?
Retainful is an all-in-one ecommerce email marketing app that features targeted popups and sign-up forms to grow an email list.
You can create high-converting sign-up forms with:
- Different types of popups: Exit-intent, add-to-cart, welcome, and embedded.
- Precise targeting and triggers: Based on time spent, scroll depth, geo-location, page visits, and more.
- Pre-designed popup templates: Design on-brand popups with a drag-and-drop editor.
- Mobile-optimized popups
Target the quality leads with Retainful’s advanced popup targeting options and grow your email list.
Wrapping up!!
Growing your email list is essential for building an engaged audience that can drive business growth for you.
By implementing a variety of strategies to build your email list – from offering lead magnets and running contests to leveraging social media, you can attract and retain high-quality subscribers.
Learn about how to retain subscribers through email marketing:
Your email list might not be growing due to inadequate value propositions, poorly placed or designed sign-up forms, lack of promotion, or insufficient incentives.
To create a high-quality email list, focus on attracting subscribers genuinely interested in your content. Use lead magnets, targeted promotions, and opt-in forms on high-traffic pages. Regularly clean your list to remove inactive subscribers.
The time to grow an email list varies based on your strategy, industry, and effort. With consistent promotion and valuable content, you can see significant growth within a few months.
A realistic email list growth rate is typically around 2-5% per month. This rate can vary based on factors like industry, marketing efforts, and the quality of content offered.
To calculate email list growth, use this formula:
((Number of new subscribers – Number of unsubscribes) / Total number of subscribers at the start of the period) x 100.
The simplest and most effective way to build an email list is to use lead magnets like e-books, guides, or discounts.
Email lists are highly effective for direct communication, driving engagement, and conversions. They allow for personalized marketing and have a high return on investment (ROI).