According to statistics, the average unsubscribe rate is between 0.2% and 0.5%. A rate below 0.2% typically indicates that you are within the norm and a rate above 0.5% means you have some work to do.
But don’t let the statistics fool you. Even though the unsubscribe rate is extremely low, unsubscription still negatively affects your marketing efforts. And if you want to keep getting high results, you should grow and update your email list on a regular basis.
Let’s consider four effective approaches you can use to convince your prospective customers to share their emails.
1. Offer a freebie
Modern customers do not like to share their emails with companies for a few reasons. Firstly, they have concerns regarding security, privacy, and confidentiality – they don’t want their personal data to be stolen or misused.
Secondly, customers are struggling to cope with email overload. They don’t sign up for the new newsletters for no reason.
So if you want to convince your prospects to type their contact data in the signup form, you should offer something valuable in return. Since most people are obsessed with freebies, you can try to exchange customer emails for the following:
- Discount codes
- Coupons
- Free shipping
- Free product
- A small gift
- Free plan
- Trial offer
Source: CB Insights
2. Create a lead magnet
If you have just started your company and have no enough resources to offer your customers big discounts and free items, no worries. You can provide your customers with another type of freebie – high-quality content. You can create the following types of lead magnets:
- Guides
- Reports
- Check-lists
- E-books
- Toolkits
- Infographics
- Podcasts
To create an effective lead magnet, you should answer a few questions:
- What is the pain point of your prospective customers?
- What type of content your prospective customers are looking for online?
Let’s say your prospective customers are looking for a guide that explains how to design a chatbot for an e-commerce website. If you write a step-by-step guide and use it as a lead magnet, your prospects will agree to exchange their emails.
Source: Elbot
To grow your email list, you should create high-quality, useful content. If you have no time or skills to write guides and record podcasts, feel free to get professional assistance.
If you want to hire a freelancer, visit Upwork or Fiverr. Here you can find experts in content writing, data visualization, podcast recording, and other fields. If you operate globally, you can hire experts from different countries to create content in different languages.
If you are looking for e-books writers with a background in marketing, technologies, or economics, visit GrabMyEssay or TrustMyPaper. Here you will find true professionals who know how to create effective lead magnets.
3. Use live chats and chatbots
If you use a live chat or a chatbot on your website or Facebook Messenger, that’s great. Now you can use this channel of communication with your customers to grow your email list.
Here are a few useful tips for you:
- Don’t ask a customer to provide an email at the very beginning of the conversation. Offer your customers a piece of valuable information first.
- Don’t be intrusive. If a user doesn’t want to share an email, accept this fact.
- Offer a lead magnet in chat.
- Proofread the messages you send in a chat. Use Grammarly, Studicus, or any other writing and proofreading tools.
- Give your customers a few options. A user shouldn’t feel like you are forcing him to provide an email.
4. Host a webinar or offer a free course
Modern customers are eager to study. They never miss a chance to participate in a webinar or take a free online course. So if you have the resources and knowledge necessary to organize a webinar or educational course, this approach to email list building is right for you.
Source: Mel Robbins
“A webinar is a great way to show your target audience that you are an expert in your niche. If you host a webinar, you will not only grow your email list, but also get people more interested in buying and using your products”, says Brittany Vang, marketer at SupremeDissertations.
Here is how you can create a successful webinar:
- Choose the right topic. Cover the question that has particular importance for your target audience.
- Come up with the right title. Grab the attention and encourage more customers to join your webinar.
- Decide where you will host your webinar: on a specialized platform, on your website, or social media.
- Promote your webinar on social media and your website. Use paid advertising, if necessary.
- Dedicate time to practice. Make sure that you can deliver information to your audience in an engaging way.
General tips on how to grow your email list
Whatever way to collect emails you choose, you should follow these three rules.
Provide a value
You should consider the emails of your customers as a currency. If you want to collect more emails, you should offer something that has value to your target audience. You should analyze the preferences of your customers to find out what will work for you: coupon codes, webinars, step-by-step guides, etc.
Don’t ask too many questions
Your primary goal is to grow your email list, isn’t it? So you should ask your customers to provide their emails, first names, and that’s all.
Don’t ask people to mention in what city they live and how old they are. Trying to collect more data, you will only scare prospective customers away.
Don’t be intrusive
Once again, if your customers do not want to share their emails, do not force them. Don’t add ten different opt-in forms to your website; it will not help.
If your customers don’t want to download your check-lists and participate in your webinars, probably you’ve chosen a wrong approach to email list building. So you should revisit your strategy and fix your mistakes.
Keep in mind that your business is unique. And the email list building strategies that work for your competitors may not work for you. So try to learn more about your customers and find your own way to grow your email list.
About the author
Marques Coleman is a blog writer at BestEssayEducation, in his spare time he contributes to WowGrade. Marques specializes in marketing and copywriting. Moreover, he is an avid traveler and always tries to learn something new.
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