How to Build an Email Marketing List

Written/Updated on April 25, 2019
By Guest Author

Email marketing is said to be one of the most cost-effective methods for B2B marketing.

However, it’s not uncommon that first-time users of email marketing have trouble starting their campaigns. With so many options available, it can sometimes be tough to decide on a “perfect” plan of action. Our answer to this is simple: start by using automated email and slowly build from there.

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Building the Email List for Automated Email

When we said “slowly” we mean that just take it one step at a time at a pace you’re comfortable with. So what’s the next big step? Relatively, your email marketing campaigns will skyrocket once you’ve built your own email list.

According to Litmus, the Return on Investment (ROI) for email marketing is about $38 earned for $1 spent. That means that whatever you spend on email marketing will surely have good returns. Campaignmonitor also found that more than 50% of users check their emails daily, and that includes 73% of millennials worldwide. With such a high volume of customers reached, email lists have become valuable in every marketer’s campaign. But how do you get going?

There are several ways of building the list. You can choose from email subscriptions, sign-up forms, referral systems, and the like. But aren’t there too many to choose from? Wouldn’t it be easier to just buy the lists? Which one should you choose?

Don’t worry! We’re not going to leave you in the dark. Here are 5 amazing and tested tips to help you populate your own marketing list.

Tips on How to Start Populating the Marketing List

1. Build a Link to Your Opt-in Form

Websites, social media, and even automated emails are all effective ways of turning leads into entries for the list. Customers can’t subscribe if they can’t find the link, right? That’s why you should try posting the link to the subscription in places where visitors can see it. This way, any customer that’s interested to be updated on your next campaign can easily subscribe and access the news on their email.

There are no shortcuts in building your email list. Buying them is a no-no because it’s not effective and it’s not even worth all spending. You want your list to be filled with people interested in your service, and you can get it by posting your link to the subscription.

2. Add Incentives for Signing Up

It can be tough getting people to sign up for your email subscription, but a little bit of reward can help them decide to do so. According to a study by Adestra and eConsultancy, about 85% were willing to subscribe if there was a promo or a discount offered upon subscription.

Incentives make it easy to attract email subscribers in exchange for minimal costs. People just might always be trying to snag the best deals around, and you can bet they’re willing to trade their email details for that.

3. Reach Out to Your Target Audience

Automated emails give you one particular advantage: targeted sending. Once you’ve already built an initial list, it’s time to reach out to your audience and ask them to refer a friend. The best part about organically growing your email subscribers is that you get access to better leads by asking them to refer a friend.

Got some spare budget to spend? You can also incorporate incentives and rewards for referrals made by your loyal subscribers. Every email counts especially when your list is starting to populate, so why not spend a little bit for long-term gains? With a high ROI, your additional spending will easily pay off anyways.

4. Let Customers Know What They Can Get

Usually we’d say that you should show and not tell, but emails can be a bit tricky when they need to subscribe first before you can show them. So, why not do the opposite and start by telling first what they should expect?

Aside from incentives and rewards, another way to motivate customers to subscribe is by being upfront about what they can get from the email subscription.

When you’re able to describe the exclusive benefits of subscribing, then customers know the value of being part of your email list.

5. Personalize Emails and Landing Pages

Last but not least, it’s time to personalize the links you offer for subscription. Catering to different demands is the effective way to populate your list once it is saturated. Finding what each customer wants seems a little bit demanding, but that’s where automated email can help. Email lists can further grow if the landing pages and emails show exactly what they’re looking for. Hence, you need to personalize to capture a larger market.

Which Tips Should You Use to Build Your List?

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Try things out first and see if you’re comfortable using it. Either way, all the five tips we provided are effective in building your list even from scratch. In the end, it’s up to you to decide which fits your purpose for building the list and which techniques are you most comfortable using. Just try and experiment in the beginning and enjoy the process of learning.

If you’re looking for support on developing an email marketing strategy, start a conversation with us on chat.

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Digital Marketing Agency

MESH is a digital marketing agency that has pioneered Account-Based Marketing via our proprietary Outcome Driven Marketing (ODM) methodology. We keep our focus on tightly integrating (or MESHing) lead generation, inbound, and outbound methodologies. We help you understand the hidden levers that impact your customers’ buying decision process, develop the right marketing strategy for your unique business case, and effectively execute and measure all aspects of your Account-Based Marketing program.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in guest posts are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our website or company.

About MESH Interactive Agency

Founded by an experienced life sciences industry veteran, MESH is a digital marketing agency purpose-built to help you accelerate growth at every stage, from innovation to exit. We help life sciences, healthcare and technology companies build their brands, develop and execute marketing strategies, fill their funnels, and develop ground-brealing interactive technology and experiences.

With offices in Cambridge, Boston and Manchester, we’re probably right down the street, or a video call away.

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