The Weekly Authority

The Sales Funnel Series Pt. 5: How to Grow Your Email List with Social Media

Social media can be a great place to directly connect with potential clients. But being able to cut through the noise, get your audience to notice your brand and compel them to join your email list can be challenging.

So, how can you stand out and make your social followers want to give you their email address?

The short answer: with the right social media marketing strategies.

In this installment of the Sales Funnel Series, I’ll share some proven tips for growing email lists via social media marketing. These insider strategies can be the key to amassing an enviable email list – and to converting more of your audience into loyal brand ambassadors (and maybe even new clients!).

Using Social Media to Grow Your Email List: 5 Effective Tips

1. 1. Run Facebook Ads – More than a billion people are on Facebook every day. So, why not push your call-to-action out in front of as many eyes as possible via some Facebook ads? You can use these ads to get the word out about your emails and encourage your audience to sign up. Include eye-catching pictures, and consider sharing some of the interesting or valuable content your audience could expect to receive by becoming subscribers. You may even want to use social proof as part of your ads (explaining how current subscribers are benefitting from your emails). If you’re new to Facebook ads, here’s a detailed guide on how to set up Facebook ads.

2. 2. Develop Lead Magnets – Lead magnets are essentially “ethical bribes” that provide a value proposition to an audience. On social media, lead magnets can offer something useful or valuable in exchange for an email address. For instance, you can offer free eBooks, webinars, cheat sheets, etc. in exchange for your audience providing their emails and subscribing to your newsletter. Here’s an invaluable guide to lead magnets.

3. 3. Hold Contests – Appeal to your audience’s competitive and creative nature by running a contest. Ask for photo submissions, videos, catchphrases or whatever else may be useful to you and them. Have them post their submissions in social media. You can encourage more participants by offering some desirable prize (or a few prizes). While you can require participants to submit their emails (in order to be considered for a prize), you can also set up contests to require email submissions in order to vote on the winner(s) or to get the results.

4. 4. Offer Special Discounts, Deals or Bonuses – A good deal can be hard to pass up, especially if someone can get a bargain by doing something as simple as sharing their email address. So, offer something special to your subscribers, and prominently feature that deal on your social pages. You may even want to provide some special discount or bonus item to your current subscribers in exchange for them posting positive feedback about your emails.

5. 5. Promote, Promote, Promote – In your social posts and on your social pages, make it a point to promote your emails and their benefits. You can regularly post teasers about your emails and ask for sign ups. You can also set up special buttons on your brand’s social pages, where your audience can submit their email address.

Social Media Strategies for Growing Your Email List: Some Final Tips

• ● Keep it simple. Whether you’re using buttons, landing pages, images or social posts, make sure they are direct and uncluttered – and that the call-to-action is clear.

• ● Make the opt-out option clear. In other words, don’t try to trick anyone into handing over their email address. Provide an apparent way to opt out. That can be a great way to establish trust with your audience.

• ● Stay the course. Don’t be discouraged if one of your social media tactics doesn’t generate the results you want. These so-called failures can be a great opportunity to see what your audience is not responding to, helping you shape future social strategies for growing your email list.

Have you tried any of these tips for growing your email list? What’s working (and not working) for you?

Tell me about your experiences, challenges and successes on Facebook and LinkedIn. And don’t hesitate to get a hold of me on social media to ask any digital marketing question or just to say ‘hi.’ I look forward to hearing from you!

Content Marketing