How to Efficiently Build an Email List

Many agencies take a dive into email marketing only to find out that it doesn’t really work for them. There are many reasons for that, but the main one is that they don’t know how to build an email list.

Successful email marketing highly depends on the quality of the list you have. In this step-by-step guide, I will walk you through the process of efficiently building and growing your email list from scratch.

Understanding the value of an email list

Imagine possessing a direct line to your audience’s email inbox, where your messages aren’t just another notification, but a welcome visitor. This is the power of an electronic mailing list. It allows you to nurture relationships with your subscribers, providing them with content that’s not only relevant but eagerly anticipated.

Compared to other marketing activities such as X and Y, sending an email newsletter allows you to be hyperfocused. You know the subscriber’s name, how they found your agency, and what they are interested in. All this data should be sitting in your CRM, ready to be accessed, and pushed to your email marketing tool.

With the information at hand, you have the power to personalize your messages, tailoring them to meet the specific interests and needs of your audience. The personal touch fosters a stronger connection and trust between you and your subscribers, which paves the way for higher conversion rates.

Moreover, an engaged list of email subscribers provides invaluable insights into your audience’s preferences, enabling you to refine your marketing strategies and content offerings. By understanding what resonates with your subscribers, you can create targeted campaigns that not only captivate but also gets you agency clients.

In essence, building an email list is not just about increasing numbers; it’s about establishing a community of engaged followers who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. The value of this cannot be overstated, as it is the bedrock upon which long-term business growth and success are built.

Setting up the right tools

Collecting email addresses sounds easy, but it requires the right set of tools in order to be successful. Selecting the optimal email marketing platform can be the difference between a thriving list and one that stagnates. Imagine having a suite of functionalities at your fingertips, from automation features that send out emails at the perfect moment to analytics that peel back the layers on your subscribers’ behaviors.

Email marketing software for agencies like MailChimp, ConvertKit, and ActiveCampaign shine a bit brighter for their user-friendly interfaces and robust tool sets. These platforms offer the ability to automate repetitive tasks, thereby freeing you to focus on crafting messages that resonate. They also allow for detailed segmentation of your list, ensuring that your communications are as relevant as possible to each subset of your audience.

Tracking performance metrics is another critical capability of these tools. Understanding how your emails perform in real-time provides actionable insights that can refine your approach, ensuring that your efforts are always calibrated for maximum engagement.

Creating compelling opt-in forms

When it comes to creating an email list, the design and placement of your opt-in forms play a crucial role. Think of your agency website as a glowing neon sign that is supposed to attract them to find out more about your company. It needs to be eye-catching, inviting, and clear about the value they’ll receive by signing up. Visual appeal is key, so choose colors, fonts, and layouts that resonate with your brand and capture attention without overwhelming the visitor.

But beauty isn’t everything; clarity in messaging is also important. Your form should make the value subscribers will gain by signing up.

This could be:

• exclusive content sent weekly to their inbox,

• insider discounts for your recurring services, or

• invaluable resources such as e-books and templates.

Placement is another strategic decision; your forms should be integrated seamlessly into your website’s design. Whether you opt for a timed pop-up that offers a special guide, a slide-in that appears as readers finish an engaging article, or an embedded form prominently positioned on your homepage—each should feel like a natural extension of the user experience.

At SPP, we use a combination of different opt-in forms, one of them is inside blog posts, the other one slides into the corner.

The latter is only triggered once the user scrolls to the bottom part of the blog post. This is a good strategy because it signifies that they are actually reading the post and are engaged, which is important for your list building. After all, you’re looking for subscribers who are interested in reading your content.

Optimizing the call-to-action

With the opt-in forms set up, the next step is to get website visitors interested in your email campaigns. This is where good copywriting comes in. Try out different call-to-actions and see which ones work best.

Here are a few clever call-to-actions you can use:

• secure my discount

• discover the benefits

• show me how

• let me join

• stop losing clients

In order to find the best CTA, use A/B testing for your email signup form and measure hundreds of subscriptions to get an accurate picture of which copy works best. Some email marketing tools offer integrated A/B testing, for instance Campaign Monitor.

Another metric to look at is if the time spent on the page has improved, which you can check Google Analytics. Keep in mind that not all pages are equal. A homepage has a different average time spent on value than a pricing page. Depending on where you place your opt-in forms, experiment with different formats. For instance, delay the pop-up on a sales-focused page where visitors need some time to read it.

Offering irresistible incentives

Crafting an offer that your audience simply can’t ignore is the secret sauce to email list building. Think of it as a friendly exchange: you’re providing something of significant value, and in return, your audience is entrusting you with their precious email addresses.

This incentive, also known as a lead magnet, should be so compelling that the decision to subscribe feels like a no-brainer. But what makes an incentive truly irresistible? It’s all about alignment with your audience’s interests and challenges. Whether it’s an exclusive e-book packed with industry insights, a series of instructional videos, or access to an insightful webinar, the key is to pinpoint what resonates most deeply with your potential subscribers.

The aim is not just to lure them in but to kickstart a strong agency-client relationship that’s built on value and trust. One of our campaigns targets readers interested in our client portal blog posts. Those subscribing to it get more relevant information about the topic.

Promoting your email list

Imagine you’ve built the perfect email marketing campaign only for it to get ignored. In order to grow your list, you need to send traffic to it, be it from your website, social media channels, or paid ads. You can even use your email signature to promote it to the people you already know, such as other agency owners, or the clients you engage with on a daily basis. Also, ask your agency team to add your newsletter opt-in form to their signature.

For most agency owners, their website should serve as the central hub for their list-building efforts. Strategic placement of banners and pop-up forms can captivate visitors’ attention at just the right moment. Additionally, consider leveraging partnerships and collaborations as a means to introduce your email list to new, yet like-minded audiences. For instance, you can form partnerships with agencies you’re not competing with.

Maintaining engagement & minimizing unsubscribes

Once your email list is gaining traction, it’s time to keep it clean. Imagine being a gardener who has to remove weeds. After all, you don’t want subscribers who are not reading your emails.

The secret to keeping your audience engaged and reducing the likelihood of unsubscribes lies in the art of personalization and timing. By segmenting your email list, you can tailor your messages so they resonate deeply with different groups within your audience. This isn’t just about addressing them by their first name but understanding their behaviors, preferences, and needs. Are they early birds who engage with emails over morning coffee, or night owls who prefer a late-night read?

In SPP, you can easily segment leads who sign up to your client portal, and track their behavior. Do they finally make a purchase and become a client? Send them to a list in ActiveCampaign or MailChimp, and target them with emails about upsells. Those who are still leads should get different campaigns that slowly nurture them until they finally make a purchase.

Engagement isn’t a one-way street; it’s about creating a dialogue. Encourage feedback and actively respond to it, turning your email list into a dynamic conversation rather than a broadcast. Keep a keen eye on your metrics; they’re the compass that guides your strategy. If you notice a drop in engagement, it might be time to spice up your content or adjust your sending frequency.

Building an email list FAQ

Start your email list building today

It’s time to start building your email list. With the information presented in this blog post, you have everything you need to create an engaged email list, grow it, and convert the subscribers into paying clients for your agency.

As with any other digital marketing campaign, always measure your success, improve your tactics, and improve your opt-in forms and newsletters.