What is List Building
Before you can start sending your newsletters and other email campaigns, you will need to create your emailing list.
Your email lists are collections of email addresses that you will use to send your messages to.
You may ask for addresses via forms to create an email list or you can also have an automatically generated list from those customers who do specific interactions with your email automation system.
And the entire process of you getting those emails for your list is called list building.
Why is list building important?
- Ownership: With an email list you have full ownership over your data and subscribers, while social media platforms only provide you access to your followers. If something happens to one of those platforms, as it did to Myspace and almost to TikTok, you can lose access to that audience. Myspace is still active today but it is not the global brand it used to be.
- Generate Leads: According to McKinsey, “Email is 40x more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter.” Email subscribers are more likely to buy your products or services as they have already been vetted and proven to be your ideal client since signing up for your email list.
- Lead Nurture: On the Marketing Made Simple podcast, Dr J.J. Peterson states that ” you don’t ask someone to marry you on the first date.” If you ask for the sale the moment your ideal client enters the virtual doors, they will likely be running for the hills. Serve before you sell – there is a time for selling. Nurturing your leads allows you to build strong relationships now so that in the future when you ask for the sale, they are primed and ready.
- Increase brand awareness: Most people open their email several times a day. This allows businesses with email lists the opportunity to stay top of mind and communicate on a consistent basis through weekly and monthly email campaigns.
- Increase conversion rate: Segmented and targeted emails increase ROI since the right person is getting the right message at the right time. Businesses can send relevant sales emails to interested prospects and move those who are not yet ready to other segments to avoid being removed from the list.
- Improve SEO: Email subscribers are more likely to take action on your CTA’s (call to action). They are more likely to read your blogs, sign up for your webinars, and share these with their audience. This can be simply done by clicking the link in your email.
- Increase customer value: Relationships can be cultivated over the long term. Email is also a consumer preference and one of the easiest ways to communicate directly with your audience. Those who are on your list have already proven interested in what you offer, your email list allows you to continue that relationship and increase future purchases.
How to build an email list?
There are several ways to build an email list. The better you know your ideal prospects, the better your chances of growing your list. Below are some of the most common ways to build an email list:
1. Lead magnet (also known as freebie or opt-in)
A Lead Magnet is something that you give for free in exchange for someone’s (ideal prospects) email address.
Lead magnets can be templates, guides, ebooks, mini-courses, whitepapers, and video series. The list is endless – a good lead magnet is anything an ideal prospect will find valuable enough to give you their email address.
2. Landing page
Mailchimp defines a Landing Page as “a standalone web page that a person ‘lands’ on after clicking through from an email, ad, or other digital location.”
For example, Hubspot has a wide range of guides, templates, and even free courses on how to capture leads’ email addresses through landing pages.
This example, in particular, is Hubspot’s landing page for their Social Media Content Calendar Template.
Source: Hubspot
3. Webinar
A webinar is another powerful lead magnet.
A Webinar is a presentation that takes place online that allows a business or individual to engage in conversation with many people.
Webinars are a great way to increase ROI and conversions during a launch and maintain a steady stream of leads.
TEDx has a page dedicated to their recorded webinars.
Types of webinars:
Live webinars can create excitement and bring in cash flow, whereas evergreen webinars can bring in consistent revenue throughout the year.
Source: tedxgateway.com
4. Social profiles and Links
Sharing your lead magnet on your social media profiles and links like Linktree is another way to generate email leads.
Whenever a potential email lead lands on your profile, they can be directed to your landing page, where they can sign up for your webinar or newsletter.
Lewis Howes has done this by adding a link to join his Greatness Newsletter. He is now known as a super connector – through his podcast he interviews the best in their field such as Tony Robbins, Donals Miller and Simon Sinek. This has no doubt allowed him to increase his email list by the thousands.
Source: Lewis Howes
5. Gated content
Gated content can be content that you share exclusively with your email list. The example above with Lewis Howes shows that only those subscribed to his Greatness Newsletter will gain access to that content.
Gated content creates a sense of fear of missing out, which is a great way to attract new prospects.
6. Discounts and deals
Discounts, deals and giveaways are a great way to entice prospects to share their email address. Who doesn’t love a great deal, right?
For example, you can encourage people to sign up to your email list by offering them 15% off their first purchase. This method is a great way to bring in an influx of new leads, but the quality of those leads may differ since they may have only signed up to win the giveaway.
Source: Jeffbullas.com
7. Waitlist
A waitlist is a great way to not only see who your most devout followers are but to determine how much demand there is.
A waitlist can get people excited and eager to join. Christina Galbato got 2000 signups using her waitlist and when she offered $500.00 off her mastermind.
Source: Christina
8. Embedded signup forms
An embedded signup form is a form that is embedded in your site.
For example, when you enter Backlinko’s website their form which comes from another source is integrated right at the top of the site. This is the first thing a user sees. They let the user know what they will get in exchange for their email address. This is accompanied by a testimonial from a trusted source – Hubspot followed by a clear CTA.
Source: Backlinko
9. Mini-course
Hubspot is king at offering free courses (Some with certificates). This has allowed them to not only increase their brand awareness but to become a go-to resource for inbound marketing.
Source: Hubspot
10. Pop-ups
Pop-ups are a form that appears after a few seconds of being on a site. They are a great way to get a user’s attention. Pop-ups, although attention-grabbing, can be annoying and therefore must be used with caution.
The pop-up below also makes use of deals. They let signups know that they will receive a 10% discount on their first order. They also let users know that they are signing up to receive exclusive offers, advice, and new product offerings. This creates transparency on what list they are signing up for and what they can expect.
Source: Convertflow
How to build an email list using your website
Placing your lead magnets strategically over your website can result in increased subscribers.
Pop-ups and embedded sign-up forms, as described above, can get a user’s attention while they browse your site.
Calls to action can be added to the end of blog posts to attract people to specific lead magnets for specific segments.
How to build an email list using your Social Media
Placing your lead magnets in your social profiles and links can increase subscribers.
Businesses can let followers know of their newsletters, webinars, or lead magnets through their social channels in various ways:
- Firstly, you can add a CTA in your bio, letting followers know there is a free resource when they click the link.
- Secondly, you can share and promote through stories and posts.
- And finally, this can be done passively by making sure any relevant links are available wherever your target audience is.
What to do after you capture emails?
Welcome sequence: This is a series of emails that can be sent out within a week period to get the new subscriber acquainted with you and your brand.
Newsletter: This is a regular email newsletter that gets sent out to a segmented list of subscribers like the Greatness Newsletter.
Weekly emails: These are emails sent out on a weekly basis. Weekly emails get your IP warmed up and allow you to provide valuable information with your list.
You can do this by sharing trends of the week like Matt Navvara does in his weekly email newsletter on social media trends.
Monthly emails: These are emails sent out monthly. Monthly emails can maintain a healthy level of interaction with your audience without overwhelming them or yourself with content every week.
This can be done by sharing articles posted over the month or sharing trends like the example above.
Source: Matt Navara
So, should you start building an email list? The answer is a resounding yes! An email list gives you direct access to your customers and allows you to build a relationship with them over time.
Forms and Ways To Use Them
There are a few different ways to go about marketing, but one thing that can help you stay on track and make sure your efforts don’t fall flat? Forms.
Especially if they concern an area where you need feedback, like eCommerce or customer service. Forms are primarily used to collect information such as email addresses from users.
In this section, you’ll learn about different kinds of forms, their benefits and where they could be used.
Embedded forms
An embedded form is a form that is integrated into your site. This means that it has come from another source.
For example, when you go onto a website and see that you can watch a youtube video there.
Now in the case of embedded forms, Backlinko has embedded their form right at the top of their site. This is the first thing a user sees. They let the user know what they will get in exchange for their email address.
This is accompanied by a testimonial from a trusted source – Hubspot followed by a clear CTA.
Source: Backlinko
Pop-ups
Pop-ups are a form that appears after a few seconds of being on a site. They are a great way to get a user’s attention.
Pop-ups, although attention-grabbing, can be annoying and therefore must be used with caution.
The pop-up example below also makes use of deals. They let signups know that they will receive a 10% discount on their first order.
They also let users know that they are signing up to receive exclusive offers, advice, and new product offerings. This creates transparency on what list they are signing up for and what they can expect.
Source: Convertflow
Floating forms
A floating form is a form that is pinned in one place on the website. So the form stays put, following you up and down as you scroll the site.
This allows them to sign up at any point without going back to find the form and gives them the ability to contact you easily.
Source: jetsloth
Using Forms To Boost Your Marketing
Forms are a great way to capture leads and collect information from website visitors. There are many different types of forms, and each has its own benefits and purposes.
Forms can gather data about customers, learn more about their needs and wants, and even increase sales. All businesses should consider using forms on their website to better understand their customers and drive sales.
Surveys and How To Use Them
What are surveys?
A survey is a process of collecting and consolidating data from a specific group to attain a deeper understanding of a particular topic.
Why are surveys important?
Market research: Copying your competitors doesn’t work anymore; I’m talking about your Instagram reels. Market research allows businesses to gain key insights into what is working, what isn’t working and what can be improved.
Customer experience: Market research allows businesses to know what their customers want before they do. Often we are working based on assumptions; surveys provide real data from real people that can help provide valuable insights for your brand and business. These surveys create a space for a more forward-thinking approach instead of a reactive one.
Employee satisfaction: Anonymous surveys can be sent out to employees to gain insights into topics one might not want to publicly share. These kinds of surveys are a great way to determine the satisfaction rates of employees without them being fearful of saying the wrong thing to their boss. They are also a great way to encourage employees to share ideas.
In this example, Headspace sent out a survey to their customers to gauge their interest on whether or not they would be interested in a referral program for their business. It is short and sweet, you don’t even need to write anything down.
How to structure a survey
The key to getting high-quality data and a high response rate is using well thought out survey questions.
Types of questions to use in your survey
Open-ended questions: These are questions that allow the respondent to go more in-depth with their responses as they are not limited by the options presented.
Closed-ended questions: These are questions where the respondent selects an answer from the set of options provided.
Rating scale questions: These are questions where respondents select an answer using a scale (1-10).
Source: surveymonkey
Likert scale questions:
These are questions where respondents can express their perspectives on whether they ‘agree or disagree with the question asked.
Source: wpforms
How to measure the effectiveness of those questions?
Use questions that are easy to understand.
The clarity of a question is critical to its effectiveness. The best way to ensure that your survey is seen as straightforward and easy-to-understand.
Ask questions that are neutral and unbiased
Unbiased questions impact the quality of responses you receive. When you ask questions, it is essential to be impartial.
Ask the right kind of question.
Know which question type is right for your audience and situation. Make use of various questions that support the data you want to collect and engage the respondent. For example: In surveys, you ask a question in order to learn and understand something. If you create a survey to learn how you can better deliver value to your email list, you could ask open-ended questions where you are looking for a more in-depth response. You could also make use of closed-ended questions like multiple choice to make it easier for participants to respond to a set of answers.
Ways to promote a survey
Email: This is the most cost-effective and targeted way of conducting a survey. The respondents get to answer it in their own time, and they are already a part of your email list, meaning they are previous clients or future prospects.
Embed on the website: The user will be greeted with a survey when they enter your website. This is a great way to share a survey in a non-intrusive way.
Social media: The survey can be posted to social media, where you can entice your audience to respond. You could offer a 10% discount on their next purchase or a lucrative giveaway.
Quick Response (QR) Codes: The QR Code’s image can be scanned with a camera phone to open the survey in your browser.
Using Surveys For Your Business
Surveys are a great way to turn assumptions into real data.
The survey process begins with identifying a problem or question that needs to be answered. A target audience is then selected and the best way to reach them is determined.
The survey questionnaire is created and pretested. Data is collected and analyzed. The findings of the survey are shared in a report that can be incorporated into future strategies.
Trigger Links and How to Use Them
What is a trigger link?
A trigger link is when a user clicks on a link resulting in a particular action taking place. You can use link triggers to quickly add tags, sign up to sequences, and more – all with just a single click of the mouse!
This lets you quickly and automatically get more information about your subscribers’ preferences and actions.
How do trigger links work?
When someone opens an email, completes a signup form, or clicks a certain link in an email campaign, a workflow is started.
Here’s how a link trigger works in a nutshell:
When you use trigger links, there are two ways to do this. For these examples, let’s say that we use ConvertKit as our email marketing provider.
Trigger Links in Email
- The customer is sent an email with a CTA button that contains a Trigger Link
- The customer is interested in the email and then clicks on the CTA button which triggers an Automation – a Rule, Workflow, or Goal in a Workflow
- An action to send an Automation email is triggered once you set it up in one of the above options.
Trigger Links on a Website
- Customer visits your website
- Customer clicks on text or image hyperlinked with a Trigger Link
- Customer triggers a Rule, Workflow, or achieves a Goal in a Workflow
- An Action to Apply a tag could be triggered in one of the above Automations if you add
How To Do Trigger Links
1.) In your ConvertKit account, click “Automations.”
2.) Click “+ Add Rule” on the right.
3.) Click on the ‘Clicks a link’ event on the left (highlighted below).
4.) It’s time to name your link. After naming it, assign the destination URL.
5.) Then, decide what to do after the link is clicked.
In this example, we chose “Add tag.” You can choose a tag that already exists or make a new one of your own. This is how digital marketers use link triggers to tag and segment people.
6.) Send an email broadcast or set up an autoresponder with the link trigger in it. Add a link to your email by clicking on the “Insert link” icon at the top of your email editor. Then click on the grey “Link Triggers” button on the right. Finally, choose the link trigger that you want to use, and then click on it.
Congratulations! You’ve now made a link trigger and used it in an email.
Try Using Trigger Links For Your Business
If you aren’t using link triggers, you should think about using them. Collect interest for a new product. Ask your subscribers if they want to talk about a certain subject. When you do this, you have more power to send personalized and customized emails that are made just for them.
Customer Behaviour
What is a business without customers? The answer, of course: is nothing. The very foundation upon which everything else depends for business success.
Businesses who know their ideal audience inside and out stand out amongst the crowd as they can tailor their messaging to speak directly to their ideal audience.
This information can be used on your website, email copy, and sales pages, enhancing your brand’s customer experience and positioning.
What is consumer behaviour?
Customer behaviour is the process of anticipating and understanding the behavioural needs of your customers and prospects so that you can best serve them.
When it comes to understanding customer behaviour, you first have to know your customer.
Why is consumer behaviour important in email marketing?
Customer behaviour can be broken down into three major components:
Emotional responses, mental processes, and physical actions.
Each one plays an essential role in consumers deciding who, what, where, when, and why to buy.
Whether it’s what we choose to wear each day or which food items are on our shopping list, consumer behaviour is the study of consumers and their purchases.
Emotional responses: When you take a customer-centric approach, your business has a much better chance at email marketing success. It’s time to put yourself in their shoes and really think about what they want and how you are the best person to help them achieve that.
Mental processes: Studying consumer behaviour can help you learn more about how people make their choices, giving new insights on where you should focus your efforts next.
Physical actions: Conversions happen when they feel like you’re speaking their language, so it’s important to know what kind of messages to share and to whom.
All of these factors add to:
- Increased open rate
- Increased click rate
- Decreased bounces, unsubscribes and spam
= Increased ROI
How Email Marketing Can Influence Consumer Behaviour
1. Identify key customer actions: When you know your customers and prospects well, it’s easier to create content they will be interested in. This ensures more relevant action from subscribers, ultimately leading to better outcomes.
2. Link each action with an email: Now that you know what your customers will be interested in, you can plan what actions you would like to come out of an email. For example, whether it be lead nurture, increased brand awareness or sales.
3. Craft relevant and engaging emails: This is where you move on to the actual contents of your email. Now that you’ve gotten your data and strategies from the steps above, you can craft the perfect message for your subscribers.
4. Set up behavioural triggers in your marketing automation system: Triggers can now be created and implemented based on previous customer behaviour and findings.
5. Monitor your results and make smart adjustments: The final step is monitoring that behaviour. There is likely always to be trial and error. Also, consumer behaviour is changing rapidly, so it’s essential to watch what’s working and what isn’t.
The way you use email marketing can have an enormous impact on your consumer’s behaviour. By understanding their needs and wants, you can better serve them through messaging that resonates. When customers feel like you know them personally, they are more likely to become loyal followers and customers.
How do you plan on using what you’ve learned about customer behaviour to improve your business?
If all of this sounds intimidating, or if you want help with creating an effective marketing plan that drives results by considering these principles, let us know.
