Having 10K followers on LinkedIn is only useful if you can convert them into leads. Growing an email list directly communicates with this audience, ensuring you can reach it without relying on social media algorithms.
You own the email list and control your exclusive audience. Additionally, it helps nurture leads, guiding potential customers through their buyer’s journey.
Today, we will cover seven easy ways to grow your email list using social media.
Email marketing is a popular and valuable form of marketing. It’s practical, accessible, and measurable. It is important in order to improve sales in the long run.
Email marketing generates a higher return on investment compared to other marketing strategies. Depending on the industry, this ROI can be even greater. For every $1 spent on email marketing, marketers can earn $42.
Source: Litmus
Marketers are responsible for adding fresh contacts to their email lists to generate growth and nurture leads. Additionally, it helps you optimise your entire lead generation funnel, from nurturing leads, turning them into paying customers, and guiding them through their buyer’s journey.
Once you obtain customers’ email addresses, you can engage directly on a personal level through their inboxes, tailoring your communication to enhance your performance. Then, building an email list provides a platform for sharing valuable content. Furthermore, maintaining a coherent and engaging email thread helps nurture relationships by keeping your audience informed and connected over time.
Let’s look at various options for adding your social followers to your email list.
Tip 1: Promote email sign-ups directly on social media profiles
The effectiveness of adding email sign-up links directly in social media profile descriptions is high. Put a link to your homepage or another landing pages with a pop-up and an opt-in form and your followers will have the opportunity to take your offer immediately.
If you prefer a polished look, you can use Bitly, Linktree, or another link shortener. Doing so you can reach out to those interested in knowing more about your offers.
But there are a lot of other methods:
1. Use your Instagram bio (usually it’s around 150 characters) to highlight a CTA for your email list and include a direct link. Also, add an action email button to your Instagram business page. This also can be done on Facebook to reach out to those interested in knowing more about your company and offers.
2. Employ a social share or “Email to a Friend” button, a clickable icon placed on a webpage that allows users to easily share content on their social media profiles with just one click. This tool might be very effective for email list building. With just a click, your followers can share the valuable content with a link to your opt-in page. Your contact list will be expanded by gaining access to recipients’ friends, colleagues, and networks.
Tip 2: Integrate email sign-ups into social media content
To improve conversion from social media posts to email opt-ins, consider these content techniques:
- Create a Facebook post that showcases a snippet of your email newsletter to attract your audience. They’ll get a preview of what you have to offer, become eager to learn more and sign up to continue generating value from your business. Keep in mind that all forms should be mobile-friendly, as many users will engage via mobile devices.
- For e-commerce brands, try posts that provide a preview of upcoming products/collections. In the caption of the post, encourage your followers to sign up for email notifications that will alert them as soon as the new products are launched.
- Leverage the cover photos on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to promote your email list. Design graphics to highlight your custom links, and QR codes that are created using the best QR code generator and feature a compelling CTA encouraging visitors to subscribe. Use text within the graphic to tease the benefits of your newsletter or the content they’ll gain access to by signing up.
- Consider adding hyperlinks to your sign-up landing page in your video end screens (video outros) to grow your email list. If you create video tutorials and then rank them on YouTube, you can quickly build a strong following of those interested in what you’re offering. It is worth trying to direct viewers to take additional action. You can also capture leads by placing a link to your sign-up landing page in your channel header and video description.
- Interact with followers and encourage them to sign up through comments and direct messages. Analyze when your audience is most active and schedule posts or updates during these peak times.
Tip 3: Leverage the power of social media advertising
It’s worth investing some money and time in social media advertising. However, your ad, text, and image must be carefully optimized to convert into email leads.
You might consider running paid campaigns on Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Providing a solution to your target customers’ biggest pain points with sponsored posts is also a good idea.
Test different ad elements to see what resonates best with your audience. For example:
- Version A: Use an image or sample of your newsletter.
- Version B: Include testimonials or statistics to build trust and credibility.
Creating compelling ad copy involves understanding your audience and what motivates them. Most users likely won’t see a one-time promotion on a single social media platform. You need to stick to these platforms and use multiple ones.
Don’t forget to specify your target audience’s demographics, interests, behaviors, and other criteria. This helps in reaching the right people with your ad.
Tip 4: Offer social media-specific incentives
Contests, flashmobs, and giveaways are also a great way to grab some email addresses. How does it work? Ask your followers to click on the link in the Instagram bio to register for the giveaway. After announcing the winner, you can follow up by sending a discount code for that service to everyone who entered.
Also, consider partnering with influencers who already reach your ideal customers. Since influencers often run giveaways to grow their following, you can offer your product to help kickstart a giveaway campaign.
During the contest, you can encourage your participants to keep going by retweeting and sharing their posts. For example, you can host a Twitter chat to start a conversation, build your social influence, and engage with potential customers. For example, brands often invite experts to answer questions people ask during the chat on X.com:
Make sure it is fun for people to participate. The more people you can get, the more opt-ins you will get.
Or host a free webinar on a topic related to your products, or one you know will interest many potential customers. Advertise your webinar and gather the email addresses of those who register for your free session. Additionally, if a webinar or workshop has ended, visitors can sign up as members to receive emails about future events.
Try also to use Pinterest for visual content that encourages visitors to sign up to see more. For example, you can share an infographic or the newsletter design element.
One more idea is to create valuable lead magnets, like ebooks, online courses, long-form articles, cheat sheets, or templates, which are usually closed by the paywall, and promote them on your channels. Invite followers to subscribe to your newsletter to get the desired free content.
Remember, Facebook, X, Reddit, Pinterest, or any social media platform has the right to suspend or even delete your account at any time, therefore, it’s crucial to adhere to their guidelines and use these channels responsibly.
Tip 5: Use social media to showcase the value of your newsletters
It would be ideal if users could discover who you are and what you do just from your social media profiles, but a newsletter combined with a compelling call to action might be even more effective.
Share snippets or previews of your newsletter content and entice users in social media posts by explaining the benefits of subscribing, such as bonuses, and exclusive offers.
Highlight the valuable insights, tips, or exclusive content, featured in your newsletters. Use Facebook and LinkedIn groups to share these insights with the community.
By consistently providing value, you can then effectively encourage members to sign up for your mailing list.
Tip 6: Engage with comments and direct messages
Groups and communities are great places to showcase your skills and knowledge while building your professional network. To gain subscribers, spend time nurturing the community weekly by posting helpful content and encouraging discussion among members.
At first, you need to work hard, especially to make your conversations active and involve everyone. But once your audience grows over time, you’ll be in a great position to offer it in exchange for something valuable, like a lead magnet.
It will be beneficial to use a tool for social listening, for example, Keyhole can help by tracking hashtags, keywords, and mentions related to your brand.
Also, don’t hesitate to have one-on-one conversations with individual followers. You’ll notice that these connections are the warmest leads and tend to make the best clients.
Tip 7: Educate your audience about the dangers of spam
In email marketing, following regulations by only sending campaigns to those who have opted in is essential. Buying pre-built email lists leads to high unsubscribe rates and violates GDPR. It can damage your reputation.
Targeting genuinely interested subscribers yields better results. To guarantee you have enthusiastic email subscribers, use double opt-ins.
Try to ensure your future newsletter audience that your content will be trustworthy. You don’t want to be that email sender who bombards subscribers with irrelevant emails. Also, avoid activities that could detract from the quality and effectiveness of your email marketing efforts, such as email spam words, leading to letters marked as spam. The reputable email marketing tools and providers will help your campaigns land in your subscribers’ inboxes, rather than their spam folders.
Wrapping up
Social media is one of the best platforms for engaging with your customers, nurturing relationships, and encouraging them to subscribe to your emails. Following easy tips, you can grow your email list and convert subscribers to leads. Include sign-up links in your profile bios, and mention your newsletter in posts, stories, and videos.
Attend targeted ads and offer incentives to encourage sign-ups, providing exclusive content or discounts. Try sharing snippets of your newsletters and highlight value for your audience. Ensuring that their privacy is protected is also beneficial. Finally, respond to comments and messages promptly to nurture a strong community.
Specialists seeking to expand their email lists using social media should stay updated on brand mentions. And for that, Keyhole is their best shot. Start a free trial and see how Keyhole can keep you vigilant on the social side so build your lists faster!
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. How to increase the social media following?
It is not unusual for people to follow brands on social media to stay up-to-date on new products, as well as to keep up with company or industry news. As with most lead generation campaigns, you need to offer users something valuable to attract more followers.
2. How to grow an email list from scratch?
Many stores offer discounts to consumers who subscribe to their newsletter. To encourage people to sign up, you can share exclusive content, a discount coupon, or a free sample offer on social media. Ensure you include an attractive image and a solid call to action when posting these incentives online. Focus on engaging content, personalized messages, and effective communication to maximize the benefits of your email list.
Consistently promote your newsletter with a regular social media campaign. Pin your CTA on Pinterest, link it in Instagram stories, and share it weekly on LinkedIn. Use stories to create compelling narratives. It can be done not only on Instagram, but also on Snapchat, Twitter, or TikTok. Make growing your email list a priority and mention it often.
3. How long does it take to grow an email list with ads?
Investing in social media ads is an effective way to grow your email list from scratch quickly. These ads help you target an audience interested in your brand, ensuring your message reaches the right people. Additionally, retargeting ads can convert visitors who haven't yet subscribed to your list. However, growing your audience with ads depends on the advertising budget, the effectiveness of the ads, the target audience, etc. Generally, it can take from a few months to a year or more to see growth.
