Email marketing remains a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their audience, drive conversions, and nurture customer relationships.

However, in an era where inboxes are filled with messages, it’s crucial to craft emails that stand out and capture the reader’s attention.

Also, as social media platforms become more constraining with how they choose to show your posts (even to your followers), email marketing becomes the most direct way of communicating with your audience. Plus it’s free and easy to use.

In this article, we will explore the key strategies for building an email list from scratch and ensuring you have a large audience of subscribers with who you can share your content.

Let’s get started!

What Makes a Great Email?

Approximately 347.3 billion emails are sent globally each day. That’s a 4.2% increase from 2022 when 333.2 billion were sent each day.

This means that your customers are not only receiving emails from you. In fact, if there’s nothing unique about your email, they have no reason to open it.

Meaning, you’re just going to have another dormant subscriber waiting for the day they decide to unsubscribe from your list.

So, what makes a great email?

1. Content

The content of your email determines if your customers will stay on your list or leave immediately. A great email content captivates the reader’s attention from the beginning. It uses storytelling and compelling narratives to make the email more engaging.

By evoking emotions, sparking curiosity, or presenting thought-provoking ideas, the content creates a connection with the reader and keeps them interested.

Additionally, clarity in email content is vital. A great email conveys its message concisely and avoids ambiguity. The content should be easily understandable and free from jargon or complex language.

It ensures that the recipient grasps the main points and understands the intended action, making it easier for them to respond positively.

2. Relevance

A great email delivers content that is highly relevant to the recipient. It addresses their needs, interests, and pain points.

When the recipient feels that the content is valuable and tailored to their specific needs, they are more likely to engage with the email and take the desired action.

So, it’s advised to identify your target audience and provide valuable information, insights, or solutions relevant to them.

How to Easily Build an Email List

Follow these steps to easily grow your email list from scratch.

1. Offer a lead magnet

A lead magnet is a free product or item given to potential buyers to lure them to you. By giving out free products, you have a greater chance to capture the attention of your audience, collect their email addresses, and pitch your paid products to them.

This is why lead magnets are a very important part of your marketing strategy. When you offer something of value, your customers get what they want, you get emails and everyone wins.

Lead magnets are very effective because people need a reason to join your email list. And what other way is there to convince them than to give them a taste of what is to come?

Even more, email is a very personal thing. 92% of online adults use email, with 61% using it on an average day. Hence, people aren’t going to simply give you their email addresses. It is your job as a brand to convince them to do this. That’s where lead magnets come in handy.

It could be anything from a discount on your products or services to a free ebook or video. Whatever you offer, make sure it’s something that would be valuable to your target audience.

For example, if you’re a fashion and lifestyle influencer, you can consider creating a free ebook on style inspiration for women of different sizes and shapes.

Overall, think of lead magnets as the candy you give to a child to encourage them to do better in school. It helps your audience be more interested in joining your email list.

LEARN: The Ultimate Guide to Using Lead Magnets to Grow Your Business

2. Share your knowledge online

Another effective way to grow your email list from scratch is to share your knowledge online. That is, sharing content online about what you know and how it can help others.

That’s how you build an audience on social media and form a loyal community for your brand. It is also a good way to establish yourself as an authority in your industry or niche.

By consistently creating and sharing valuable content, whether through blog posts, videos, podcasts, or social media, you position yourself as an expert and a valuable resource for your target audience. This credibility boosts your reputation and attracts individuals who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.

Also, as you share your knowledge online, you can then complement it with compelling lead magnets such as e-books, guides, checklists, templates, or exclusive video content.

These resources should be directly related to the topics you cover, offering additional value and solving specific problems your audience may have.

The idea behind sharing your knowledge online is to make people aware of what you know and use that knowledge to attract an audience. People are naturally drawn to value, and as long as you have and share valuable knowledge online, you will build an audience interested in what you have to say.

3. Add a newsletter signup CTA to your social media

Social media is a great resource for people who want to build an online presence. It is also a good hub to drive subscribers to your email list.

Here’s how.

When you share knowledge online, in the form of carousels, tweets, posts, images, or even videos, you are subtly announcing your presence as an authority in your field.

Do this consistently for 3 to 6 months, and you have a community of people interested in your brand.

Then to build your email list, include a newsletter call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your posts to make people know that there’s more where that came from.

Email is very personal to people, and over time has been proven to be a closer way to interact with your customers.

When you share that post online, don’t forget to include a; “If you loved this tweet, there’s more where that came from. Every week, I send out newsletters to digital creators and entrepreneurs on strategies to navigate the creator economy. You can subscribe here.”

Now that’s a good and effective CTA to get people to join your email list fast.

4. Place a signup button on all your emails

This is probably the most important. Always place a signup button on all your emails. Do not assume that people who read your emails are only your subscribers.

Your newsletters can be shared with various people and the last thing you want to do is make it difficult for people to get on your list.

The goal is to capture the attention of your recipients and encourage them to take action.

Strategically position the signup button where it is easily visible and accessible, such as near your email signature or in the footer.

Use contrasting colors, compelling copy, and an attention-grabbing design to draw the reader’s eye toward the button. You never know where your next subscriber will come from.

5. Optimize your email content

The content of your email plays a significant role in driving email list growth. It should resonate with your audience and provide value. Address their pain points, offer solutions, and showcase your expertise.

Use a conversational and engaging tone to establish a connection with the reader. Share valuable insights, industry news, or exclusive tips that will be valuable to your readers.

Clearly communicate the benefits subscribers will receive by joining your email list. Explain how they will gain access to exclusive content, special promotions, discounts, industry updates, or insider information.

Highlight any unique selling points that differentiate your emails from others in their inbox.

Use persuasive copywriting techniques to create a sense of urgency and highlight the benefits of subscribing. For example, phrases like “Unlock exclusive insights” or “Don’t miss out, subscribe now!” create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and motivate readers to join your email list.

Lastly, ensure that your call-to-action (CTA) is clear, concise, and visually appealing. Use action-oriented language and direct readers to click the signup button to join your email list.

By consistently delivering valuable content, you build trust and increase the likelihood of readers wanting to join your email list.

LEARN: Email Marketing 101: How to Write Great Emails to Sell Out Your Products

6. Test and Iterate

Testing different variations of your email content and CTA is crucial for optimization. Conduct A/B testing by sending different versions of your emails to small segments of your subscriber list and compare the results.

Test different elements such as subject lines, email content, sending time, CTA placement, design variations, or even different incentives.

Track relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) like open rates, click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and overall subscriber growth.

Analyzing these metrics provides insights into the impact of your email content and CTAs on your audience’s engagement and conversion behavior.

Monitor these KPIs closely to identify patterns and trends that can guide your optimization efforts. Then, use these insights to refine your email content and CTA strategy over time.

Start Building Your Email List

Building an engaged email list is a crucial aspect of successful digital marketing. It allows you to establish a direct line of communication with your audience, nurturing relationships, and driving conversions.

While growing an email list from scratch may seem challenging, there are effective strategies that can help you achieve significant results which have been shared in this article.

And if you need an all-in-one platform to sell digital products and also send emails to your customers, Selar is there.

With Selar, you can sell all kinds of digital products, integrate your favorite email marketing tool, and monitor the progress of your business all from one robust dashboard.

Don’t you like the taste of goodness?