Building a strong email list is one of the best things you can do for your business but it can be hard to do this organically and gain targeted prospects.
Using social media is a great way to grow your email list but it does involve doing a bit of groundwork to get the best results.
Ready to find out more? Here are some tips for building a bigger email list through social media.
Step #1 – Creating a Lead Magnet
Most people are wary of giving their details away and are much more likely to sign up for a mailing list if there is something in it for them.
To entice targeted prospects to sign up to your mailing list, you need to give them an incentive.
One of the best ways to do this is to create some killer content that will be very relevant to your prospects and solve a problem that they currently have. To get this, they need to “opt in” to your mailing list and provide their email address.
The really important thing here is that your lead magnet is top quality and will prove incredibly useful for the people that “opt in” to receive it.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can skimp on this because it’s not a paid product. For most of your new subscribers, it will be their first introduction to you so you want to wow them and let them see why you’re someone they should look forward to hearing from on a regular basis.
Step #2 – Creating a Targeted Opt In Landing Page
Once your lead magnet is good to go, the next step is to put together a landing page that you can direct people to for signing up to receive it (and getting on your mailing list as a result!).
Unlike a lot of other landing pages, this needs to be as simple as possible. The main focus should be on the opt-in element. After all, this is what they’ve come to the page for, and you don’t want to risk their attention being diverted away before you’ve had chance to clinch those all-important details.
When this page is ready, you’ll need to condense it using bit.ly or similar so that it’s easier to share online.
You’re now ready to get to the nitty gritty of using social media to promote your lead magnet and bring targeted traffic to your opt-in page!
Step #3 – Sharing Your Lead Magnet on Social Media
First of all, you need to really pin down who your prospects are and where they hang out on social media.
You should be creating your lead magnet with a particular audience in mind but there’s no point promoting it everywhere if these people only tend to use one or two social networks, for example.
For the purposes of this post, most of the popular social networks are going to be discussed but you’ll need to do a bit of critical thinking and research to decide which ones are going to work best for finding your ideal prospects.
Here are some of the key places that you can look to include the link to your opt-in page on social media:
Bio/About sections: When people first come across you on social media, they’ll usually want to know more about you so this is an important place to feature your freebie. Include a very brief overview of what your lead magnet is about and the condensed link to your opt-in page to tempt visits and sign ups.
Tweets: Send out a handful of tweets that promote your lead magnet, and include a visual image to attract attention. If you don’t have a big Twitter audience, you may want to think about using ads and targeting the kind of prospects that are likely to benefit from your freebie.
Facebook Ads: If you’ve got a bit of marketing budget that you’re prepared to use to grow your list, Facebook ads can be highly targeted and you can narrow things down so that your ads go out to people who work in particular industries and follow specific people or pages, for example. This can help you to reach out to the exact demographic that you want to hook. Instead of highlighting a Facebook page, you can send them directly to your opt in page.
Custom Facebook Apps: Promote the link to your opt in page in a custom app on your Facebook page. This will show up in the sidebar sections of the page and is another way to get it seen on Facebook, especially by people who already like your page.
Pinterest Pins: Create a visually engaging pin that promotes your lead magnet, and don’t forget to include a brief one line description of your freebie, what people will get if they sign up for it and of course, the condensed link.
Instagram posts: While you’re busy creating visual promotions for your lead magnet, don’t forget Instagram. You can use the same kind of image as on Pinterest or you can go to town and do a brand new one that promotes your freebie in a different way. You’ve got a bit more scope to talk about your lead magnet here and to use hashtags that will help the post to be found by the right people.
LinkedIn posts: If your lead magnet is going to help people to take their career or business forwards, you could get some traction by promoting it on LinkedIn too. If you’re going to use LinkedIn groups, remember the golden rule: be useful and not just “spammy. Don’t go into groups with the sole focus of plugging your lead magnet. As much as it may benefit people in particular groups, you’ll come across as self promoting if you’re not also making an effort to contribute meaningfully to discussions and providing helpful expertise.
After You’ve Got Their Email
Encouraging subscribers to opt in to your content isn’t the end of things. If you get it right, it should only be the beginning of your relationship.
If they liked what you created for them, they’ll be happy to stick around and carry on receiving emails from you – as long as what you’re sending is relevant, interesting and informative for them.
If it’s not, they’ll quickly hit the unsubscribe button and you’ll be back to square one with your efforts to build your list again.
The trick is to keep on producing killer content that positions you as an authority in your niche and is genuinely helpful for your subscribers.
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to start thinking about the kind of high quality content that you can put together as a lead magnet to draw subscribers in and start promoting the link to your opt in page across your social media profiles!
image: shutterstock
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