How to Build a Blog Email List (From Scratch)

How to Build a Blog Email List

Email Marketing!!!! A term mentioned every day, every hour in the online world; Today, I will shed light on how to build a blog email list from scratch.

Building an email list from scratch is known as organic email list building in the world of email marketing. 

This implies you must find a strategy to reach out to your target audience and get them to join your email marketing campaign. 

Organic email list development tactics are permission-based, which means that only persons who have given their explicit permission will be included in your list.

Building an amazing email list from scratch might be challenging. But In this post, I’ll go over several high-quality tactics for building an email list for you from scratch. 

To have a better understanding, let’s start by explaining some basic terms.

See also: Email marketing for Bloggers.

What Is Email List In Blogging?

Email lists in blogging are compiled by bloggers through their marketing efforts in order to gather a collection of email addresses belonging to potential audiences.

This is one of the most significant things a blogger can have since it enables you to engage directly with your readers while also promoting your content.

When businesses enable clients to submit information for consultation when they visit their website, this is part of collecting emails.

Do I Need An Email List For a Blog?

After you understand what an email list is, it’s time to grasp why it’s so important for your blog.

The advantages of having an email list for your blog are numerous. It can aid in increasing ROI, audience communication, and click-throughs.

I’m not going to squander my time here. I just need a few moments to demonstrate why you need an email list for your blog in addition to Social Media or Search engine optimization.

Social Media

Do you use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to remind your followers about your articles after you publish them?

Yes? Nice work.

But you should already be aware that Facebook’s algorithms are constantly changing and that it controls who sees what and how much of you.

The fact that Twitter now accepts sponsored content removes the barrier of arbitrariness in selecting who sees what.

And with all other social media outlets, you can only hope but never count on, that they will not follow in their footsteps at some time.

Search Engines and Google

You can affect whether and how well you are shown on Google to some extent through SEO and strong, consistent content, but Google ultimately makes the choice.

Again, this is something that makes you reliant on the attention of your readers.

The outstanding benefits of Email List

With Email building, YOU DECIDE WHEN, HOW, AND WHERE TO RETURN YOUR READERS TO YOUR BLOG.

You also have the most direct and strongest influence you can have in their inbox. In contrast to their busy everyday lives and the daily flood of information on the Internet,

What’s more, the people who are most enthusiastic about you, your topic, and what you offer are here.

So, if you want to distribute another post, a new blog, or a new product, there is no better-screened group of individuals than right there: YOUR EMAIL LIST!

So, how do you go about building your email list?

If you don’t have any ideas to build an email list for your blog or have run out of ideas, here are 17 easy and efficient ways to do it.

How Do You Build An Email List For Your Blog?

Place email registration forms in strategic places.

Placing your email registration form in the most visible areas is the simplest approach to contacting your target audience.

I utilize the following locations when building an email list for my blog:

  • Blog post sidebar
  • In the footer
  • On the introduction page
  • On the blog page.

Although they are all apparent areas, consumers frequently ignore them.

So, in your form content, include statements that are relevant to your audience’s desires, as well as features that are likely to elicit activity, such as social proof or testimonials.

A call to action to sign up for content updates

People don’t want to miss anything, and they want to receive content updates that are relevant to them.

This is a tactic I picked up from HubSpot.

To test this, add a Get Updates button just below the blog post title.

When the user hits the button, a popup window appears with a form in which they may enter their email address:

In fact, this is one of the most effective strategies for increasing email list signups.

Include popups

Popups have a terrible reputation for being intrusive and disruptive, but if they are correctly crafted and serve a specific purpose, they can help you increase your list significantly.

In fact, in less than two years, Sumo users have acquired 23,645,948 email addresses via popups.

For years, HubSpot has used popups to capture emails.

When using popups for email building, keep the following in mind:

  • Make it relevant: Make sure your popup is timely and relevant.
  • Don’t show popups to first-time visitors; instead, look at the typical length of time users spend on a page to decide the appropriate amount of time for popups.
  • Make use of exit-intent popups: Form builders frequently advise you to pick your trigger depending on departure intent.

81% of study participants believe that interactive content attracts attention more successfully than static material, according to the Content Marketing Institute.

Make use of lead magnets.

Most visitors will not provide personal information such as email addresses if they do not receive something in return.

As a result, you’ll need to employ lead magnets like templates, ebooks, checklists, and so on to boost your capacity to “convince” customers to submit information.

In my other blog, I create free marketing templates and require users to give an email address before they may access this resource.    

Make a newsletter subscription page.

People may wish to sign up for a newsletter on your website at times. That is a valid requirement, and you may assist them by creating a landing page.

This landing page can also be used to divert traffic from sources other than your website.

In comparison to other sites, it concentrates on conversion and obtaining email addresses.

You must build a seamless experience for consumers in order to capture their attention and guide them to the required action.

On-Demand Curve’s landing page, I’m quite enthusiastic about what they do. It’s an enticing, valuable newsletter registration page.

Make use of social media.

Social media is a powerful technique that can help you build your email list. You begin by adding an action button to your Facebook Page.

Following that, you provide a link to your newsletter registration page in the About area of Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other social media channels where you have an account.

Additionally, with social media content, you can include a newsletter registration page link (if applicable) and a call to action.

Increased scale through advertising

Paid advertising is the most efficient strategy to build an email list.

Targeting and scalability features allow you to rapidly reach out to potential audiences. Jon Loomer did this using Facebook ads:

While paid advertising might help you expand your list faster, it is only truly effective if your lead magnet converts people into email subscribers.

Establish a referral scheme.

Your current subscribers are your best source of getting new subscribers.

If you have an email list with a high open rate, encourage your readers to share your newsletter with others in their network.

However, this cannot be done manually; instead, you must create a process utilizing an onboarding email platform.

Demand Curve sponsored the following email referral program:

They give referrers a newsletter registration page link that has been stuffed with tracking parameters:

They also offer a page where individuals may keep track of their referrals:

When a referral program is effective, it helps to build a growth loop, and the number of email list members grows virally…

Include a call to action on your About page.

In terms of conversion potential, your About page is one of your strongest. Consider this: how frequently do you browse About Us pages for companies in which you have no interest?

Your About Us page should ideally leave visitors wanting more from your company, but it may not be enough to persuade them to make a purchase.

A CTA urging customers to join up for a newsletter is preferable to a “buy now” request.

A/B split testing 

The importance of timing cannot be overstated. Your calls to action will be most effective if you capture visitors when they are ready to act.

Determining whether your visitors are ready to convert is dependent on the behavior of your website users; therefore, do A/B testing to know where your CTAs should be placed.

Is it more effective at the bottom of the blog page, where it slides out from the right, or at the top of the page, where it slides out from the left?

Ultimately, it will depend on the content of your website and your audience.

Basic Email List-Building Resources And Tools

Webform

A web form, usually referred to as a registration form, is an HTML form that is put on a website to allow visitors to register.

There are several forms to pick from, such as signup forms, download boxes, scrolling forms, sticky bars, light boxes, and exit popups.

You can construct a web form from scratch or utilize a list builder, such as the ones integrated into platforms like GetResponse and Mailchimp.

There are several themes to pick from, as well as a visual editor that allows you to personalize your online form to match the style of your website.

Consider the quality-to-quantity ratio while creating your online forms.

If you want to reach a specialized audience (for example, to produce B2B leads), you may need to construct a lengthier web form that requests additional information: firm name, company size, location, and so on.

If your goal is to reach a wider audience—for instance, prospective online shoppers—you may limit the information you ask for to the essentials like name and email address.

In general, the longer the form, the fewer individuals will sign up. The shorter the online form, the more registrations you’ll get, but you’ll never know how many individuals fulfill your requirements.

The challenge is to understand your objectives and only request information that is important to balancing the quality/quantity ratio.

The landing page

A landing page, often known as a “about page” or “lead capture page,” is a webpage with a clear call to action meant to increase conversions.

Landing pages are frequently used for lead generation in email marketing.

Again, there are several methods for creating a landing page, but the most convenient is to utilize a landing page builder.

Mailchimp’s landing page builder includes free mobile-optimized landing page templates, an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor, and many more features.

Webinars

Webinars, also known as “web conferences,” “webinars,” or “online meetings,” can be an excellent approach to establishing an email list of high-quality connections.

The concept is straightforward: you supply relevant information to everyone who joins your contact list.

Carefully written webinar content will entice your target audience. To enhance reach, promote your webinar using additional online marketing platforms.

Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is something valuable you provide in exchange for your target audience’s contact information.

A lead magnet’s objective is to increase signups and maximize the number of targeted leads received via a web form.

Example of a lead magnet:

  • Ebook
  • Manual
  • Report
  • Checklist
  • Resource pack
  • Framework
  • Educational materials
  • Etc.

You may, of course, provide different forms of “free gifts” or “opt-in bribes.”

The bottom line is that if you want to grow your email list, you must produce content that will entice your audience to give you their email addresses.

This post will provide you with additional lead magnet ideas to help you expand your email list quickly.

What To Put In Mind When Choosing An Email Marketing Platform For Your Blog?

Choosing the correct email marketing platform is critical when creating an email list. Here are some things to think about while selecting a blogging platform:

User-friendly interface:

Look for an email marketing platform that is simple to use. This saves you time and work when it comes to establishing and administering campaigns.

Automation and segmentation capabilities:

Segmenting your email list based on many criteria and using automation are two features that a robust email marketing platform needs to offer. 

You may then send personalized emails to certain parts of your audience, enhancing engagement and conversion rates.

Powerful analytics and reporting:

Capabilities for detailed analytics and reporting are critical for analyzing the effectiveness of your email campaigns.

Look for a platform that offers detailed statistics on open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and other metrics.

Scalability:

Consider the future expansion of your blog and select an email marketing platform that can scale to meet your demands.

This guarantees that you do not overrun the platform as your email list grows.

 Conclusion

Building an email list from the beginning is difficult, but the strategies I discussed above will help you simplify the process.

Not all strategies are equally successful; some will be more effective than others. It is critical that you prioritize testing them.

For me, the organic ways of adding popups, leveraging lead magnets, and calling to action for content updates are by far the most effective.

How can you quickly grow an email list?

Running PPC advertising campaigns and driving traffic to your landing pages is the quickest approach to developing your email list.

You’ll also need a lead magnet to persuade your website visitors to give you their email addresses.

You may also collaborate with other businesses to promote each other’s content (e.g., ebooks) or organize webinars together and then exchange email lists.