Having a great email marketing strategy is smart for your business. However, if you don’t have engaged subscribers, your message may be falling on deaf ears, and you may be wasting time and resources.

The first step to an engaged subscriber list is to strategically build your list, and the second is to nurture this list. Many businesses find great success with their initial email strategy, and continue to blast inboxes with information and promotions, only to find that open rates gradually decrease. Email marketing databases naturally degrade by about 22.5% every year.

The following five techniques will expand your audience reach and help make sure your subscribers are engaged and can help dramatically increase your ROI.

1. Social Media

Obviously, social media is a driving force in the marketing industry. Don’t assume that social media viewers are automatically visiting your website. If you aren’t using it to capture email subscribers, you are missing out on a huge opportunity.

Use a sign-up option such as a “Subscribe” link on Facebook. This is an easy way to capture additional emails that can then be used to send information and drive traffic to your website. Share buttons and call-to-action buttons are also effective in generating engagement.

2. Host an Event or Contest

If you have a special event that you are planning, ask people to register for the event. By capturing their information, you can send them information for the event, and add them to your email list for promotions and future events.

Contests and free giveaways are also a great way to add subscribers by having entrants sign up with email addresses. Most marketing platforms can integrate with event planning tools such as GuestList and Eventbrite. Incorporating the events and contests with social media is a comprehensive approach to reaching your audience.

3. Website Sign-Up Form

Everyone has a website, but with the overwhelming amount of information at our fingertips, it isn’t enough just to have a website. The challenge for today’s businesses is to create a functional, yet compelling site that provides information on services, and compels the viewer to delve further and convert to a customer. Since the average person loses concentration after eight seconds, it is vital to capture their information from the start.

Website sign-up forms and pop-ups are a great way to grow your contact list. Keep the sign-up form simple. A few questions such as birthday and gender usually won’t scare off interested parties and provides great information to send customized content. Programs such as Sumo are user friendly and effective tools to build this add on.

Now that you’ve implemented strategies to grow your email list, it’s time to engage with your subscribers and maintain your list.

4. Engage Your Subscribers with Personalized Content

According to Experian, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.

Email marketing platforms like Campaign Monitor provide their customers with dynamic content features to keep subscribers engaged and interested. Campaign Monitor’s email marketing software does this through list segmentation, grouping customers by demographics, location, and purchase or browsing history.

By using data gathered from email list grow strategies like social media, webinars and website signup forms, marketers can deeply personalized emails that increase engage rates. Furthermore, Campaign Monitor allows for customized automation to send timely and relevant emails consistently. These tactics will keep your subscriber list active and current.

5. Maintain Subscribers with Opt-in Campaigns

Review your current email list and determine the activity level. If you feel that there is a declining trend in opens, or you have an old list, it may be a perfect time to create an opt-in message. By offering old subscribers the option to be removed, you can actually ignite attention and engagement.

There are many reasons that an email subscriber may become inactive – too many emails, too few emails, no longer interested, and so on. By providing an opt-in message, you can either prove you have value to customers that are on the fence, or eliminate those that are least likely to purchase anyway.

Takeaway

Finding the right recipients for your email marketing campaign may take some time, but these methods are a great start to building a list of potential customers. Once you have a respectable subscriber list, you can start delivering relevant information that will keep them active and interested.

Most likely, as you see your email list grow, you will see a positive growth in your business.