Email marketing can be a fabulous way to increase sales and engage your audience, but if you have no clue how to build or grow your email marketing list, that is something you need to focus on right away. Email is still the #1 way to nurture relationships with prospects and existing customers, but mobile marketing is something that is growing in importance too, but for now email is king. The more people you get on your email list the larger your potential to close a sale.  So if you don’t want to send your emails to the same 100 people who may not be taking the kinds of action. Here are five things that will help you instantly amp up your email list.

1. Ask People to Sign Up

If you run a retail or other physical business, you have the unique opportunity to ask customers face-to-face to sign up for your email newsletters. If they have hesitation about doing so, explain the benefits: you might offer exclusive coupons or invites to special events that no other customers know about. As an added bonus, you might offer an instant coupon for 20% off of their next purchase as soon as they sign up.

2. Make it Part of the Ecommerce Experience

If you run an online store, beef up your email list with this little trick: in the checkout process, include a box for people to opt out of your emails. That means they have to deliberately check the box if they don’t want your emails. So the majority of people won’t bother to check the box, and you’ll instantly add new customers to your mailing list.

3. Create an Irresistible Offer

People love freebies, but not just any freebies. Hubspot is a phenomenal example of a brand that puts out really useful templates and ebooks that it gives away for free…in exchange for an email address. (like these ebook templates)

Don’t just slap something together in an attempt to get more email signups. Spend time understanding the kinds of content your audience wants, and then write and use a graphic designer to develop an appealing giveaway. But you’re not done there. If people don’t know about it, they won’t seek it out. You’ll also need to promote the free offer via social media, your blog, and maybe online advertising to tell more people about it and get them to sign up for the offer.

4. Attend a Networking Event

Networking is a wonderful way to meet business contacts, as well as to drive your email list growth. At a networking event, exchange business cards with as many interesting people as you can meet. Then when you get home, enter those emails into social media to further connect with those contacts and then add those names to your email marketing database. It’s common courtesy to first send an email to your new contacts letting them know that you are adding them to the list, and what they can expect. If they don’t want to be on your list, they will tell you, but most people won’t opt out if they’ve met you and are interested in what you do.

5. Participate in an Event

You’re a thought leader, and should get out there to share your knowledge with your audience. That might mean participating in a Tweetchat, speaking at a conference, or being a guest on a podcast or media interview. The key is to mention that special giveaway offer and let people know where they can find it on your website.

Usually you’ll get your bio published on the website affiliated with the event, which provides a link to your website where people can subscribe to your email list for that special offer.

Tips for Successful Email Marketing

Growing email database is only one step in your marketing to-do list. You need to continually ensure that you’re delivering value to those email subscribers, or else they will quickly unsubscribe.

Set Up a Schedule. When your audience knows when to expect new content from you via email, they’re happy. Typically, a monthly newsletter and one or two promotional emails a month is enough to keep them engaged without annoying them. But test out frequencies initially to understand what cadence delivers the best open and click-through rates. Then stick to the schedule. Consistency is key.

Never Send Email Just to Send It. Every single email you send should deliver value. What will recipients get from this? Will they immediately trash it, or will they read it, click it, and share it?

Write Great Subject Lines. A poorly written subject line will get your email sent to Trash instantly, but a well-written one will pique people’s curiosity and get the to open and read your email. Spend time getting it right.

Pay Attention to Results. Knowing how many people read your emails can help you shape future emails if you pay attention. You can quickly glean what topics, offers, or subject lines aren’t resonating with your audience and make changes to improve future results.

Getting results from email marketing takes effort, to be sure, but with these little tips, you’ll be well on your way to building your list and keeping your subscribers engaged and happy.