It’s important to point out that more than to build an email list of 10k subscribers, you must focus on achieving targeted subscribers. To do it, there are several things you can start and see what’s the best one for your case in particular. Or a combination of several.
Depending on the targeting and specificity of your desired audience, you must adapt your strategy. So, there’s no one-trick serves all. However, some of the tactics can work on most strategies. Here are a few that have worked on most of my projects:
Lead Magnet to Build an Email List
To give something in return for people subscribing to your List, you must provide value upfront. In the form of information, digital assets or whatever model you’re most comfortable with. The bottom line, it’s just a part of your Content Marketing Strategy. If you provide value regularly, it would be much easier for people to subscribe and avoid missing something good. However, if you pack your information in some kind of ebook or white paper, it’s even more compelling to convince someone to give their email address in exchange for some sort of product.
Lead Capture Email List
Make it easy to do so. In the form of Landing-Pages completely designed to convert subscribers or Exit-Intent Plugins, which pop up when people are about to leave your website, are just a few examples of what to do. Make it an accessible form subscription. It’s better to ask just a few data instead of bigger form submissions. However, depending on how you collect and the offer’s value, there’s no limit to the number of subscribers you can get.
In my previous project, we collected more than 80 million permission-based subscribers, which filled up more than 80 different form fields. However, you need to really know what your audience cares about to get to this point.
I suggest you collect a name and email. Afterwards, if you have a good email platform, you can segment depending on their actions and interests after a few email conversations.
Spread the Word to Build Your Email List
You can use advertising (quicker results) to get momentum. However, you need to know your subscriber’s lifetime value to understand if you’re overpaying or not to get these subscribers.
Use all of your channels. Place CTA (Call to Action) at employees’ email signatures (they reach out to hundreds of people per month – depending on how many you have) and on every digital web presence you have as well (website, social profiles, and so on). Place subscription forms everywhere. If you also reach your audience offline, use it as well.
Affiliates and Partners. Use them if you have niche site partners or affiliates on your targeted niche. Spread the word and send all the traffic to specially designed Landing-Pages.
Referral Traffic. If you’re giving value, other sites will refer to your content, especially if you write on other sites as well or offer great free content for them to share.
Viral Word of Mouth
This isn’t a cliché. It works. Provide extremely good content and over-deliver. People more than willingly share your content and your newsletter with other people and friends if you do it regularly. They want to give back to you the care and attention, and this is one way of doing it. But for this to work, you must provide powerful and good content. Not only that, you must not be afraid to ask them to do it. Ask them very clearly and give them tools to spread the word, and some of them will actually do it.
There are so many other tactics, but I guess this will work fine for your objective.