Tools to Building Your Subscriber List

So how easy is it to build your list? In this post we are going to check out the the tools to building your subscriber list. We’ve discussed a lot of tips and features so far in the Beginners Email Marketing Series, and now it’s time to check out the tools all email marketers use to capture, build and send emails to their subscribers.

 

Whats in Your Toolbox?

With any toolbox in any trade, your tools are dependant on the job you do. You no matter what your job is you should have the tools for the job to do the job right. Pretty obvious isn’t it.

let’s take a look at some of the tools you need inside your marketing toolbox for successful email marketing.

Auto Responder Service

An auto responder service allows you to collect email addresses, setup email auto responders, broadcast emails to your mailing list and depending on the service/software you use, can give you a whole tool set of features.

Since, we’re going into detail here, let’s take a look at exactly what auto responder services have to offer.

There are multiple software companies online who offer an email collection and auto responder service and who also offer a whole tool set for you to use to help you get the best from your email marketing business. As we work our way through this course, we will discuss the various tools you can use to make the most of your auto responder service.

Personally, I like to use the following:

Get Response and Aweber

However there are a few more to mention such as:

• Klaviyo
• Mailchimp
• ConvertKit
• Autopilot
• Constant Contact

Now all of the above certainly do a great job and are highly necessary for your business, because without the use of such services, it’s very hard to capture and store email addresses.

Collecting email addresses isn’t as simple as storing as many email addresses you can inside your Outlook account. Software such as Get Response and Aweber do a far superior job of collection and storing, and also sending out emails in full broadcast format or a timed response when you need an email to go at a certain time, such as Monday at 21:00.

As well as the timing, storing and broadcast facilities, most auto responder services offer custom subscription boxes, popup creators and landing page creators. So like I said, they have a pretty big toolset and are a must in the internet marketing business. I might also add, that they are all GDPR compliant and perfectly legal.

Here’s an example of a subscription box created with the Bloom WordPress app and email collection service by Aweber:

You can see from the example, the subscription box allows you to collect emails. You can also see the lead magnet is 3 free guides. So you ask yourself? Is the swap for an email address worth the 3 free guides?

Also, notice the button text ‘Send Them to Me’ not ‘Grab Your Reports’. Remember, these reports are made for the customer so ‘Me’ works well here. We discussed this is the last post.

Furthermore, and something else to take note of, is the fact that the image is not simply asking you to join a newsletter or to stay in touch (these suck). In the example above, there is an exchange and a giving of information, so the perceived value is higher, therefore the email address is easier to acquire.

Finally, I want to add that an auto responder, such as the ones we have talked about above are the most important tools in your toolbox. So don’t scrimp on the fee to buy them, it’s a business investment.

 

Landing Pages

Some auto responders such as Aweber provide landing pages for their customers. However, not all have this facility, so you as the marketer may have to source your own. But never fear there are plenty to go around (we’ll get to that).

Now a landing page or coming soon is a simple 1 page site, setup to do 1 thing and 1 thing only. Grab an email address or notify the person of something, then grab their email address.

The design of these pages should be minimalistic at best, with very little on the page, but an opt-in form and a little info on what benefits you can provide for the visitor. The whole purpose of this page is to collect an email address and the place the lead onto a mailing list, sales funnel or auto responder sequence.

Here is an example of a 1 page landing page:

 

 

As you can see by the example above, the design is simple, the layout very simple and the headline clearly states it’s a free report that reveals the truth behind creating an eBook. You can see the full version at the ebookcycle.com

Landing page builders are in abundance across the web. Some are better than others and cost more depending on functionality. Here’s a list of the most popular landing page builders I have used:

• WordPress and a theme optimized to build landing pages
  • Optimizepress
  • Elegant themes (this theme)
• Click Funnels
• Leadpages
• Unbounce

There are literally a tonne of landing page builders, some with a lot more features than others. Also, some with a lot more ongoing and buy in costs that others.

Similarly though, if you have skills using WordPress, or have a good theme, you can build your own page and save on the cost of a landing page builder.

The only tips I would give at this point when choosing a landing page builder would be, beware of free ones, especially page builders that haven’t been updated. Using old and out of date coding can leave you open to hackers. Try to avoid these.

 

Subscription Opt-in Boxes

We’ve discussed the subscription opt-in box and how it can be used to collect email addresses, but the subscription box has so much power and is often overlooked. Here are more examples I’m sure you are familiar with.

Popups

You may or may not love them, but the truth is they work and they work very well, so using them will allow you to grab more leads from your pages.

Rather than using a static form in the example above a popup will literally pop onto the screen at a given or stated time to surprise the reader with an offer. Remember, using a simple ‘subscribe to my newsletter’ or a ‘stay in touch’ statement isn’t as good as a free gift.

To use a popup effectively, build in an offer or a sense of urgency to make the reader want or fear of losing something they need. Like your free guide for example.

You can have the popup, popup from anywhere. Make it fly in from the bottom, make it fly in from the side when the reader is half way down a page, send it in from the top, or have it popup on the exit of a page. There are multiple variants of control entirely customisable depending on what software you use.

Also, again depending on the popup software you use, the more or less features you may be given is usually dependent on price and software developer quality.

Take a look at some popup software examples:

• Some auto responder services such as Aweber have integrated popups
• OptinMonster
• Popup Maker by WordPress
• Ninja Popups
• Popup Monkey
• Bloom plugin (on this site)

A simple Google search for Popup Creators or Popup Software will bring back a tonne of searches. Likewise, with auto responders some will be more expensive than others and also have more or less features depending on price.

Unobtrusive Popups

Some popups are classed as unobtrusive. In short they aren’t in your face, but rather just there for the reader to notice in quirky ways to get your attention. They may slide in from the bottom or slowly popup from the bottom of the site. Alternatively, the subscribe button can wiggle taking your eye to that area.

Unobtrusive popups are a great addition to your site and again allow you to build your list. Here is an example of one of the below recommendations Hello Bar:

This small 50 pixel bar would sit at the top of your site at all times and links directly to your auto responder, such as Aweber to allow you to directly collect email addresses and add them to a certain list.

Here are some unobtrusive popup examples:

• Hello Bar (example above and free)
• Gravity Forms

Facebook

We will come to how and where to build your list in the next part of the series. However, there are apps you can use within your Facebook pages that allow you to integrate your auto responder service inside the HTML code of the page.

You can install these apps directly from the Facebook page layout admin panel and add HTML code directly into your page.

Services such as WooBox allow direct integration and link out, so you can link directly to a free guide from your Facebook page or add a subscription box from your auto responder.

 

Power Tools 

We’ve seen in this post a lot of tools to help you grow your list and they all work! Popups work, Unobtrusive popups work, subscription boxes (with the right lead magnet) work.

It’s these tools and above all your auto responder that allows you to build your list. If I can give you any tips and hints from this post it is don’t scrimp on free services and pickup some quality list building tools to help you, such as Get Response or Aweber.

Also, don’t be afraid to use them. Test your metrics and see what what works, what conversions work best for you. What mix of lead magnets and style do the job. Test test test.

 

Are You Enjoying The Email Marketing for Beginners Series?

Finally, I hope you are enjoying the Tools to Building Your Subscriber List. If want to learn more or skip to the next part. Check below you can find the links to the full 10 part series:

1. Introduction
2. How to Write The Perfect Email
3. 50 Email Marketing Headlines to Make You a Legend
4. Tools to Building Your Subscriber List
5. How and Where to Build Your Email List
6. What is Email Segmentation and How to Use it
7. How to Avoid The Spam Filters
8. Impressive Email Marketing Style
9. How to Automate and Test Email Marketing
10. Beginners Email Marketing Conclusion

Comments – Over to You

Please comment on your thoughts below. I would love to hear what you think about Tools to Building Your Subscriber List. Is there anything you would add or any tips you se yourself that would help others?