Growing a captive audience takes time and effort.
When you begin attracting people who want to hear from you, your subscribers automatically appreciate what you’re sending out. It must remain personal and relevant.
Savvy marketers know that when it comes to building a list, authenticity is everything. They also know it’s the best way to get your readers to take action, like visiting your eCommerce store or reading your latest blog post!
However. Having a steady list doesn’t make you immune from marketing mistakes which come from a false sense of security.
Here’s some bad advice (with solutions) which could be preventing your list from growing:
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#1 No Need to Promote Your Opt-in Page
Failing to use the power and reach of social media can be a missed opportunity when it comes to driving traffic and growing your list. Sharing your landing page to your social media channels increases the size of your list.
By promoting your opt-in freebie (like a download) in exchange for an email address via social media, you’ll quickly close that growth gap.
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#2 Never Give People the Option to Opt-out
There’s no point having a huge list if only 20% actually open your emails. Therefore, you cannot continue emailing the same big list year after year and expect different results.
Provide people the opportunity to unsubscribe, it’s friendly and keeps your list more accurate which equals a better return for your business.
Look at your subscribers, check who is active (the keepers) and the email addresses which are out-of-date or just inactive (it can be up to 20%).
Remember, people who aren’t interested will just delete an email or mark it as spam, so approach them first and ask if you’re still producing the content they want to receive?
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#3 No Need to Maintain Your list
Okay, this seems glaringly obvious. But valuable content keeps your reader’s eyes on the email – create targeted and value-driven content.
By not maintaining and A/B testing, you end up with a list which you’re assuming is fine. You need to take care and understand your list.
Through testing you have evidence to support segmenting your list(s) and in doing so you create more personalized content which subscribers find relevant and valuable.
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#4 You Can Send Whatever (content) to Your List
We aspire to that feeling that our subscribers love the content we’re sending out each week.
Unfortunately, you cannot win with everyone just because you happen to think your emails are great. By relationship-building, you can better understand your list – ask your list for feedback, questions and comments…use social media too.
Remember, sending whatever you think is appropriate isn’t enough. Keep it in line with your brand and listen to the feedback you’re getting via email, your website or social media.
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#5 Buy an Email List, It’s Easier & Quicker
We saved one of the biggest mistakes ‘til now.
Buying your email list runs you into all sorts of problems (including its legality). If you’re not personally building your list and buying one (despite being labeled ‘targeted’), you haven’t nurtured the relationship and educated people with your wisdom and experience.
Buying a list means you have a huge number of people you’re sending emails to but know NOTHING about.
Additionally, acquiring email addresses of those who don’t want to be sent mail, leaves your brand in the SPAM, TRASH or even worse, a damaged reputation!
There are our top 5 pieces of bad advice about how not to take care of your list. We understand you’re trying to produce the best content and grow your list in a healthy way.
Avoid bogus advice.
