15 tested and proven ways to help you build your subscriber list

  1. Offer quality content. Nobody gives up their email address for free. If you want to build a valuable relationship and engage your audience, you need to provide content that is worthwhile and interesting.
  2. Put sign-up forms on every web page. Your sign-up form should be everywhere your potential subscribers are. Make sure it’s visible and easy to fill out.
  3. Use social media to collect email addresses. Integrate your sign-up forms with social media platforms. Driving traffic from multiple sources allows you to build a strong email marketing list much faster. 15 Tested and Proven ways to build your subscriber list.
  4. Design your sign-up form carefully. Ask only for information you plan to use. A good rule of thumb is that less is more — the shorter the sign-up form, the higher the conversion rate.
  5. Show your privacy policy. Inform your readers that you will not share their personal information with third parties. A clear privacy policy helps you build trust and convince visitors that it’s safe to subscribe.
  6. Show samples of your content. Let your subscribers know what they are signing up for. Use your older content samples to “sell” the email sign-up.
  7. Include a call to action. Put a call to action in your submit button, e.g. Sign me up! This makes the sign-up process more engaging and improves the conversion ratio.
  8. Give away freebies. Think of a relevant incentive for your audience (e-book, infographic, white paper) and provide it for free.
  9. Ask subscribers to share. Take the time to prepare valuable, shareable content. Remember that putting the social share buttons is not enough; you still need to ask your subscribers to use them.
  10. Build a content distribution strategy. Producing great content is only half the battle. Make sure it’s visible to the right audience. Define who your ideal audience is and find out where they like to congregate online. Then choose communication channels accordingly.
  11. Publish landing pages. Create a squeeze page where visitors can download premium content in exchange for their email address. A dedicated web page helps users focus on the call to action and increases conversions.
  12. Include testimonials on your landing page. Social proof helps build trust toward a brand and its products. Use testimonials from satisfied customers to help visitors make a decision.
  13. Blog regularly. Great content brings more traffic. Develop a realistic content publishing schedule and stick to it.
  14. Guest post on popular blogs. Publishing your content on other blogs is a great way to build relationships with other bloggers in your industry and introduce yourself to new people. Include a backlink to your blog, and your blog’s search rankings will go up.
  15. Collect email addresses at offline events. Be ready to collect email addresses at trade shows and conferences. Ask for business cards or use the Forms on the Go app to instantly add people to your list.



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Author: John Mulindi

John writes on a variety of topics. He blogs on topics ranging from social media marketing (SMM), search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), email marketing, business, personal finance tech, entrepreneurship to personal development. In free time he likes watching football, reading, listening to music and taking nature walks.

99 thoughts on “15 tested and proven ways to help you build your subscriber list”

  1. I usually only sign up for email lists when they offer freebies! Please don’t just say “sign up for my newsletter!”

  2. Putting sign up forms on more than one pages is a very good idea. I have seen good results with the mat too.

  3. Great list John! I’m just getting started with building my list so this is really helpful. So far, I’ve realized that PATIENCE is key when it comes to building traffic (in any form) and CONSISTENCY is the bridge to get you to the next level. Thanks for the list!

  4. You’ve got some great suggestions here! I am currently in the process of overhauling my email marketing efforts and this definitely inspired me to take the next steps!

  5. Very well thought out list of tips. I agree with Petra, we are constantly inundated with too much mediocre content and not enough quality because too many businesses (and bloggers) are just writing about the same thing as everyone else because they think it’s profitable. I wish people would stick to their nîche and educate on the topics they are knowledgable about instead of “blogging about how to blog”

  6. These are great tips for building an email list quickly. Mine is growing slowly little by little but I haven’t put as much time into as I should or could. There’s just so much to do with growing a blog and only one me but I would like to see my list grow.

  7. These are amazing tips! Especially the first one – quality content! More people should focus on that.

  8. This is still something I am working on for my blog. Sometimes I am just worry that showing too much subscription box will look like forcing them to subscribe.

  9. Thank you for sharing this. As I read your blog everyday there so much things that I ahve learned. And ctually it is a perfect timing since every topic you share is actually what I needed.

  10. Very informative and useful tips. I am sure it will help others to increase their subscriber list, thanks for sharing this with us.

  11. Awesome tips and so many! I will totally try harder and will make it work on my blog too

  12. I need so much help with my subscriptions, I know that I have a list, I am not really sure how many people are on it and I am definitely not using it to market my blog. I know it is a missed opportunity so these tips are really helpful to me. thanks for sharing

  13. These are some great tips for building a subscriber list. I’ll have to try some of them out soon, especially giving away a freebie.

  14. These tips are amazing! I will definitely put some of your tips to test soon as i work on building my list. Thanks a lot.

  15. These are great and timely tips as I’m doing this at the moment. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

  16. This is awesome info. Building a subscriber list is key in keeping your name out there and making sure you’re the first one people contact when they need help.

  17. Very informative post. I need to try the landing page tactic. My subscriptions definitely seem slow but I am fairly new and hoping after summer tho gs will pick up!

    1. Yes, I have seen people complaining that they cannot locate the sign up on many sites simply because it isn’t place in an easily view-able place.

  18. These are great tips. I’m wondering about #3. How do you use social media to collect email addresses? Is there a certain plug in or app for that? Or are you simply asking for email addresses on your social media platforms? Any insight would be helpful! Thanks!

    1. There are different ways you can use social media to grow your list. You can offer something free to your social media following in exchange of their emails, or you promote directly in groups the sign up URL, whereby if they click it, they get directly to the sign up page or form. In either way, you need to ask kindly or promise something to attract subscribers.

  19. Hey, John! These kinds of posts are always so helpful to us newer bloggers, and yours did not disappoint! Thank you for sharing what you’ve learned. One question I have about subscribing people to my blog. Is the expectation always that you would clearly ask someone if you can subscribe them to your blog using their email address (which you already have), or is it acceptable to sign them up without permission and let them choose whether to confirm their subscription or not? Thanks!

    1. Hi, thanks for your comments. The subscribers should make their own decision to subscribe to your list. Normally if you have friends you can ask them if you can include them on the list, if they agree then you can add them. It is not advisable to add people to the list without their consent.

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