You hear other bloggers talk about having 10,000, 30,000, or even 100,000 email subscribers.
Yet you struggle to reach even a hundred. No matter what you do, you feel like your list size never grows.
Trust me. You’re not alone.
Going from zero to a thousand subscribers can be a slow and painful process.
But that doesn’t mean it has to be.
While there is no way you can force a reader to hit your beautiful subscribe button, there are certain things you can do to encourage them.
So how do you make the process faster?
In this post, we have put together 15 tips on how to get your first 1000 subscribers faster.
If you follow these steps, I bet you can get more subscribers in one month than you did all year. Are you up for it?
1. Get to Know Your Target Audience.
Before you can craft an effective e-mail campaign, you need to get a clear picture of who your target customer is.
What are his or her biggest dreams, frustrations, fears, and motivation?
Answering these questions allows you to understand your customer’s behaviors better and predict their needs.
If you haven’t already, take the time to create a customer avatar.
A customer avatar is a representation of your ideal customer. It focusses on one customer and outlines every detail about that customer.
While an avatar is something you create, it’s essential to make him or her as real as possible.
To help, start by giving your avatar a name. Then identify other traits such as gender, race, hair color age, and so on.
Once you’ve covered the demographics, take a deep dive into your avatar’s personality, beliefs, and values.
By getting to know your avatar, you’ll have a much better chance of running a successful e-mail campaign. You’ll know exactly what will motivate them to be a part of your tribe.
2. Offer Your Audience a Gift (Lead Magnet)
The first factor on the list? Reciprocity.
Humans are naturally inclined to reciprocate to others in the form of a behavior, gift, or service what they’ve received first.
Want that stranger who just landed on your website to hand you their email address? The key is to give them something first. This is where having a lead magnet comes into play.
A lead magnet is a gift you give to your audience in exchange for their contact information. Some examples of lead magnets are free eBooks, checklists, e-mail courses and webinars.
Having something to offer to your audience in exchange for their subscription is way SEXIER than simply saying: “Here’s my list. Sign up.”
Here are some of my favorite tips for creating an effective lead magnet:
1. Make the benefit relevant and clear
To be effective, it must target a problem specific to your ideal customer. Don’t offer a lead magnet about sewing to your audience who is primarily interested in traveling.
2. Make it one click away
You’ll want to make it as easy as possible for your audience to gain access to your lead magnet. Don’t ask them to fill out a bunch of information or go through multiple pages before they can get your free offer.
3. Evergreen is ideal
Evergreen lead magnets are always relevant. The word “evergreen” pertains to its timelessness, like a plant that stays green regardless of the season.
An example of an evergreen lead magnet is “10 Rules of Composition in Photography.” No matter what day of the year it is, the basics principles of photography composition remain the same. So, regardless of how old the lead magnet becomes, the information will still be valid.
Since an evergreen lead magnet stays relevant, it brings you the most ROI. It requires little maintenance and can help generate e-mail leads for years to come.
4. Keep it short and sweet
Whether you’re giving away an ebook or a video tutorial, it’s important to keep it short and sweet. Doing so will enable you to provide your audience with fast results and gain their trust.
5. Keep it honest
A lead magnet should be quick, straight to the point, but also delivers as promised.
3. Be Creative With Your Opt-In Copy
Another principle in Dr. Cialdini’s six factors of influence is “Commitment and Consistency.”
People often seek to make their outward actions to be consistent with their inner beliefs and self-image. You can use this to your advantage by being creative with your opt-in button.
For example, if you are offering a Cat Behavior Course, you can word your opt-in button as: “Send Me My FREE Course” and word the opt-out button to say, “No, thanks, I want my cat to destroy my house.”
Unless your subscriber does want his or her house destroyed, they are more likely to click on the opt-in button.
4. Be Creative in Your Opt-In Design
You’ll also want to be creative with your opt-in design.
Make sure that your opt-in button pops on the page. You can do this by choosing a color that stands out.
You can also add directional cues. For instance, an arrow pointing on the sign-up button will help guide your prospects to focus and enter their information on the form.
5. Create an Effective Landing Page
A landing page is a page created for your audience to get more information about your lead magnet.
Its sole purpose is to get your visitors to give up their contact information in exchange for your free offer.
Here are some of my best tips for creating a landing page that converts:
1. Be Clear and Concise
Every word, element, and image on your landing page should contribute to building trust and confidence in your potential customer to say YES to your offer.
2. Highlight the benefit, not the features.
Humans tend to take action based on emotions, not logic. To get your visitors to say YES, highlight the benefits of your offer instead of how it works.
For instance, if you’re offering a free video course on “How to Meal-Prep,” show your audience how this freebie would save them time so they can do more of what they love instead of, say, highlighting the different topics you’ll be covering.
3. Make it scannable
Make the information on your landing page more manageable to digest by breaking up chunks of text.
You can do this by using bullet points and lists and varying font types, sizes, and colors. This will help your audience easily differentiate between the more and less important information on your page.
4. Add Images
A picture is worth a thousand words. Having an image on your landing page makes it look more visually appealing, but it can also help convey your message much faster to your audience than text.
5. Share Testimonials
As mentioned, testimonials are a great way to showcase social proof. They help to show your visitors how your offer has already helped people just like them, which makes them much more likely to convert.
6. Make It Effortless for Consumers to Sign Up
You want to make subscribing to your email list as effortless as possible. As mentioned, it’s essential that your opt-in is one and not ten clicks away.
You also don’t want to ask them tons of information before they can opt-in.
For instance, instead of asking them for their first and last name, ask their first name. Keep it as short and straightforward as possible.
Also, make sure that your opt-in is visible everywhere on your website.
Place it in the sidebar, banner, and footer as well on individual pages such as your homepage, about me page, and resources page.
That said, be careful not to overdo this strategy. You want your audience to feel inspired, not pushed, to opt-in.
7. Offer a Content Upgrade
Content upgrades is a gift you offer to your readers that’s directly related to a blog post.
It’s called an “upgrade” because it provides them with additional information besides the one that they get for free by reading the article.
Examples of content upgrades are checklists, cheat sheets, infographics, and article summarie.
8. Use Exit Intent Pop-Up
We’ve all heard of FOMO.
That anxiety we feel when something amazing is happening somewhere else, and if we don’t act, we’re going to miss out.
When a store posts on their doors “Final Sale,” you feel as if you have to buy that item because they will be gone forever if you didn’t.
It’s the same concept when you put an exit-intent pop-up.
It is your last attempt to save your reader from missing out on your fantastic offer.
Before they leave your site, offer them something you believe will bring them incredible value, it would be hard to say no.
This could be a free mini-course, ebook, or checklist. If you have a product, offer them a discount.
A key thing to remember with exit-intent popups is to keep it simple and straight to the point.
Keep in mind that the people who see your popup were just about to leave your site. So, you only have a few seconds to capture their attention.
For higher conversions, refrain from a lengthy sales pitch. Keep your message short, clear, and irresistible.
9. Give Your Subscribers a Reason to Love and Spread the Word About Your Brand
While it’s tempting to focus our efforts on finding and attracting new subscribers, we shouldn’t forget that a loyal subscriber can be a better referral than any discounts or freebies we can offer.
Taking the time to cultivate our relationship with our subscribers is one of the best ways we can grow our list.
Give your subscribers a reason to like and trust you, and they will spread the word about your brand.
Here are some of my favorite ways to do this.
1. Give them a Welcome Gift.
Give them a gift as a special thank you for signing up.
This will quickly make them feel like giving you their contact info worth it. The gift doesn’t have to be grand, just a simple gift that shows their presence is much appreciated.
2. Send them exclusive content.
Sending your readers exclusive content is an excellent way to provide value and make them feel special. Some good examples of these are weekly tips, tutorials, webinars and discounts.
3. Keep them updated
Another great way to cultivate your relationship with your audience is by keeping them updated with your latest content.
Many of your readers do not have the time to check your blog regularly and will appreciate you sending them a link to your latest blog post.
When using this strategy, be careful not to send too many emails.
Sending an email every day or multiple times a day can easily make your subscribers see your content as spam.
Only send links that you think would be the most helpful to them.
Don’t bombard their inbox with an update of every content you produce– especially if you post content every day.
4. Give them first dibs on all your sales.
Whenever I get an email from my favorite store about a sale they are running, I always feel exclusive. There is something special about being on a private list that makes me want to buy more.
That’s the feeling you want your customers or clients to get whenever they receive an email from you about a special sale.
Not only will you make them feel exclusive, but you’ll also provide them value by offering them a discount. This will make your subscribers stay and love your brand.
5. Give them a gift on special occasions
Just like you give your friends and family a special gift on special occasions, it’s nice to do the same for your subscribers. After all, you want them to feel like they are your friends.
When you go to a restaurant and give you a free cake on your birthday, doesn’t that experience want to make you come back even when it’s not your birthday? You can replicate that feeling for your subscribers by remembering them during holidays or their birthdays.
6. Use Referral Incentive Programs
Turn your subscribers into your top marketing representatives, by give them an incentive to become one.
If you have a product, you can create a great referral incentive program or provide them with significant discounts to motivate your audience to share the word.
10. Give Your Subscribers the Option to Unsubscribe
When you give your subscribers the option to opt-out, you create a more positive experience by allowing them to leave (unsubscribe) when they want.
We all know that feeling when you sign up for a newsletter and next thing you know, you’re being flooded with endless emails from that brand. This experience is even more frustrating if you can’t figure out how to unsubscribe.
You’ll want to prevent this fear from discouraging new readers to subscribe. By giving them the option to unsubscribe, you increase your chances of earning their trust and engagement.
If a subscriber decides to unsubscribe from your list, send an email and ask why they did so. This feedback can help you improve your future email strategy to meet your customer’s needs.
11. Use an Excellent E-mail Provider
Email marketing platforms offer different features and functionality. These features can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
You must choose an email service with all the tools you need. Without the proper tools from your email service provider collecting emails will be much harder than it should.
For effective email marketing, I highly recommend ConvertKit.
It is, by far, the best email marketing tool I’ve used.
ConvertKit is easy to use yet powerful.
It is an all in one tool that allows you to build an email list, create forms, landing pages, and email sequences.
They offer over 38 customizable landing page designs.
This feature is invaluable if you want to create an effective landing page but don’t want the hassle of coding pages directly on your website.
ConvertKit also makes it easy to create, customize, and add email forms to your website.
But my favorite part of ConvertKit is their email sequences, which allows you to send predefined emails to your subscribers depending on their actions.
You can have these email sequences automatically sent to a subset of all of your email lists.
ConvertKit also has excellent customer service and response time. They are accommodating and go above and beyond to assist you.
12. Promote Your Lead Magnet on Social Media
Promoting your lead magnets to social media is an invaluable marketing strategy, especially for brand new websites.
If your site is new and has little to no content, it’s unlikely that your potential customers will land on your website organically. By organically, what I mean is through Google search.
So, unless you want to spend a fortune on ads, I recommend you promote your content and lead magnet on social media.
For this, I recommend using Pinterest. Pinterest is one of the top search engines in the market and the lead driver of traffic to websites.
One of Pinterest’s biggest advantages is that, unlike Google, you do not have to wait long before your audience can find your content.
While it takes Google months and sometimes years to rank your content, Pinterest allows you to reach your audience right away.
13. Use a Trip Wires
I highly recommend using tripwires for anyone who wants to grow their e-mail list with ads but doesn’t have the funds to do so.
A tripwire is an irresistible, low priced offer with the sole purpose of converting your audience into paying customers.
Say you’re promoting your lead magnet “Free Course on Photography” on Facebook. Once your audience has taken the small step to opt-in your lead magnet, send them directly to your tripwires’ landing page.
Since tripwires are low-cost, buying won’t be too big of a commitment to make even for someone who’s never heard of your brand.
You can then use the revenue from the tripwire to pay for your ad expenses and fund even more ads.
Now, you may find that spending ad revenue on more ads difficult. But, remember, the goal of the tripwire is to grow your e-mail list and not make money.
Be ok with parting with some money now, so you can reap amazing rewards later.
14. Showcase Social Proof
Humans are natural followers. That is, we tend to copy the behavior of others.
Ever bought a product because that influencer you follow on Youtube is using it? That’s social proof at work.
Building social proof is a powerful strategy you can use in your online business.
Display your awards, featured press, and testimonials to help strengthen your band’s credibility and authority.
Remember FOMO? When a brand new reader can see that other people are enjoying and benefiting from your product or services, they would likely want to be a part of your tribe too.
Sprinkle social proof throughout the pages of your website and watch your email list soar.
15. Run a Contest
Another excellent way to entice your audience to sign up for your e-mail list is to offer them a prize in exchange for their contact information.
You can also motivate them to spread the word by giving them additional entries if they refer another participant to your contest.
When deciding on your giveaway prize, it’s essential to choose one related to your niche.
Giving random or expensive prize may get plenty of subscribers, but they are not credible leads, and most will unsubscribe when the contest is over.
If your prize is related to your niche, you are more likely to attract people who will be interested in staying subscribed to your newsletter.
You’ll also want to make sure that your content is short enough to cause urgency and encourage your audience to sign up as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Going from zero to a thousand subscribers can be a slow and painful process to many. But that doesn’t mean it has to be.
The simplest tweaks in color or copy in your email opt-in can double or even triple your conversion rate. So don’t skimp on the tips mentioned above.
Make the necessary changes and watch your list size skyrocket!