Everyone wants to build an email list. It’s an integral part of growing your business.
Many businesses don’t focus enough on this important task, which leaves them in the lurch when it comes to leveraging their current customers and nurturing potential customers.
Here’s an important question: Do you make it easy for people to join your email list?
Because if you don’t make it blatantly obvious, they won’t.
And if you don’t give them a reason to join, they won’t.
Here are some simple ways to drive traffic to the landing page you’re using to build your email list and some methods to make it blatantly obvious to your audience that you want them to join.
What Do You Mean By “Traffic?”
If you were stuck on a freeway in horrible rush hour traffic today, I apologize for bringing up a sore point.
Believe it or not, that’s not what I’m talking about here.
I’m talking about Internet or web traffic, which is how you get people to go to your landing page and sign up for the lead magnet you’re offering, so you can build an email list.
If you’re baffled by the term “landing page,” please read this blog post.
If you have no idea what I mean by “lead magnet,” please read this blog post.
Yes, there is method to this madness.
Right then… Traffic.
When Internet marketers say “traffic,” we mean the art of directing people to a specific page on a website.
By the way, “conversion” is the art of getting those people to take a specific action on that page. I cover that in the blog post about landing pages, linked to above.
I mention this because the two are very interconnected, but they are different steps in the process.
When you “drive traffic” to a web page, you are taking someone from one place on the internet to another, via a link. The “traffic” becomes the people who see this link and click on it.
Marketingterms.com defines web traffic as “the amount of visitors and visits a website receives.”
When it comes right down to it, traffic is about getting people to your landing page.
These people may know who you are already or they may have no idea who you are, but your message is intriguing enough that they’re willing to take a moment out of their busy day to check it out.
What I want to address today are traffic sources, meaning ways you can drive people to your landing page, to get them to opt into your lead magnet, to build an email list.
Traffic Option #1: Your Website
Lots of companies offer their lead magnets right on their website.
It makes sense. If people are interested in your product, why not offer them something that will show them its value?
There are pros and cons to this method:
Pros
You can feature your lead magnet prominently on your Home page and link to it on every other page, if you so desire.
As an example, FunnelDash features their free trial above the fold on their home page, and there’s a bright red Free Trial button on every page of their website.
In the interest of full disclosure, FunnelDash has been one of my clients.
You can do what FunnelDash did here, asking people to enter their email address right on the home page or you can have a button that takes people to your landing page.
If you make it easy to find and the action you want them to take absolutely clear, this is a good way to get people to join your site.
Another option is an overlay popup, like this one on the Boxed website. This asks people to join your email list before they look at your website.
If you choose this option, I do recommend letting people close this popup without opting in as many people are turned off by being forced to give their email address in order to look at a website.
Cons:
If your website has a lot of distractions on it, people are less likely to opt into your email list because they get drawn in by some other bright, shiny object.
If you don’t make your opt-in form blatantly obvious, many people will ignore it entirely.
There are some people who are offended by being asked to opt into an email list before they’ve had the opportunity to look around your website. These folks won’t take the bait at first, no matter what you do.
An option to convert these folks is to get them on the way out with an exit popup box. This is similar to the one Boxed uses above, but only activates when someone clicks away from the website. It holds the website open and gives the person one last opportunity to opt-in.
When you use your website as a main source of traffic, make it absolutely clear what you’re asking a site visitor to do and what they’ll get in return. This will increase your chances of getting someone to give you their email address and help you build an email list.
Traffic Option #2: Blog Posts
Having a blog is a good idea because it gets your company “SEO Juice” meaning it helps the search engines find your company website for relevant searches.
It’s also an excellent way to build an email list.
In fact, it’s the primary way I build my email list, with blog posts like this one.
Instead of offering a general lead magnet, I offer content upgrades that are specific to the blog post.
Yes, this means a little more work with each blog post, but it’s worth it. I can not only build my list, but I can also see how many people are interested in each blog post topic, based on how many people opt into the content upgrade for each post.
And yes, sometimes people who are already on my email list opt into the content upgrade for a new blog post. That’s inevitable.
But it’s a good way to keep building the relationship with those people, because they’re getting value from my emails and my blog posts. This means when I offer something for sale, they’re already expecting something of value, which can make them more likely to buy.
Yes, there is a content upgrade for this blog post. You can download it by clicking the button below.
If you don’t want to offer content upgrades for each blog post, you can offer your lead magnet instead.
At the end of the post, include a button that takes readers to your landing page, where they can opt in for your lead magnet.
Traffic Option #3: Your Email List
I know, it seems counterintuitive to use your current email list to build an email list. But that shouldn’t stop you.
Whenever you create a new lead magnet, ask everyone on your list to opt-in for it. Then ask them to share the link with a friend.
You do this, with an email (of course).
Here’s a basic template you can follow.
Hey Subscriber Name
I just created this amazing new information piece called Insert Lead Magnet Name and I wanted you to be the first to know about it!
It’s got tons of new techniques and tips on how to (Please customize this section to fit your lead magnet)
Because you’re a long-time reader of these emails, I want to make sure you get it right away, to help you (Insert goal of lead magnet/small quick win).
You can get your copy right here: Insert landing page link
I also have a favor to ask.
Would you please share this link with a friend who you think would find it helpful?
I want to get this out to as many people as possible because it has the potential to revolutionize how people Insert your niche, industry or activity.
Please send them this email:
Hi Your Friend’s Name,
I want to share this totally awesome new information piece that Your Name just sent me.
It’s got all sorts of tips and techniques on Insert information about your lead magnet that I know will help you.
You can download it right here: Insert landing page link.
Hope you’re well,
Your name
I really appreciate you taking a moment to share my new information piece, Insert Lead Magnet Name with a friend. I hope you both find it useful.
Have a great day,
Your name
Your business name
If I were going to customize this email for you to send to a friend for this blog post, it would look like this:
Hi Your Friend’s Name,
I want to share this totally awesome blog post that Tanya Brody just shared with me.
It’s got all sorts of tips and techniques that you can use to drive traffic to your website or landing page, so you can get people to opt-in for your lead magnet and build your email list.
You can read the post right here.
Hope you’re well,
Your name
And yes, I would appreciate it if you would copy the above text, fill in a friend’s name and your name, and share this post with said friend. (If you’re already on my email list, everything should now make sense.)
Will everyone share your lead magnet?
No.
But some people will. And that will mean new subscribers, which gets you farther along the road to build an email list.
Traffic Option #4: Going Viral
Going viral and getting millions of new subscribers isn’t likely. Sorry to burst that bubble.
However, it is possible to get your lead magnet to go viral and get thousands of new subscribers. It happens all the time.
Why?
Because for every subscriber you get, there are at least 5 other people out there looking for this same information. And in all likelihood, they know one of your subscribers or know someone who knows one of your subscribers.
You can get the link to your lead magnet out there in a couple of ways.
Go Viral
Go Viral is a free tool that is designed to do exactly what its name claims, to get viral exposure for your lead magnet.
I wrote a post about how to use Go Viral last year right after it came out. They’ve updated it at least once since then, so the post may not be entirely accurate.
Here’s the basic idea:
You ask people who have downloaded your lead magnet to share it on a social media channel in exchange for getting another lead magnet.
For instance, when I was sharing my 3 Free Tools to Start and Grow Your Email List, I asked people to share that lead magnet in exchange for my Welcome Sequence Email Templates.
The more people who shared the lead magnet, the more subscribers I got.
It’s a fast and easy way to get your lead magnet in front of people who are interested in what you have to offer.
Post Your Lead Magnet to Your Social Media Profiles and Ask Your Followers to Share
Yes, this is a much more direct way of getting exposure. If your friends have friends who would find the information useful, or if they want to support what you do, they’ll share on your behalf.
Traffic Option #5: Paid Social Media
You’re already posting on social media for your business, right?
If not, you should be. It’s one of the fastest ways to get exposure for your business, with or without paying for it.
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all offer the opportunity to run ads on their platforms.
Google has the Google Display Network, which are the ads that show up on websites you visit. You can also run ads on YouTube.
I recommend starting with Facebook as it has a lot of eyeballs, a low entry point and a relatively high return on investment (ROI).
Facebook Ads
I am not going to go into the mechanics of running a Facebook ad here. That’s several blog posts long and candidly, the best resource is Facebook’s own education system, which you can find here.
I recommend going through the Facebook Blueprint. You can find the link on the page above.
The reason I recommend running ads is because doing so will get your lead magnet in front of people who never would have seen it otherwise.
Facebook is happy to give you more exposure when you give them money. If you are willing to spend money to build an email list, this is a simple and inexpensive way to do it.
You get to set the amount you spend and the types of people you want to see your ad. Facebook takes it from there and delivers your ad to as many people as possible, based on the amount of money you spend and the parameters you set for your ad.
Please note: you want to optimize your ad for conversions because your goal is to get people to your landing page to opt in for your lead magnet. To make this work, you will need to set up and add a Facebook pixel to your website. Facebook has excellent instructions on how to do this here.
Boosting a Post
You can also boost a post on Facebook.
To do this, you create a Facebook post about your lead magnet on your Facebook page, then pay Facebook to show it to a wider audience.
If you look at this Facebook post that talks about my landing page blog post you’ll see the “Boost Post” button at the bottom. (That’s a lot of posts!)
When you click on that button, Facebook lets you choose how much you want to spend and gives you a few options on who will see the post. Then Facebook gets more eyeballs on that post with the goal of getting them to click.
I recommend waiting to boost your post until you’ve seen how many people the post has reached and how many people have engaged with it. You want to make sure your post is appealing enough that people will click on it.
You’ll notice the post pictured above hasn’t gotten a lot of engagement yet, so I would wait to boost that one until more people see it. (I can’t imagine why, that corgi puppy is so cute!)
Go Forth and Drive More Traffic to Your Landing Page to Build an Email List
I’ve just given you 5 simple ways to get more people to your landing page, where they will give you their email addresses in exchange for your lead magnet.
As promised above, you can download this week’s content upgrade, The Top 5 Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Landing Pageas a quick reference. This will help when you’re looking to build an email list and get more people interested in your company and what you do.
Click on the button below to get your copy. And yes, there will be a demonstration of Go Viral as part of this download so you can see it in action. Please help me out and get a little something extra for your efforts.