Grow Your Email List: 10 Tried and True Growth Hacks

Has it been awhile since you’ve updated your e-mail database? Two years ago Market Sherpas conducted a survey that showed that your e-mail list “decays” by nearly a quarter every year.
Meaning, if you haven’t updated your email list in a year, it’s likely that a fourth of your contacts are out of date. Considering that e-mail marketing gives you the highest return for your marketing dollars, it’s time to pay closer attention to your email database. Here are 10 steps you can take now to begin growing your email list again.
10 Tried and True Email Prospecting Hacks
Here’s a bonus tip to get you started. Your subject line will determine whether or not your email gets opened or sent to the trash. Start off prospecting with a direct and succinct subject line that gets to the heart of why they should read your message.
#1: Clean Up Your E-mail Database
Outdated email lists get unsubscribe requests daily. Get rid of your outdated emails and then send your good contacts an email letting them know they can opt out while reminding them why they are on your list to begin with.
#2: Let Your Prospects Choose Subscription Options
Some of your prospects will want a weekly e-mail. Some want to hear from you every day. While still others could do with far fewer e-mails – a monthly subscription perhaps. Give your email recipients options for choosing their preferred e-mail frequency. They’ll appreciate it and be more likely to open the e-mails that you send.
#3: Give Your Prospects a Chance to Win Something
Whether you are giving away a $25 gift card to the first 10 signups or offering a raffle drawing for survey respondents, people love a chance to win something. At the very least, it will get more opens. Make sure you are giving away something that your prospects will want.
#4: Offer an Exclusive and Valuable Download
Unlike giving away something that may be totally unrelated to real estate, offering an exclusive but valuable download should be used to highlight your expertise in real estate. Have you written an e-book? Do you have a whitepaper that your prospects would find useful? Offer those as a free download for registrations or newsletter signups.
#5: Use Subscription Opt-In Boxes, Not Subscription Pages
Once your prospects are convinced to sign up, make it easy for them. Use an opt-in box – don’t make them click on a link to go to a separate subscription page. And don’t ask for an arm and a leg; a simple name and e-mail address plus subscription option will suffice.
#6: Share Compelling Videos from Your YouTube Channel
Do you have your own YouTube channel? If not, start one. People love video and are most likely to click on a video share than plain text. However, people don’t trust links from unknown sources. If your video is on YouTube your prospects will be less leery of clicking on it. Once on your channel, they can look around at your other video content.
#7: Highlight Well-Known Guest Bloggers with Link to Full Post
How many times have you read an article because the guest writer was someone you admire? Use that same strategy to garner interest in your web content to help grow your email list. Highlight the guest blogger (make sure it’s someone your email list will know and be interested in) with an excerpt. Include a link to read the full article on your website.
#8: Provide Access to a Webinar or Event that Shows Off Your Expertise
Your prospects want to know that you know your stuff. There is no better way to show off your expertise than with a live webinar or online conference. If you were a guest speaker at a big national real estate conference or you have a published book that you’ve turned into a webinar series, give your subscribers exclusive access to that content.
#9: Engage Prospects with a Quick Survey or Poll
Ask your prospects one to three poll questions and then share the results in a cool infographic. It will get a lot of opens if you personalize it; Subject line: “You spoke. We listened. Here are the results!”
#10: Make Your Content Easy to Share
Social media icons are not just for your website. Add a share button in your e-mail content for easy sharing.
Grow Your Email List with Actionable Leads
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