Last week’s blog post was all about creating systems (content marketing).
Systems help you thrive in your business and eliminate the overwhelm in your daily tasks.
Content marketing helps you with your visibility a.k.a gets your content in front of your ideal clients so that they can start trusting you and see you as an expert in your niche.
However if you are producing content for the sake of ‘staying visible’ then that’s no good.
Your content marketing efforts need to be backed up by moving your audience to the next level in the client/entrepreneur relationship.
And that is achieved by list building.
I know I know. Nothing new. Nothing earth shattering.
Just good ol’ fashioned list building that will further deepen your relationship with your audience and have them trust and buy from you (not everyone will of course).
But there was a time that I used to cringe when I was asked “So, how big is your list?”
It wasn’t my priority and I wasn’t doing it consistently.
I fell into the trap of thinking that if I was ‘visible’ in Facebook groups; mine and others that it was all I needed to create income and impact.
But that’s deadly thinking.
True that social media, especially Facebook groups have made it easier to sign up clients and market your business…
However you’re fighting a devious and a sly enemy known as the Facebook algorithm.
The infamous Facebook algorithm doesn’t show your posts to everyone. No matter how good your ‘value post’ is. Not all your ideal clients may have seen it.
Out of sight is out of mind.
Plus Facebook can change its rules anytime because ultimately we’re doing business/transacting on their turf.
So it’s important to play on your own turf.
AKA build your own list.
List building should be a top priority in your online business and one that you need to commit to every.single.day.
So how exactly can you build your list consistently?
First of all, I want to mention this upfront; your list building efforts need to include organic strategies as well as using paid traffic.
Both of these will simultaneously grow your list.
Assuming you’ve got your email service responder integrated with your opt-in let’s move on to how you can explode your list growth in other ways.
So here I wanted to share some of my top 7 strategies on list building that will get you ready for 2018:
# 1 Create a signature content piece:
This is a piece of content that showcases your in-depth knowledge of your topic. Typically it’s an answer(s) to a question(s) you get asked often in your niche.
Your signature content piece can be a blog post, FB live/YouTube video or a podcast episode and created on your website.
Bonus tip: When you’re connecting with a potential client, you can direct her to your website where this content lives.
# 2 Create a content upgrade:
A content upgrade (CU) is a bonus piece of information that enhances, complements and is specific to the information in your blog post, podcast or video.
It functions like a lead magnet, so in order to access the bonus information, the online visitor has to submit her email address.
So for each blog piece/podcast/video, you can create a content upgrade.
If you’re producing content on a weekly basis; that’s 4 content pieces in a month and correspondingly 4 content upgrades.
In a year that could total 48 content upgrades! Each content upgrade provides an opportunity to build your lits!
If producing a content upgrade every week sounds too much then limit it to one content upgrade per month.
Bonus tip: If you have Google Analytics installed it will let you know which is your top performing content piece and that makes it a no-brainer to create it’s content upgrade.
# 3 Use pop ups:
As annoying as they are, they are effective in list building.
I recommend using three kinds of pop-ups on your website to boost list building.
Home page pop up: Your homepage on the website is an apt place to have a pop-up about your opt-in.
Keep the copy conversational and the CTA button a contrast color with an equally conversational command that entices the visitor to sign up.
Set a timer on your pop-up so that it appears a few minutes after the visitor has spent some time on the homepage.
Content upgrade pop up: Your content upgrade can also have a pop-up reminding the visitor to sign up for the content upgrade.
Exit intent pop-up: I love taking last shots. And an exit intent pop-up gives you that one last shot when your visitors are on their way out and it displays on their screen. The exit pop up reminds the visitor to sign up for the opt-in.
# 4 Create your Facebook posts (Social Media posts) promoting your opt-in for at least a month.
Create your Facebook posts that are related to your opt-in.
I would recommend creating at least 30 Facebook posts relevant to your opt-in and post them in Facebook groups to incite curiosity and provide value.
If you’re in a Facebook group that allows promotions, you can include the link to your opt-in, in every Facebook post.
# 5 Doing FB lives on your biz page:
There’s no question that when you add video to your list building strategy, your list growth is going to skyrocket (subject to the content being valuable and relevant to your ideal client of course).
Social + video = list building magic!
I still remember doing my first FB live.
It made me go weak in the knees and I wanted to throw up!
But the more I did it, I relaxed in front of the camera and now FB lives have become an integral part of my list building strategy.
So hit the Go Live button on your phone or get in front of your laptop to do your Facebook Live.
Most important thing in a FB live is to add a CTA (call to action) to your lead magnet so that you direct the viewers to your opt-in’s landing page.
It’s no brainer that the topic of your Live has to be relevant to your opt-in. So don’t fret about what you should be talking about.
You can retarget all of your video views once you are ready to fun Facebook ads, so think of your live broadcasts as a way of building a very warm ad targeting group!
# 6 Boosting Facebook posts:
So there are a lot of differing views on whether you should be boosting your FB lives. Or not.
What I have found is that if you’re not quite ready to create FB ads, then boosting your posts as a pre-launch strategy would be a better option.
They are much easier to create by simply hitting the boost button.
Here are a few things to keep in mind if you want to boost your posts:
- Boost posts that have done well organically:
Review which of your posts have already received the maximum engagement, likes or shares (either on your biz page or Facebook groups).
For zero dollars spent, people have told you what posts they like so it makes sense to boost the same posts to increase their likability, shareability and conversion rate (opting in).
- Include a CTA for every boosted post: Include a link to your landing page always! Unlike FB ads, a boosted post does not have the option of CTA buttons such as ‘learn more’, ‘sign up’ etc.
- If a boosted post has gotten you a wider reach, engagement and even opt-ins then you know you’re ready for the next level better known as the Facebook Ads.
Bonus tip: Boosted video posts do better than static posts.
# 7 Paid traffic:
I want to share a couple of strategies that are working within the context of list building.
- The Blog Post Funnel:
- FB ads > Blog Post > Content Upgrade > Thank you page = subscriber/buyer/lead.
- b) The Landing Page Funnel:
- ii) FB ads > Landing Page > Thank you page = subscriber/buyer/lead
The first strategy will result in fewer leads since you’re sending traffic to a blog post instead of a landing page. The good news however is that your ad cost will be cheaper.
The second strategy will get you leads faster but will be more expensive.
Bonus tip: If you have a tripwire priced at $7 or an introductory offer (priced at $50 or below) made available on the thank you page, you can offset the cost of your Facebook ads.
Conclusion
No matter how well you rock your Facebook or any other social media presence, growing your email list is a non-negotiable and you must grow it every.single.day.
It doesn’t matter how huge your email list is as long as it’s engaged and profitable.
The top seven strategies to grow your email list are:
- Create a signature content piece
- Create a content upgrade (CU)
- Create and promote your Social Media content
- Pop-ups
- Doing Facebook Lives
- Boosting Facebook posts
- Facebook ads
What strategies are you using to grow your email list?
