Email Marketing Tips To Get Email Subscribers Fast

Last Updated on August 4, 2020 by ellduclos

When I first started my blog I didn’t realize how important email marketing can be. I put my email list on the back burner and focused on other things. I realized that having an email list is actually very important and can be beneficial in more ways than one. If social media were to ever disappear you want to make sure you are still able to connect with your audience on a personal level. Email marketing can help you do so!

This year I started taking email marketing more seriously and by doing so I was able to increase not only my blog traffic but, also my sales! If you are wanting to learn how to get email subscribers fast then continue reading!

Disclaimer: Affiliate links are used. You can read my full disclosure here.

How To Create An Email List

Before we dive into the email marketing strategies you need to set up an email list for your blog. You would do this by signing up for an email list builder platform. I personally use Mailerlite. It’s SO easy to use and it’s free for up to 1,000 subscribers. All of the email tutorials I mention in this blog post I will be using Mailerlite to show you how.

You might be wondering what the difference is between a platform like Mailerlite compared to the free subscribe button that comes with WordPress.

The free subscribe button that comes with WordPress lacks the ability to send out customized email campaigns. Your subscribers will be able to get notified when you publish a new blog post but, without using an email list builder like Mailerlite you won’t be able to create freebies, set up email campaigns, welcome series, and more!

>> Sign Up With MailerLite Here <<

TIP: If you aren’t self hosted you won’t be able to install plug-ins unless you are on the expensive business plan of WordPress. I recommend transferring to self hosting your blog if you want to grow your subscribers effectively.

I use Siteground and have for over 3 years. You can live chat their support team and they will help you transfer your blog.

>> Sign Up With Siteground <<

Once you are self hosted and have signed up for Mailerlite you’ll want to make sure you install their plug-in. This will be needed later on in this post!

Keep in mind that you need to use an address when creating an email list and sending emails. It’s a legal requirement. You can purchase a p.o box if you would rather not publicly share your home address.

It’s also important to add a privacy policy to your blog in order to get approved for Mailerlite and other email list builders. You can read more about legal policies for your blog here. I use these legal templates for my privacy and disclosure policies.

How to create an email welcome series

An email welcome series is an email that you design to get sent out when a reader becomes a subscriber. You only have to create this welcome series once and it will automatically send out to anyone who subscribes.

First, go to “automation”

Next, you’ll want to select “create workflow”

Now you’ll name your workflow. I named mine “welcome series”

Next you’ll select the trigger. Choose “when subscriber joins a group” and select your email list. I have one specific email list “Boss Girl Bloggers” but, if you blog about multiple topics you can create more than one group so that you can target your audience properly. This allows you to only email those who are genuinely interested in the topic you are emailing about.

Next you’ll want to design your email. Select the (+) and then select “Email”

Fill out the subject (headline of email) and then design your email.

In your welcome series you’ll want to welcome the new subscriber personally and let them know what they can expect from you. For example, how many emails can they expect from you each week?

I also use my email welcome series as a way to share about my Boss Girl Bloggers FB community. You can also try and ask your new subscriber a question through the welcome series to see what they hope to get from being a subscriber!

Once you save the email you designed you can then turn the automation on and it’s ready to go!

You can also turn it into a “series” of emails. This is a way to send out one email a week on automation for a month as your welcome series if you’d like.

If you want to make it a weekly series you’ll then select the (+) to add a delay.

Next hit the (+) again to add another email. You then design and repeat the process to add 2 more emails or as many as you want the series to be.

Then turn on your welcome series and it’s good to go!

How to create an email campaign or newsletter

The next part of your email marketing strategy would be to learn how to create an email campaign or newsletter. Before we talk about how to set this up, let’s talk about how often you should email your subscribers and what you should send them.

How often should you email your subscribers?

When it comes to emailing your subscribers it’s important to remember that each person is going to respond to your emails differently. Some subscribers are going to love getting emails from you while others are going to get annoyed if they receive an email every week. It will take trial and error to see what your subscribers respond to the best.

I find that 1-2 emails a week is a good starting point.

What kind of emails should you send to your subscribers?

Bonuses – free tips and exclusive bonuses that only your subscribers get
Surveys – you can survey your email list to try and see what kind of content they want to see more of from you.
Newsletters – this is something you can send out once a month. A newsletter can include links to your latest blog posts that month, any new products you launched, any updates you have to share etc.
You can use email marketing to promote any new product launches you have coming up
You can design an email campaign that share helpful tips and include affiliate links

Step by step to creating an email campaign

First you’ll go to your Mailerlite dashboard and select “create campaign”

Then you will add your catchy headline. It’s important to use headlines that will intrigue your subscriber to open the email without being too click-baity

A lot of people respond well to time sensitive headlines:

Last chance
Don’t miss out
Limited time only
Don’t forget

Other catchy headline power words to use:

Free
Powerful
Killer
Brilliant
Step by step
The truth
How to
You’ll want this
Oh no
Hacks
Best secrets
Ultimate guide
Genius
Mistakes
The best way

Now that you have your subject line you’ll hit “next.”

I chose the drag and drop editor because that’s the easiest way to design an email using Mailerlite.

Once you are done designing your email you’ll save and select who you want the email to go out to. Select your email list or the specific group of subscribers and then go to schedule.

You can then schedule to send out the email campaign based on timezone or select to send it immediately.

How to create and send a freebie to get more subscribers

A huge part of my email marketing strategy that helps me get subscribers fast is creating multiple freebies. Let’s face it, people LOVE FREE THINGS. If you don’t already offer a freebie then I suggest creating one.

Here are some opt-in freebie ideas that will get you subscribers fast:

a guide
printables
checklists
stock photos
digital graphics
discount codes
ecourse
ebook
challenges

When you are creating a freebie it’s important that it relates to what you blog about. If it doesn’t relate to what you blog about then you are going to collect subscribers that aren’t genuinely interested in your content.

I like to have more than one freebie that I offer to my subscribers. This allows me to collect a lot more followers. If you blog about multiple topics you can create a freebie for each topic.

Step by step to setting up your freebie opt-in form and automation

First you’ll want to create your freebie opt-in form. You’ll do so by going to dashboard > forms > create embedded form.

You’ll be prompted to name the form. I named mine the freebie I was offering. Then select the email list you want the subscribers who sign up using this form to go to. I select my general email list but if you offer multiple niches you can select the list that relates to the freebie.

For example, if my freebie was related to self care I would select my self care list instead of my blog tips list. Hopefully that makes sense!

If you ever want to create a group you can do so by going to subscribers > groups > create group

Now you can design the freebie opt-in form. I make sure my form includes both the email and name so I can add personalization when emailing my subscribers. Without the name you can’t do so.

Once you are done designing the form you’ll hit next.

Now it’s time to set up the automation.

You’ll go back to automation > create workflow

This time you’ll set the trigger to “when subscriber completes a form” and select your newly created freebie form.

Once you save it you’ll be prompted to design the email again. In the email you’ll add the freebie you created.

For my blog post ideas I created it using Canva. I saved it as a pdf and uploaded the pdf to my google drive. Then I copied the sharable google drive link and added it to my email.

Once you have your freebie email designed you can save it and make sure to turn it on.

Now whenever someone subscribes to your blog using your freebie opt-in form they will receive your freebie!

You can create multiple freebie opt-in forms for all sorts of freebies! I have about 9 different freebie forms which includes one pop up form. The subscribers will only receive the freebie to the form they filled out. They can fill out multiple forms if they want more than one of your freebies.

Make sure to upload your newly created freebie form to your WordPress Mailerlite plug-in so you can use the short code to add it quick and easy to your blog posts.

You’ll do so by going to the Mailerlite plug-in > sign up forms

Then “add new”

Select forms created in Mailerlite

Then select your new created freebie form.

Now when you are creating a blog post you can easily add the short code to your blog post.

How to promote your freebies to get email subscribers fast

Once you have your freebies created it’s time to promote those freebie opt-ins so you can grow your email subscribers.

I like to create a landing page on my blog for each freebie opt-in. I just create a new page by going to dashboard > pages > add new.

This landing page will explain a little bit about what the offer is and includes the opt-in form.

To add the short code to your landing page so your readers can opt-in and subscribe select the Mailerlite icon in the tool box

Then select the form you want to add

Then hit add short code and it will add the opt-in form to your page.

You can see the finished opt-in page here for inspiration.

I choose to feature my blog post ideas freebie landing page in my blog’s main menu however, you don’t need to feature this page. The only way someone will land on your landing page is if you choose to share it or if they go to the direct page url.

I also take the page url for my freebie and link it directly to pins I create as well as share the link on social media. Creating pins for your freebie landing pages and marketing those pins with proper pinning strategies is guaranteed to get you email subscribers fast.

If you are clueless about Pinterest marketing then check out my Pinterest Marketing course. It will help!

>> Learn More About Pinterest With Ell <<

I also have a few sets of customizable Pinterest templates that I have used in the past for creating pins for my freebies! You can check those templates out here.

Email marketing tips to remember

You are going to have people who unsubscribe. This is normal. Don’t panic. Some people will subscribe just to get your freebie and unsubscribe after. This happens often. Just remember, if they unsubscribe they aren’t your target audience anyway.
Clean up your email list a few times a year. Think about it, as your subscribers grow, so does the cost. If you want to save money and keep your email list engaged, get rid of ghost subscribers. I’ll go through my email list a few times a year and remove subscribers who don’t open my emails. There’s no point in keeping them subscribed if they aren’t engaging.
Try to use personalization. Address your subscribers by first name in your emails, it adds a personal connection.
You can market your affiliate links and digital products through email campaigns BUT, don’t over do it. People will catch on real quick if you are constantly cold selling to them. Make sure to offer free value through your email marketing too.
Add a freebie opt-in form half way through your blog post. More people will see this form than if it’s just at the end of your blog post.
If you have a pop-up subscribe form I suggest making sure it doesn’t over take the entire screen. I also suggest making sure the pop-up doesn’t show up right away. My pop-up is set to show up after the reader scrolls through 50% of the page.

Lastly, if you are wanting to take your email marketing up a notch I recommend the email marketing bundle! This course shares tons of valuable email marketing strategies that actually work to get email subscribers fast and make more sales.

>> Grab The Course Here <<

I hope you found these email marketing tips helpful! Would love to here from you in the comments below.