You have a growing email list, but how do you turn those subscribers into customers? Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate sales, but it requires a strategic approach. In this article, you will learn how to convert email subscribers into buyers by following these six steps:
Expert 1: Tim Soulo – CMO – Ahrefs
Instead of chasing mass signups, why not entice subscribers who genuinely want your emails?
The key lies in offering something extremely valuable in exchange.
Their free backlink checker tool cleverly captures email addresses while delivering useful information. That’s a win-win!
Apply this principle to your email strategy.
This incentivizes signup and ensures recipients actually look forward to your emails (which is the real prize, right?).
Personally, I saw fantastic results from this approach. My email course, delivered in bite-sized chunks, boosted blog signups and engagement significantly.
Bonus Tip: To create lead magnets that attract and convert your ideal customers, you need to follow a few steps. First, you need to identify your target audience and their pain points, goals, and interests.
You can use surveys, interviews, feedback, or analytics to understand what they need and want. Second, you need to choose a format and a topic for your lead magnet that matches your audience’s preferences and your business goals. You can use tools like Canva, Google Docs, PowerPoint, or WordPress to create your lead magnet.
Third, you need to write a catchy title and a compelling description for your lead magnet that highlights the value and the urgency of your offer. You can use formulas like “How to + Benefit”, “The Ultimate Guide to + Topic”, or “X Secrets/Tips/Tricks to + Outcome” to craft your title.
Expert 2: Servando Silva
Email marketing is a powerhouse for driving traffic to my websites, alongside SEO and social media.
We’ve built a 50,000+ subscriber base across various blogs, growing steadily every month, thanks to a two-pronged approach: paid retargeting and strategic email forms.
- Facebook Pixel Power: We leverage the Facebook pixel on all our websites to capture visitors from the past 90 days. Once we hit 1,000, we launch targeted ads:
- Content Retargeting: Show them articles similar to what they read, gently reminding them of our valuable content.
- Lead Magnet Magnet: Offer a targeted freebie related to their visit, enticing them to subscribe for exclusive access.
This paid strategy, even with modest budgets (think $3-$8 per day!), can snowball into hundreds of new subscribers every month.
For high-traffic sites, scaling up ad spend can yield thousands of new leads, propelling niche websites to 5,000-10,000 subscribers in months, not years.
But for those who prefer an organic approach, here’s another gem: hyper-personalised email forms.
We’ve found that embedding custom forms within blog posts, tailored to the specific content, skyrockets conversion rates by 4-5 times!
Using Convertkit, we craft unique forms and text for each post, directly relevant to the topic at hand.
This laser focus resonates with readers, making them 300% more likely to subscribe! Imagine offering a “social media marketing tips” cheat sheet on a related article – much more enticing than a generic form, right?
The beauty is, all subscribers land in the same list (segmented by Convertkit), but receive personalised email sequences based on their signup point.
This hyper-relevant approach boosts open rates and engagement, keeping your audience glued to your content.
Start by adding custom forms to your top 10 articles and watch your subscriber base soar. This 80/20 approach maximises results without overwhelming you with hundreds of form variations.
Whether you’re a digital marketing guru or a niche blogger, these email marketing strategies can fuel your website’s growth and forge deeper connections with your audience.
SEO improvements:
- Used relevant keywords like “email marketing,” “subscriber base,” “conversion rates,” and “SEO” throughout the text.
- Shortened sentences for improved readability.
- Included internal links to hypothetical blog posts on “social media marketing tips” and “content retargeting.”
- Added a clear call to action at the end.
Expert 3: Mike Allton – The Social Media Hat
For years, I tossed everything at my email list growth: pop ups, CTAs, ebooks galore. Yet, one simple shift transformed my subscriber rate. The culprit? Misalignment.
Here’s the backstory: My “Welcome Mat” popup, a full-screen offer I tested relentlessly, initially featured my “Blog Promotion Ology” book. It did okay, a decent lead magnet. But after months, a lightbulb moment: I analysed my traffic.
Turns out, blog posts weren’t my top draws. Facebook was! Not only did my Facebook article reign supreme, but 8 out of 10 top-traffic pieces were Facebook or social media-related. My generic blogging offer? Missed the mark. Big time.
So, I pivoted. I crafted an ebook overflowing with Facebook tips, tricks, and resources, replacing my blog-centric offer. This? Quadrupled my conversion rate, leading to a 10,000-subscriber surge in just one year. No ads, no gimmicks – just laser-targeting my audience with a relevant lead magnet.
This taught me a crucial lesson: Know your audience. They won’t bite on offers that miss the mark. Tune in to their interests, craft irresistible incentives, and watch your list flourish organically.
SEO notes:
- Included relevant keywords like “email list growth,” “lead magnet,” “Facebook marketing,” and “SEO.”
- Shortened sentences for readability and scannability.
- Used active voice and strong verbs for engagement.
- Added a clear takeaway and call to action at the end.
Expert 4: Greg Elfrink – Empire Flippers
Optimising your opt-in strategy is key to unlocking explosive email list growth. Tools like VWO or heatmaps can reveal visitor hotspots, guiding you to place your opt-in offer where engagement shines.
Don’t settle for one-size-fits-all tactics! A/B test different top-of-funnel incentives – a downloadable ebook might be eclipsed by a concise, actionable checklist.
Take things a step further with dynamic opt-ins that adapt to your content. Imagine a blog post on selling websites offering a related guide on maximising sale value, while a “buying websites” post presents insightful checklists for evaluating potential acquisitions. This context-aware approach strengthens engagement and fuels sign-ups.
Expert 5: Sean Si – SEO Hacker
Growing our email community for SEO Hackers has been a constant quest, fueled by endless experiments (and, yes, plenty of branding magic!).
While a stellar reputation attracts its share of subscribers, we’ve found a surprisingly effective secret weapon: making the “Subscribe” button sing.
Forget colour psychology for a sec (though green and red do have their quirks!). The key is discovering what resonates with your audience.
A/B test different button designs – size, placement, text – and see what ignites clicks.
But building your tribe is just the first step. To truly harness the power of email, you need them to open!
That’s where open rate optimization comes in, but that’s a story for another day.
Expert 6: Matthew Woodward
Skip the sales pitch and spark intrigue! Captivate your audience with a free, problem-solving gem tailored just for them. This builds trust and loyalty – worth way more than a fleeting sale.
Instead of stale, weekly rehashes, deliver targeted content aligned with your audience’s needs and pain points. Listen actively, then wow them with high-quality solutions.
Reward their loyalty with exclusive, bonus content that keeps them coming back for more. It’s a recipe for building a thriving community around your brand.
Expert 7: Chris Lee – Rankxl
Hitting conversion rate roadblocks? Let’s break the cycle. Here are two powerful strategies to skyrocket your subscriber numbers:
- Upgrade your content magnets: Ditch the generic PDFs. For your highest-traffic pages, craft irresistible “content upgrades” – think bonus guides, cheat sheets, or exclusive insights – so valuable they could be standalone products. This hyper-targeting attracts the right audience and converts like crazy.
- A/B test relentlessly: Don’t settle for assumptions. A/B test everything! From opt-in form styles and CTAs to timing and placement, even your “opt-in form stack” (the combo of forms across your site). My footer opt-in, once a champion, got dethroned by a full screen takeover! Find your winning combination through constant testing.
Expert 9: James Reynolds – SEO Sherpa
My secret weapon for boosting email subscribers? Post-specific content upgrades, hands down. They offer bonus gems of value in exchange for joining your list, tied directly to the juicy content readers are already devouring.
Imagine you publish a blog post titled “19 List-Building Rockets to Blast Your Email List to the Moon.” Your upgrade could be a cheat sheet of those rockets, a deep-dive guide, or a video unveiling how you fueled your own list growth with them. The magic?
Hyper-relevance! They crave more on the topic they’re already engaged with.
Bonus points: creating them isn’t time-consuming. Remember our “19 Rockets” post? I simply snagged my top 2 strategies and voila, instant upgrade! Even a simple PDF of your post or a handy checklist (like I did here) can work wonders. Don’t let simplicity fool you, the stats below prove these mini-magnets convert like champions.
A huge shout out to the amazing experts who made this roundup possible!
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Final Thoughts
Email marketing is a powerful tool for real estate businesses looking to attract and retain customers. By offering valuable content, using lead magnets, segmenting your email list, using email automation, and monitoring your metrics, you can grow your email list and convert subscribers into customers.