So you're sold on the idea of email marketing. In fact, you're already polishing off the next stellar edition of your e-newsletter (with guidance from The Nonprofit Email Marketing Guide, of course).
But, creating the content is only the first half of the battle--you need a list of people to receive and read it.
How do you build your list? What tools and marketing channels that you're already using can you put to work for you?
Here are 14 of our favorite ways to keep your email list growing:
On Your Website
- Put your sign-up form in your website template, so it appears on every single page.
- Offer special downloads, like how-to guides. When they sign-up for the download, give them the opportunity to also sign up for your e-newsletter (see how Network for Good does it here).
- Sponsor a fun contest or drawing, and be clear that when people enter, they will also be signed up to receive your e-newsletter.
- Create a sign-up form with multiple topics, then let people segment themselves based on which topics they care about.
In Your Email Messages
- Offer great content! Nothing will build your list faster.
- Encourage supporters to update their email addresses themselves (if your system allows it - EmailNow does).
- Ask readers to forward your e-newsletter to friends or share with their social networks and be sure to include a link to your sign-up form in each edition so those friends can sign-up directly.
- Respect all opt-outs. It’s better to lose a subscriber than to have that person tag you as a spammer!
- Put a link to your sign-up form in your personal email signature as well.
Face to Face
- Audit all of your paper forms and make sure you are asking for an email address anywhere you would ask for a phone number or mailing address.
- When people register for your events, invite them to receive your e-newsletter, too.
- Include a newsletter sign-up form at your reception desk.
- Collect business cards when you make presentations.
- Get in the habit of regularly entering those hand-collected addresses into your system so you can invite them to receive your e-newsletter.
Need an email service that allows subscribers to update their addresses, has social sharing tools, includes forward-to-a-friend links automatically and takes care of opt-outs for you, all while offering stellar support? Learn more about Network for Good's solution, EmailNow powered by Emma, at a no-commitment, free demo webinar.
Kivi Leroux Miller is president of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com and author of The Nonprofit Email Marketing Guide.