Last Updated on August 11, 2024 by George Palmer
Building an email list is one of the most important steps in any online business.
Building an email list is your direct line to your audience, a way to build relationships, and ultimately, a channel that can lead to conversions and sales.
However, not all list-building strategies are created equal. Some can do more harm than good.
Below are the 6 worst strategies for growing an email list and why you should avoid them.
1. Buying Email Lists
Buying an email list is one of the most appealing shortcuts for growing your email.
It appears to be an easy win and instant access to thousands of email addresses without any effort but this is one of the worst strategies to grow an email list.
When you buy an email list, you’re getting a group of people who have never heard of you and haven’t signed up to receive your emails.
Doing this will result in lots of issues, including low open rates, high unsubscribe rates, and even having your emails flagged as spam.
Also, many email service providers strongly discourage the use of bought lists, which can harm both their and your reputation.
Instead of buying a list, you should focus on growing your email list organically with people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
It might take more time, but it’s a much more sustainable and effective approach.
2. Using Clickbait or Deceptive Tactics
Another wrong approach is to use clickbait headlines or misleading techniques to get visitors to join your email list.
For example, promising something extraordinary that you cannot provide, or deceiving your readers about what they will receive if they subscribe.
While this may result in a rapid inflow of subscribers, it is not a long-term answer. When people realize they’ve been deceived, they’re more inclined to unsubscribe, flag your emails as spam, or just disregard your future emails.
Any effective email marketing campaign is built on trust, and using dishonest practices is a proven way to undermine that trust.
The best strategy is to be open and honest about what your subscribers will receive and to regularly deliver on those promises.
3. Ignoring Mobile Optimization
With mobile devices now accounting for almost all email opens, ignoring optimization for mobile devices is a serious mistake.
If your sign-up forms, landing pages, or emails are not mobile-friendly, you risk losing potential subscribers.
A common error is to design a sign-up form that looks beautiful on a desktop but is almost impossible to use on a mobile device.
Prospective subscribers are likely to give up and go on if they have to pinch and zoom to enter their email address.
Make sure your sign-up process is easy and mobile-friendly. Test your forms on different devices, and make sure your emails are easy to read on small screens.
A mobile-optimized campaign will help you gain and keep more subscribers.
4. Overwhelming Potential Subscribers with Too Many Fields
It’s fair to want to learn as much as possible about your subscribers, but asking for too much information upfront is a huge turn-off.
If your sign-up form contains too many fields (name, email, phone number, address, birthday, state), you’re causing unnecessary difficulty.
People are busy, and the more fields you ask them to complete, the more likely they will leave the process. Keep things simple.
At the initial sign-up step, only asking for their name and email address is enough. You can always collect additional information later by carrying out surveys or analyzing their interaction with your content.
5. Neglecting the Offer’s Value
One of the most common mistakes when building an email list is ignoring the value of the offer.
If you only ask people to sign up without providing a compelling reason, your conversion rates are going to be low.
Just saying, “Sign up for my newsletter” is no longer enough. People’s inboxes are already full of newsletters.
Instead, provide something truly valuable, like a unique ebook, a discount coupon, a free course, or valuable insider information. Make sure your offer is in line with what your target audience truly needs or wants.
If your offer is poor or irrelevant, you will struggle to grow your list.
6. Failing to Deliver on Your Promise
This may sound like a no-brainer, but failing to keep a promise is a very common mistake.
If you are offered a free resource, unique information, or regular updates, you must follow through.
If someone subscribes to your list expecting weekly ideas but only hears from you once every few months or worse, they will soon lose interest and trust in you.
Also, if they signed up for a specific freebie but did not receive it, they would feel tricked.
To avoid this, make sure you have an effective follow-up strategy in place. Send the promised content as soon as someone subscribes, and keep up a steady email schedule that matches their expectations.
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In conclusion, growing an email list is about quality, not just quantity. Avoid these worst strategies, and instead, focus on building a list of engaged, interested subscribers who want to hear from you.