How To Start an Email List

Email lists are a great way to regularly communicate with potential and existing customers, so they’re worth exploring as part of your marketing strategy. Thanks to their personal nature, email subscribers tend to be a lot more receptive to what you have to say, as they have demonstrated an interest in your business through their decision to sign up.

Thinking about giving it a try? Here are six steps to starting an email list for your business.

Pick your provider

You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to email marketing platforms these days, and many offer free accounts too. Popular choices include Mailchimp, ConvertKit and Drip - but there are plenty more available if none of those suit your needs.

It’s important to pick a provider that suits your business, so it’s worth considering an estimated size for your mailing list and the type of content you’ll want to send. Take a look at the automation offered by each platform and think about signing up for free accounts where possible to test the system out before you commit.

Create a signup form

Signup forms are a crucial part of building your list, and the wrong signup form can attract the wrong customers. Think carefully about your ideal audience and what they respond to, as this will come into play when building your signup form too. This can operate as a standalone landing page which can be promoted directly, or you can embed it into your website for extra traffic.

Check your compliance

Email marketing is regulated to protect against shady behaviour, and it’s essential that you ensure you’re complying with whatever regulations apply in the countries your audience resides in. Anti-spam regulations state that all emails must have a clear way for readers to unsubscribe, and an address for the sender should be available.

Your email platform will be able to point you in the right direction, but you can check out Mailchimp’s articles on anti-spam requirements and best practice for building your list to get started.

Set up a welcome email

Welcome emails tend to see the highest open rates, so it’s worth taking the opportunity to get yourself in front of your new subscribers and introduce yourself properly. Most email marketing platforms allow you to easily create a welcome email that will automatically be sent to new subscribers, and you can use this to pass on any key information whilst getting your subscribers used to seeing your content in their inbox.

For some businesses, one welcome email will be enough, but depending on the goals of your email marketing campaigns you may want to look at setting up an ongoing sequence to boost your conversions.

Promote your list

What good is an email list with no subscribers? Once you’ve sorted out the basics, it’s time to get promoting. Make sure potential subscribers can easily access your signup pages across relevant pages of your website and your social media. Highlight your list to new and returning customers, and consider offering incentives like free downloads or exclusive discounts to encourage new subscribers.

Create regular content

Once you’ve started building your list, it’s important to keep your subscribers up to date with regular content. This might be once a week, once a fortnight or once a month - it’s up to you - but the most important thing is that you stay consistent. This will help your subscribers know what to expect from you, and help you build up brand awareness within your audience.

Want to see some examples? Sign up to the RookieOven mailing list for fortnightly updates on the Scottish tech scene.