7 Ways How to Grow Your Email List with Opt-in Links

According to OptinMonster, email lists naturally degrade year over year by about 25% which is why it’s so important to keep growing your email list. In this post you’ll learn new ways to grow your email list and where you can utilize your opt-in links to keep your email list growing steadily.

What’s an opt-in?

The simplest description of an opt-in is when someone chooses to participate in something.

When it comes to email marketing, best practice is to give someone the option to start receiving your marketing messages – you don’t just want to add them to your list without their consent unless you want to rack up your spam complaints and lower your chances of landing in someone’s inbox.

Another word used interchangeably with opt-in is subscribe….they mean the same thing in this context.

How can you encourage more email marketing opt-ins?

With your ActiveCampaign account (included with standard Ready to Go Newsletter subscriptions), you’re able to set up multiple forms to capture email marketing opt-ins and below we’ve covered 7 ways to grow your email list by using your opt-in links.

Here’s the video showing how to create an ActiveCampaign opt-in form to use online.

1. Lead Magnets or Free Guides

Offer a free guide in exchange for an email address. You can use a guide like this one: 40+ Ways to Stay Safe & Entertained at Home. Or, any of your other guides that are offered as part of your membership. Here’s a help video showing how to access your other free guides (https://getreadynewsletters.com/members/free-guides-access-for-members/).

2. Email signatures are cleverly powerful

Include your e-newsletter opt-in form in your email signature by saying something like this:

Did you get my latest email newsletter with valuable resources you don’t want to miss? Subscribe today!

^link to your opt-in form^ 

(You can find more inspiration from Sumo’s 7 Proven Email Signature Examples To Get Extra Traffic.)

You can turn on a setting in your ActiveCampaign account that automatically sends new subscribers your most recent email newsletter and they will continue to receive future email newsletters as well. Here’s how you can do that.

How do you add an email signature in Outlook? 

Here is a step-by-step walkthrough for how to create and add a signature to your email messages.

How do you add an email signature in Gmail? 

Here are the steps for how to create email signatures with Gmail.

3. Use opt-in links on your website

Embed your opt-in form onto your WordPress website (or you can include a link to your form). If you don’t already have a blog, it’s not too late to start! You can use the article from the Ready to Go Newsletters article library in your newsletter account either as inspiration for topics or to put on your blog directly. Blogging makes it easier for you to rank higher in search results.

If you want more details, don’t miss our post Blogging 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Set Up & Rolling.

4. Host a virtual event

With so much of the world being more virtual, hosting a Zoom event or webinar is a great way to grow your email list too – offer a free online event in exchange for an email address. You can also check out our The Do’s and Don’ts of Webinar Etiquette post.

5. Build an online quiz

Use a tool like Typeform to create an informational, fun quiz that requires quiz takers to enter their email address in order to get their results. You can get a free Typeform account by signing up here.

6. Incorporate opt-in links in your social media

Pin your opt-in form or landing page in your social media posts, including your paid ads to drive more traffic to grow your email list.

7. Build an online survey for feedback

Using a tool like SurveyMonkey, create a survey to ask your contacts and visitors for feedback about your business and products. You can sign up for a free SurveyMonkey account here.

If you missed it, check out 8 Best Practice Tips for Designing Feedback Surveys.

These are some great ways to start using your opt-in links to keep your email listing ticking up through the year. You can even keep your lists segmented by product types by creating multiple opt-in forms. With ActiveCampaign’s unlimited forms feature, you don’t have to settle for a catch all opt-in page for everything.