7 Expert Tricks to Grow Your Email List with Social Media

By Olivia Dello Buono February 6, 2017

We asked the experts at Buffer how marketers can leverage their social media channels to grow their email list bigger, better and faster!

Email is one of the most effective ways to turn your passive ‘likes’ and followers into loyal customers. If you’ve already built up a fanbase for your business on your social channels, it’s time to take the relationship to the next level by inviting them to join your email list.

In last week’s #EmailChat, we chatted with Brian Peters, Marketing and Social Media Manager at Buffer, to learn how marketers can leverage their social media channels to grow their email list bigger, better and faster!

Needless to say, there were a ton of insights and tips that resulted from our chat – all of which I’ve outlined below.

Here’s why email is different than social media

One of the best things about social media is that it lets you reach new fans and audiences in a very public way. People can search for your topic or area of expertise and stumble upon your page at random or through a friend or family member referral.

But social media can get crowded. If you’re not investing in paid advertising, there’s a good chance your posts won’t get seen (let alone by the right people).

The good news? Engaging your audience is – all you have to do is add email to the mix!

The even better news? Your subscribers are likely to be more engaged because they opted in to hear from you.

You can set the timing and frequency of when you want to deliver content to your prospects. There’s no algorithm to work around. With email, it’s super easy to track who your content is reaching and how it performed. (And if you’re using a trusted email service provider, there’s no question about whether or not your content is actually getting delivered.)

How social + email can work together

Despite their differences, email and social media work better together.

Social media is a great way to reach new audiences and communities of people. Email is how to keep them engaged and nurture the relationship. It’s a win-win!

Leverage both of their strengths to really amp up your marketing strategy as a whole.

You might also like: Quick Tips Video: Growing Subscribers via Social Media

Tricks to grow your email list with social

So how do you get your followers to sign up for your email list? The answer is surprisingly easy!

You can share lead generating resources or content upgrades, like a webinar, PDF guide or ebook, as an incentive in exchange for their email address.

Another simple way to boost your list growth is to host a contest or giveaway with a valuable, relevant prize. Just remember to state that entrants will be added to your email list (or give them the option to opt-out).

The platform that’s most effective for list building…

…is a tricky one. There isn’t exactly a best or worst platform for growing your email list – it’s really dependent on where your audience is.

Brian suggests Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as good places to start because they are the most “landing page” friendly. And while we definitely agree, don’t overlook channels like Pinterest and Instagram. Both are really good places for finding new audiences through search.

If you’re willing to invest a little, Facebook ads are a great place to promote your list. You set the targeting and budget for your ads. You can also create lookalike audiences based on the profiles of your current email subscribers.

Check out more tips to growing your list with social media in our free guide.

These tools can help with growing your list

There’s a secret that separates great marketers from good ones: the 80/20 rule.

Sadly, producing great content isn’t enough. You need to reach the right people at the right time to get the results you want. And that’s why great marketers spend around 20 percent of their time creating content and 80 percent promoting it.

Luckily, there are a few tools out there to automate the process, so you can spend more time doing what you love!

Try out a social scheduling tool like Buffer, MeetEdgar or Sprout Social to automate your social media feeds. And don’t underestimate the power of the built-in tools. Facebook’s Subscribe tab, for example, is a surprisingly effective way to keep your email list top of mind.

Make your content share itself

Another secret that great marketers know? The power of social optimization!

Marketers who have mastered social media know how to find opportunities to increase the likelihood of people sharing their content, whether it’s adding sharing links with a tool like AddThis or embedding click to tweets within their blog posts.

You can also try syndicating your content on LinkedIn or Medium to maximize its reach.

Remember these social and email best practices

Whether you’re posting to your social feeds or sending an email to your list, it all goes back to the value you’re providing. How is your content helping your audience to solve a problem?

Testing is also key if you want to continually improve. Keep track of your analytics and try to repeat those successes.

Save the date

Join us on Thursday, March 2nd at 12pm ET for the next #EmailChat. We’ll be talking email automation – you won’t want to miss it!

How are you using social media to grow your email list? Let us know in the comments!