How to Grow Your Email List FAST: 80+ Proven Methods

Are you looking for simple, proven strategies that will teach you how to grow your email list FAST?

When most people talk about email marketing, they jump into email copy, catchy subject lines, open rates, and tracking unsubscribes.

But before you can get to any of that, you’re missing one crucial component: to send out email marketing campaigns, you first need a robust list of people to send them to!

That’s why, in today’s post, we’ll share 80 proven and trusted email list building strategies.

Why You Need to Grow Your Email List

So, why should you always be looking for new ways to grow your list?

Your email list naturally degrades by about 25% every year. You need to continuously grow your email list and make up for these lost subscribers.

Now, for the fastest growth, you need to use a tool like OptinMonster.

OptinMonster is the best email list building tool on the market and the easiest way to add new subscribers. It comes with a drag and drop builder that lets you easily build eye-catching popups to collect email addresses on your website.

With OptinMonster’s templates for growing your list, you can quickly and easily create popups such as:

• Offering your readers a content upgrade, like a free eBook, in exchange for their email address
• Timed optin forms that appear only after they’ve spent some time engaged with your content
• Targeted popups that are only shown on specific pages, like your posts with the most traffic

Most of the popup examples on this list were made with OptinMonster. It’s the perfect solution for bloggers, small businesses, large enterprises, and everything in between.

There’s a reason why OptinMonster is known as the best lead generation software in the world. Whether you drive traffic to your site with paid ads, SEO, or word-of-mouth, this tool can SKYROCKET your email list growth.

Ready to see for yourself? Just click below to start your 100% risk-free OptinMonster account today:

How to Grow Your Email List Fast

To start, you might want to check out his video with 11 ways to grow your email list for free!

But that’s not the end of the ideas to get people to subscribe! Here are 80 more email list building ideas that are proven to work and super simple to do.

1. Create amazing email content. Learn how to write email marketing copy that converts.

2. Segment your email list to create targeted content that your subscribers will love. Audience segmentation is a key component to increase your email campaign’s success. Here are 50 ways to segment your mailing list!

3. Start blogging. If you don’t already blog, you should! No matter your industry, blogging creates content that’s going to make it easier for your site to rank higher in search engine results.

4. Keep your email list clean. Here’s how to scrub your email list.

5. One-up the competition with your lead magnet by making it bigger and better. For example, if your competition is offering a 30-point cheatsheet checklist, make yours a 50-point cheatsheet checklist.

6. Add content upgrades to your blog posts. These could be as simple as a PDF, condensed version of the post with additional, “bonus” information. Here are 30 content upgrade ideas you can use.

7. Make some of your content gated. Gated content is content on your website that can’t be accessed until the visitor enters their contact information. Use OptinMonster’s Content Lock feature to gate your content and grow your email list FAST.

8. Host webinars. You can host a webinar for free using tools like YouTube Live or Zoom, and they convert really well because live events have a high perceived value.

9. Host a giveaway. Require participants to use the signup form with their email address, and give them additional entries when they share the giveaway on social media.

This is easy to do with the RafflePress plugin for WordPress:

This is one of the MOST solutions if you’re trying to figure out how to build an email list FAST.

10. Create a quiz and require users to enter their email address before they can download their results. You can use tools like Interact or Qzzr to do this.

11. Offer a coupon in exchange for an email address instead of a traditional lead magnet if you have an eCommerce site.

OptinMonster comes with prebuilt templates that allow you to offer coupons on your site.

12. Offer a free tool or free software that requires an email address to sign up.

13. Use Facebook ads to drive traffic to your optin landing page. Just make sure you optimize your Facebook ads to increase conversion rates.

14. Pin your optin landing page on Pinterest. Then, you can boost your pin with Pinterest ads to drive even more traffic.

15. Promote content on Pinterest. Create Pinterest boards by topic and pin beautiful visuals with links to your site.

16. Answer Quora questions that are related to the topic of your lead magnet. Then include a link to your optin landing page for further reference.

17. Search forums for questions related to the topic of your lead magnet. Then answer the question with a link to your optin landing page.

18. Answer questions in Facebook groups. Just don’t post the link to your email optin unless it is allowed by the group admin. Instead, you can ask members to private message you for the link if they want it.

19. Ask for feedback. Create an online survey to find out what your visitors want to know about your business and products. You can even ask for feedback about the type of content visitors want.

20. Participate in LinkedIn groups to become known as an expert, and then post the link to your optin landing page when the time is right.

21. Film lead-generating Instagram Stories. Learn more about them here.

22. Make your YouTube videos interactive with call-to-action cards. Then, link the cards to your optin landing pages. Here’s how to do it.

23. Use SlideShare lead forms to capture potential customers with your PowerPoint and slide presentations. Check out our tutorial here.

24. Add sharing buttons to your email signature, your thank you page, and to your lead magnets themselves so that your existing subscribers can spread the word for you.

25. Add a signup button to your Facebook Page. Here’s how to do it.

26. Add a call-to-action to your Instagram bio with a link to your optin landing page. Here’s how to do it.

27. Submit guest posts to popular blogs serving your target market and include a call to action (CTA) in your author byline with a link to your optin landing page. Just make sure to avoid these 6 mistakes when writing your guest posts.

28. Add a call to action to your About page with an inline optin form.

29. Partner up with an influencer or set up a cross-promotion and do an exchange: they send an email to their list about your optin offer, and you send an email to your list about theirs. You both grow your email lists (FAST) in the process! Learn all about influencer marketing strategy and cross-promotions before giving it a try.

30. Host a local meetup and pitch your free optin offer to collect email addresses.

31. Use paid search ads to drive qualified traffic to your optin landing page. Just make sure your lead magnet offers the answer to the question they were searching for.

32. Add a QR code to all your printed materials and link them to your optin landing page. Here’s how to do it.

33. Use native ads to capture leads from other websites and apps that have a similar target audience as yours.

34. Install an exit-intent popup on every post and page on your website to convert abandoning visitors. Here are 40 exit popup hacks you can use.

35. Install a scroll box on your blog posts (works especially great for long-form content) and use your content upgrade as the lead magnet.

36. Install a timed lightbox popup on content-heavy pages to convert readers who have been reading and enjoying what you have to say.

37. Add location-specific embedded signup forms above and below your blog post content that feature that content’s specific content upgrade.

38. Collect data from your sidebar form to discover what variations work better.

39. Trigger a floating bar by user behavior so that it is perfectly targeted based on the referral source, the page the user is visiting, and the time they’ve spent on your site.

40. Include a prominent header with your call to action on your homepage.

41. Display page-specific optin forms. In other words, don’t just show the same optin on every page or blog post, use a lead magnet or content upgrade that is specific to the content the visitor is currently viewing.

Rich Page this page-level targeting popup to increase its optins by 316%:

This is a surefire answer to the problem of how to build an email list fast.

42. Add a newsletter optin checkbox next to the submit comment button.

43. Add social proof by showing off how many other people are subscribing (or have subscribed) to your list. TrustPulse is an awesome way to quickly and easily add social proof to your site using real-time activity!

Here are more ways you can use social proof.

44. Add reviews and testimonials below your optin forms to convince visitors to sign up. Here’s a fun example from Marie Forleo’s B-School:

45. Publish case studies. Everyone loves stories, and your case studies show visitors how other folks are using your product to accomplish great things.

46. Add credibility by explaining what qualifies you to give them this information.

47. Make your optin copy relatable by avoiding corporate-speak and jargon. Instead, use the same language that your subscribers use when they talk normally.

48. Keep your optin form simple: you should only ask for first name and email maximum, at least at first. Embrace progressive profiling. It will reduce friction for your visitors and boost your leads. That means your new leads are more likely to become new customers.

Lilach Bullock converted 57% of website visitors with this simple popup.

49. Add a newsletter optin checkbox to your e-commerce checkout page. If you use WooCommerce, you can use the Newsletter Subscription addon to do this.

50. Add your anti-spam policy right below the submit button on your optin form to increase conversions. For example, “Your email address is 100% secure, and we will never sell your information to a 3rd party.”

51. Offer different lead magnets for different segments of your audience. Here’s an example of a popup that offers a choice of multiple lead magnets based on the user’s needs:

52. Give a preview of your newsletter to show visitors what they’re missing out on if they don’t sign up.

53. Add a fishbowl to your counter (for brick-and-mortar businesses) and ask shoppers to leave their best email addresses in the bowl for a chance to win a prize.

54. Include a call to action on a sandwich board outside your store, encouraging shoppers to sign up for your email list.

55. Add a call to action to your Facebook cover photo, encouraging visitors to sign up with their email.

56. Add a call to action button to your YouTube Channel with a link to your optin landing page.

57. Use Foursquare to post an alert to people in your area with a link to your optin form.

58. Use online communities to grow an audience of people interested in your topic and then promote your optin form. The closing of Google+ has given rise to several online community sites like MeWe, Mastodon, and Diaspora.

59. Host a Twitter chat to get people talking about your lead magnet. Here’s how to get started.

60. Create snaps on Snapchat with a call to action to sign up for your list.

61. Add a call to action to all of your bios on your various social media profiles with a link to your optin landing page.

62. Comment on blog posts, and when you fill out the “website” field, use the URL to your optin landing page.

63. A/B test your call to action to figure out which offer or wording converts the best.

64. Add a call to action to your local business listings, such as your Yelp page, with a link to your optin landing page.

65. Add a call to action to your podcasts, telling listeners how to sign up for your lead magnet.

66. Share your email archives on social media to show people what they could get by being on your list.

67. Ask your existing subscribers to share or forward your marketing emails to a friend by including a “Forward to a Friend” button at the bottom of your newsletters.

68. Add a call to action to your email signature linking to your optin landing page.

69. Ask people to join your email list by text (useful for podcasts or television interviews).

70. Add a signup link or QR code to your brochure.

71. Add a signup link or QR code to your business card.

72. Add email signup to your event, so when people register they are automatically added to your email list.

73. Book a speaking engagement and use that opportunity to pitch your lead magnet.

74. Start a loyalty program to encourage shoppers to sign up for your email list.

75. Start a birthday club to reward those who signup for your email list with special discounts and bonuses on their birthday.

76. Reward subscribers or employees for referring their friends to join.

77. Add email-only offers to your boxes, packages, and mailings.

78. Host a free challenge for a specific number of days, and require that participants enter their email address to register.

79. Publish a landing page with a ton of free content related to your lead magnet so that you can rank in search engines for relevant keywords. Then include a prominent optin box for your lead magnet.

80. Add email signup to your mobile app, with an incentive to get people to sign up.

Another way to grow signups is to make sure your popups work across all devices. More people are using their phones to browse the web, so it makes sense to invest in mobile optin forms.

That’s it! Now you know 80+ tips for email list building!

Want to kick your efforts into overdrive? Click below to start your 100% risk-free OptinMonster subscription to start growing your email list FASTER right now:

Looking for even more tips on how to grow your email list fast? Then you’ll love these resources:

• How To Get More Email Subscribers in Less than 5 Minutes
• 15 Email Popup Best Practices To Skyrocket Your List
• The Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing

These will teach you even more ways to grow your email list FAST with OptinMonster.

Published by Jacinda Santora

Jacinda Santora is a writer specializing in eCommerce and growth marketing. She prides herself on her ability to make complicated things easier. When she isn't writing you can find her daydreaming about campervans, drinking coffee, and listening to podcasts.