A guest post from Aweber‘s Crystal Gouldey
I get a lot of questions regarding the best ways to grow a subscriber list. This isn’t a surprise; more subscribers usually means more people reading and interacting with your business, which is what you want. What does surprise me is the lack of work people put into keeping the subscribers they already have. After all, your list isn’t going to grow if you have more people leaving than coming in.
How do you keep subscribers on your list? You have to…
1. Set Expectations
When you get an invitation to a party, it usually includes the standard what, when, why, where and how. If it doesn’t have this information, people wouldn’t know where to go or if they should get a birthday or graduation gift. The same questions need to be answered for your email subscribers. You should go over:
- What you will provide subscribers
- When you will be emailing them
- Why they should sign up
- Where they will be getting your material (email only, postal, website updates)
- How they can unsubscribe if they no longer wish to receive your emails
You should cover the first four early on in the web form and thank you pages, but the “how” should be included in every email you send them.
If your subscribers know what to expect from you, they’re likely to be ready and happy when your email arrives in their inbox.
2. Be Transparent
You should be open to sharing your contact information with subscribers.
Make sure that your reply address and postal address listed in your emails are legitimate. If you don’t check your email frequently, start doing so. Respond to every complaint and every compliment and show each customer you appreciate them.
You should also include your company’s phone number in your emails with a clear invitation to call you with any questions or concerns. Don’t have a company number? Invite them to connect with you on social media or another platform you can easily chat on.
If you aren’t open to communication with your subscribers, it will be harder to build any lasting relationships.
3. Brand Your Campaign
When you see the golden arches in the distance, you know you’re approaching a McDonald’s. They’ve done a good job with their branding.
Everything that comes in contact with your subscribers should have your brand represented. Subject lines can be branded by including your company name in them, and messages can be branded by putting your logo at the top.
When subscribers are able to easily recognize your emails at a glance, they’ll be less likely to trash them or leave your list.
4. React to Subscriber Behavior
If someone purchases something from you, they are more likely to purchase from you again.
You should use the information you have about your subscribers, such as what they’ve purchased, what they clicked on, what they opened, etc. to create more personalized messages. Instead of sending the same thing to all your subscribers, break them up into groups based on what their behavior.
You can also ask subscribers for feedback and use their responses to improve your campaign.
When you take the time out to get to know your subscribers and improve the quality of the content you’re sending to them, they’ll want to stick around.
5. Stay Consistent
Remember that unless you’re giving away an awesome gift, subscribers probably will not like any surprises.
Set a schedule for when you’re going to send messages and stick to it. You should not go from sending once a week last week to five times a week this week. You also should keep your contact information and branding the same, otherwise subscribers might get confused. If you are making any changes, make them slowly and explain to your subscribers what’s going on.
You also should not stray from the information your subscribers requested. If they signed up to learn about marketing tips, that doesn’t mean they’ll also be interested in your favorite recipes.
Confused subscribers aren’t going to want to keep getting your emails, and you may even run into more spam complaints if you pull a fast one on them.
The Secret? These Steps Help Keep Subscribers From Leaving
Remember: Your list isn’t going to grow if your subscribers jump ship shortly after signing up. Put some thought into this, and work on the relationships you currently have.
This post was submitted by Crystal Gouldey.
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