How to Grow Your Email List Using Facebook

Email marketing is only effective if it is done in the right way. Most people ignore marketing and newsletter emails, but if you give people a tangible benefit for opening your emails, you may see more success. Growing your email list using Facebook can be very effective if you conduct your campaigns in the right way.

A Short Disclaimer

Every country has its own laws on sending emails, so please check them out before you start gathering email addresses. UK best practices suggest you cover yourself with a double confirm system. The person agrees to receive emails, and then you send them an email where they click a link to confirm. Incidentally, this also lower the chances your emails will end up in their junk folder.

Show People a Preview and Have Them Sign Up For the Rest

Use your Facebook profile and fan page to give people a sneak preview of your content. Tell them that if they sign up to your email list that you will email them the rest of the content or a link to it. This is a simple and effective method, but try to use it with circumspect. If all people see are previews of content on your Facebook profile or Fan Page, they may not keep checking it for updates.

Address the Wants and Needs of Your Target Audience

Do not use Facebook to directly promote your email newsletter, and do not make your Facebook profile or fan page one big advert. Address the needs of your target audience, and then promote your product, services and newsletter on the back of that.
For example, if your target audience is young mothers because you are selling children’s clothes, then address their needs on Facebook. They may want healthcare advice, parenting tips, discounts on consumer goods, and even advice on picking a nanny.
Address these needs and people will be more willing to sign up to your newsletter with the hopes of getting more help/advice. Within the emails you may then offer such help whilst promoting your baby clothes.

Spend Time Creating an Appealing Post and Ask People to Share It

Reciprocal sharing is mostly done by small companies and entrepreneurs because bigger businesses feel they are above such things. Do not conduct your business with a similar blinkered view. There are plenty of small businesses, entrepreneurs and private citizens that will happily reciprocally share on Facebook. This is where you promise to share their posts if they promise to share yours. The agreement need not be a formal one, and you can arrange it so you send them a message when you want something shared. The best place to find and approach people with this idea is on LinkedIn.

Offer a Benefit and Do Not Hold People To Ransom

You are going to see other articles that suggest things such as not allowing people access to your website or content unless they click to like your Facebook page or agree to join up. This is a mistake and it will scare away most of your target audience and leave you with people that have too much time on their hands.
When you promote your Facebook page, do it with the promise of something in return. Examine what your target audience want and what attracts them. For example, if you are targeting young men, you can assume they may be interested in clothes, cars and the like, but you can also appeal to their other interests such as sex, violence and computer games. Some of the most successful Google+ profiles, and to a lesser extent Facebook profiles, are ones that offer pictures of semi-naked women (not adult pictures). This is because it appeals to younger men specifically, and men in general.
Draw people into your Facebook profile and fan page by appealing to your target audience as individuals with their own tastes, preferences and thoughts, and place your email signup links between your posts.

How do you use social media to grow your email list? Please leave your comments below…