Did you see last week’s post? If so, you learned how to create a freebie your niche audience will love. You also learned why that’s important.
The goal is to offer something valuable (like a niche-specific eBook, checklist, or guide) in exchange for your audience’s email addresses so you can start nurturing your relationship with them.
The more people you get to opt-in to your freebie, the bigger your email marketing list will be. And that’s essential for your health coaching business, because email marketing is one of the most effective ways to turn leads into paying clients.
In today’s post, I’ll show you 11 ways to grow your email list. But first, here’s more proof that email marketing works.
Did You Know?
- An email campaign is 6x more likely to get a click-through than a tweet
- Emails have a 66% conversion rate—way higher than social media or traditional direct mail
- Your message is 5x more likely to be seen in an email versus a Facebook post
- Email subscribers are nearly 4x more likely to share your content
- 24% of subscribers will make a purchase via email marketing compared to 0.59% from social media
- Email is 40x more effective at getting new customers than Facebook or Twitter
- Unlike a Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter page that can be taken down without warning, you always own your email marketing list
So How Do You Grow Your List?
Now you know that email marketing is a smart way to grow your health coaching business, but how do you grow your email list? It starts by putting your freebie where your niche audience will see it. You’ll also need to make sure it’s linked to an autoresponder platform like MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Keap (formerly called Infusionsoft), so you can collect email addresses once your audience has opted-in.
1. Design it Into Your Home Page
Once your leads hit your website, you don’t want them to have to search around for your freebie, so make sure it’s front and center. Add a sign up form right on your home page—and be sure it’s above the fold (that’s the area you see without having to scroll down). Or better yet, use a pop-up form, which tends to get better results. Remember, you can’t increase opt-ins if no one can figure out how to subscribe.
2. Put it in the Main Navigation
Take advantage of your website’s main navigation to promote your freebie. This area is prime real estate and it’s always present, whether or not your leads are on your Home page, About page, or browsing your health coaching services.
3. Place it at the End of Your Blog Posts
Anywhere you have an online presence is a good place to put your lead magnet. And your blog posts are no exception, especially if you’ve just written about a topic that ties directly into your freebie’s subject matter.
4. Add it to Your Social Media Bio
Like a lot of people, I was using the bio section on my Instagram page to describe myself and my health coaching business, followed by a link to my website. But this is also a perfect spot to put your freebie. Why? Because if you link to your website, someone might click through to see what you do, but if you link to your opt-in and they subscribe, they’re automatically placed into your sales funnel.
5. Use it in a Facebook or Instagram Post or Story
Whether it’s on your own pages or in a closed group or community, social media is a great place to share your insights on eating keto, training primally, or whatever your specialty is. It’s also a fantastic place to talk about and link to your freebie.
6. Include it in Your Email Signature
The average person sends out 200 emails every week. Just think how many people you could be reaching by adding your lead magnet to your email signature. If you use Mailchimp, you can learn how to create a URL for your freebie here, though most autoresponder platforms will have a tutorial. Once you have your URL, just add that link to your email signature.
7. Link to it in Your Online Scheduler
But what if your leads don’t sign up for your freebie on your website, on your posts, or in your email signature? You can still get them to subscribe by adding an opt-in box when they schedule an appointment with you. Even if they’re an existing client—and have used your online scheduler before, this puts them in your sales funnel so they can stay informed on any new products, services, or promotions you’re offering.
8. Offer it During a Webinar or In-Person Talk
Your freebie should relate to what you’re teaching your niche audience, so it makes perfect sense to offer it while you’re teaching. During your webinar, mention your incentive and how leads can download it within the webinar itself or in the comments section. For in-person talks, assuming your audience didn’t sign up for it online (which is also an ideal spot for your freebie), collect email addresses at the beginning or end of the presentation so you can send your audience their free gift.
9. Create a Freebie Library
Not every topic is going to resonate with everyone in your niche audience, even if it’s 100% on target, so consider creating a few different lead magnets. Do you have a cheat sheet on how to ditch sugar? Make a printable, primal-friendly grocery list or keto quick-start guide. And don’t stop at 2 or 3 options. Having library of freebies ready to roll is a smart way to keep your content fresh and continually grow your email list.
10. Make it Sharable
With all the amazing content you’re writing, your subscribers will want to share what they’re reading. Make it easy for them by including a “Forward to a Friend” link in your email campaigns. Most platforms have this feature built-in. If not, check out the tool AddThis, which lets subscribers share your email through social media. And don’t forget to include a subscribe call-to-action in your emails, so new leads can opt-in right away.
11. Test What Works and What Doesn’t
The best way to see what’s working is to test it out. Sites like Google Content Experiments and Visual Website Optimizer let you compare different lead magnets, headlines, where you’re placing your opt-ins and who’s seeing them.
Summary
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a health coach for a few months or several years—email marketing is one of the most effective ways to grow your business. Once you’ve created a freebie your audience will love, use these 11 tips to share it everywhere you can. And stay tuned for next week’s post, where I’ll discuss the types of emails you should be sending your subscribers, starting with the most important one—your welcome email.
