15 Email Lead Generation Techniques To Grow Your Customer List

What is one email lead generation technique for growing your customer list?

To help you adopt effective email lead generation techniques to grow your customer lists, we asked marketing professionals and business leaders this question for their best tips. From using a welcome email sequence to creating a compelling call-to-action, there are several techniques that you could employ to drive your email lead generation efforts and grow your customer list with success.

Here are 15 email lead generation techniques these leaders apply to grow their customer lists:

• Use a Welcome Email Sequence
• Entice Leads With Gated Content
• Create a Useful Digital Resource for Your Audience
• Use Lead Scoring to Get Qualified Leads
• Run Sneak-Peek Ads
• Create Subscription Forms
• A/B-Test Pop-Ups to Ensure Your Hooks Are Optimized
• Create Valuable Content to Attract Subscription
• Use Social Media Giveaways to Attract Leads Quickly
• Offer a Content Magnet of Value on Your Website
• Reach Prospects With Personalized Video Messages
• Generate Content Upgrades and Fine-Tune Gated Content
• Make Use of Your Homepage to Collect Emails
• Respond to Cold Emails With Your Own Value
• Create a Compelling Call to Action

Use a Welcome Email Sequence

Use a welcome email sequence to help build your email list. This can include discount codes, product reviews, and the opportunity to sign up for your mailing list. You can then follow up with your new customers with periodic discount codes and product updates. By keeping your customers engaged, you can build a strong customer base and email list.

Matthew Ramirez, Founder, Paraphrase Tool

Entice Leads With Gated Content 

Embracing ‘Gated Content’ as it entices leads to sharing their personal contact information is highly successful. It’s a non-intrusive technique to establish that connection, for starters. Additionally, it’s a great opportunity to establish trust with them straight away and let them know what your business is all about by providing them with something they will undoubtedly find valuable. Excellent gated content can come in a variety of formats. It may be a totally pertinent video, special report, or free booklet.

The only need is that in exchange for a straightforward email address, you must receive something worthwhile that seems like a true bargain. As they will be receiving a good sample of what your company and products have to offer, gated content is also a fantastic strategy to further prime those leads to convert at some time in the future. Make it snappy, compelling, and meaningful.

Sanket Shah, CEO, InVideo

Create a Useful Digital Resource for Your Audience

Create a digital resource that your target audience would find useful. For example, if you’re a marketing company, consider creating a roundup of the top 10 free online SEO tools that businesses can benefit from. You can even take it a step further and create a few courses on how to use them. When the lead magnet will add value to their lives, people will gladly hand over their email address in exchange for it.

Stephanie Venn-Watson, Co-Founder, fatty15

Use Lead Scoring to Get Qualified Leads

You can use lead scoring to ensure that you get qualified leads and grow your customer list with users that will welcome your emails. You can make it happen if you use email automation, for example, if you got a potential customer who has already clicked on a certain product on your website. After suggesting they signup for your newsletter, once you get that name and email address, you can use discounts sparingly to help them make their first purchase or get back to an abandoned cart.

Brenton Thomas, CEO, Twibi Digital Marketing Agency

Run Sneak-Peek Ads

To grow your customer email list, run “sneak peek” ads that drive to a waitlist. For example, if you are selling a new product, you could send a special code that will send them a free sample or early bird access. Sneak peek ads help you grow a list of viable customers for specific types of products and services and ignites their interest in future purchases.

Marilyn Zubak, Marketing Lead, Snif

Create Subscription Forms

One email lead generation technique is creating a subscription form that customers can fill out to sign up for your email list. This form can be placed on your website, in your online store, or in other locations where potential customers are likely to see it. To encourage people to sign up, you may offer a discount or free shipping for subscribing or provide valuable content that people will be interested in receiving. By growing your customer list through email lead generation, you can stay in touch with potential and current customers and build lasting relationships.

Wendy Makinson, HR Manager, Joloda Hydraroll

A/B-Test Pop-Ups to Ensure Your Hooks Are Optimized

ECommerce businesses should develop pop-up campaigns to drive more leads. Companies that use split testing methods to create the most persuasive pop-ups convert more email leads and better understand user preferences. Pop-ups are less likely to work than other marketing methods because it’s easy for users to swat them away.

With a good enough hook, users will be more likely to sign up for emails, but pop-ups need to be personalized well for them to work effectively. Try using different discounts as leverage, offering exclusive content, or finding the best time to populate these messages to see what hooks users the most.

Jason Panzer, President, Hexclad

Create Valuable Content to Attract Subscription

Gaining a quality customer list depends on the type of content you create. You can use other techniques to attract them but what determines whether they will become a subscriber really depends on your content. Ensure you invest in the quality of your content. Provide the best information in a simple and interesting way, stay clear of errors and be polite and convincing with your copy. In the long run, you will witness good growth in their customer list.

Simon Bacher, CEO, Co-founder, Simya Solutions

Use Social Media Giveaways to Attract Leads Quickly

Giveaway strategies help businesses generate buzz and leads quickly at a potentially low cost. If companies have an audience in mind to target, they can create giveaway campaigns leveraging products or prizes to excite consumers into signing up for emails. These strategies rely on user reach to help online businesses find new audiences through tags and comments. The more tags users are required to make on a giveaway post, the more viewers and participants the giveaway will have. 

While these strategies work well to generate leads, they don’t necessarily do much to help companies retain leads. After announcing a giveaway winner or winners, companies must strategically double down on their newfound audiences and entice them quickly into a purchase with persuasive email campaigns.

Justin Soleimani, Co-Founder, Tumble

Offer a Content Magnet of Value on Your Website

Most marketers will tell you that to grow an email list, you need to have a “content magnet” on your website. While this is true, the thing that needs to be reinforced is the value of that lead magnet. People know that they’re giving their email address in exchange for value – but then they are prepared to be bombarded by emails and calls from the company. So, three things that will help you be more effective include: 

– Making the offer something that’s incredibly unique that packs a ton of value, saves them time, and they’ll want to talk about it online.
– Outlining what they will get – be clear about those expectations. If you promise not to email them every day for a month and that they won’t get a call from sales, that will help
– Inviting them to be part of a community – if you have to give your email to be able to join the exclusive group of XYZ people, that’s very popular and effective right now as well.

Ali Schwanke, CEO / B2B Marketing Strategist, Simple Strat

Reach Prospects With Personalized Video Messages 

Personalized video messages made a huge difference for us, as they allow you to reach your prospects with a truly personal, close to a face-to-face experience. To stand out in today’s outreach you need to use unique outreach approaches. You can use a camera and a green screen to create simple personalized video messages or use AI tools to generate them for you.

Vitalii Romanchenko, CEO, Elai.io

Generate Content Upgrades and Fine-Tune Gated Content

Providing content upgrades is an effective way to generate email marketing leads. It’s a no-nonsense method of providing additional valuable content to your readers in exchange for subscribing to your email list. Content upgrades usually can be generated in many different forms. The most common type of content upgrade is free handbook PDFs, which are delivered to the subscriber’s email address. A travel blog post about a new destination, for example, could include a handbook with a mini itinerary.

Guy Sharp, Relocation Advisor, Andorra Guides

Make Use of Your Homepage to Collect Emails

The addition of a few email opt-in plug-ins to your website is, in my opinion, one of the simplest strategies to increase the lead generation for your email marketing campaign. The most straightforward method of generating email leads is definitely converting website traffic into email leads. For your lead-generating efforts, optimizing your homepage can be really beneficial. I believe one of the easiest approaches is to include a newsletter sign-up form on your website. The option to subscribe to your newsletter will then appear on each page of your website. Additionally, it serves as a call to action at the end of each page and blog post on your website.

Tiffany Payne, Head of content, Pharmacy Online

Respond to Cold Emails With Your Own Value

We’ve all received an ice-cold email pitch before. Most times we direct that email right where it probably belongs – the trash bin. With the exception of the odd nugget of gold, the general consensus is that it’s ultimately an annoyance. The way I see it, this person has opened up the doors for a conversation by sharing what product/service they offer – giving you an opportunity to return the favor. As someone who works in the video marketing industry, this can be a great opportunity for me to offer a solution that might be a bit more palatable than cold emailing to reach their audience more effectively. 

This strategy has worked for me on several occasions, and I was able to provide a strategic solution for that particular brand or business. Next time you see a pesky cold email in your inbox, take a moment to consider if there is an opportunity to share what YOU DO that’s great – something that could benefit the business on the other end.

Gabe Roy, Founder & Creative Director, Zest Media Productions

Create a Compelling Call to Action

Creating a compelling call to action is one of the best ways to grow your customer list. Not only does it encourage existing email subscribers to engage, it is also more likely that they will forward the email to a friend. A call to action provokes an immediate response.

Dynamic, imperative language is helpful here, “Reserve Your Free Place” or “Don’t Miss Out”. This prompts a decisive reaction. It must be simple and straightforward to act on, as this increases the chances of a customer following through. If the action is relevant, and suitably rewarding, this a very successful technique for adding to your customer list.

Mario Cacciottolo, PR & Branding Manager , SBO