Over the past several weeks, I’ve been breaking down the process of growing your email list. Part one is all about stating your email program value, and aligning it to the needs and desires of your ideal customer. Part two was about removing any potential barriers to your customer signing up for your email program. We covered everything from ensuring there is an easy opt-in form at every touchpoint, to making the opt-in process quick and painless.
Today we’re going to wrap up the series on growing your email list. The topic for today is Goal Setting & Tracking. We’ll cover how to set a goal for your email list growth, and you’ll end with a tool for regularly tracking progress towards it.
How to set your goal for growing your email list
The average email list churn rate is about 25-30%, according to a report by Getresponse. That means that if you don’t have a plan for growing your email list, the size of that list will decrease by roughly 25-30% every year! Yikes.
So at a minimum, your goal for growing your email list should be 30%. The math here is pretty simple. Multiply your current list by 1.3. This gives you the number of where your list should be at the end of the year. Find the difference between where you’re at and where you want to be. Then divide that number by 12, giving you a monthly target that will help you stay on track.
Outpacing industry churn is the bare minimum, though. Find more of the best kinds of prospects and set a goal to grow your list by double, triple, or more! The math still applies. And it’s on the list growth tracker you can download (for free) here!
Next, make sure you have a written plan to achieve that goal
Have you made it SUPER clear for your customers to understand the value of being on your email list? No? You need to read this post and create your email program value proposition.
Have you made it incredibly simple for your customers to turn over their email address to you in exchange for the value your program provides? Nuh-uh?? You need to read THIS post and remove all the friction from signing up for emails from your company.
Boom. That’s your basic plan for achieving your list growth goal. But don’t stop there! You might be struck with a flash of inspiration to grow your list even more – a giveaway on social media or at your next event, for instance!
The goal is not list growth for list growth’s sake: you aren’t going for volume alone. You need to grow your list with the RIGHT kinds of subscribers. You’re looking for those dream customers who will willingly spend their money on the solutions you provide, and then go and tell 10 friends.
Finally, put time on your calendar to track your progress every month
Yes. I said EVERY MONTH. By looking at your email list size on a monthly basis, you will be able to identify trends as they emerge. You can quickly double down on high performing channels, and adjust your strategy in areas where growing your email list isn’t happening the way you anticipated. Monthly tracking ensures that you’ll know if you’re on pace to achieve your goal. If you aren’t, you will be able to shift focus if necessary to close the gap.
Summin’ it up:
We respect what we inspect. Set a goal for your email list growth this year. Break it down into monthly chunks so you know what you need to do to get there. Then, KEEP TRACK! Easy as 1, 2, 3!
The good news is, my handy list growth tracker helps you do all of this stuff.
GET MY LIST GROWTH TRACKERSo now that I’ve given you a three-step process for growing your email list by double, triple, even ten times the size, what’s holding you back?