Each month, the Nonfiction Authors Association asks a burning publishing question of the industry’s best, brightest, and most innovative experts. Here’s what they have to say for May!
NFAA: What strategies do you use to build your mailing list?
LIANA GREEN
In all my books I include a call to action—either a “join my newsletter” (with an appropriate URL) or a lead magnet specific to the book topic. It could also be as simple as a short message at the beginning and end of a book letting readers know that they can get in touch with me to ask me any questions. Depending on the nature of the question, from there I will nurture the relationship and suggest they join my mailing list; most do.
In addition, I have a supporting blog that is dotted with newsletter sign-ups, as well as a Facebook group that offers the option to join my newsletter.
All of these methods have enabled me to grow my mailing list to around 8,000 subscribers in the last 2 years.
LYNN ERASMUS
When I self-published my book, I took part in a few book tours and listed my book on free review sites to gain momentum. After that, I ran competitions in groups to build my mailer lists.
Next up I am hosting an event, whereby I will require them to subscribe. I send out weekly articles that are useful to my readers and include a link at the bottom for them to review my book once they are done.
MILOSZ KRASINSKI
Building a mailing list is most definitely a fine art, but is absolutely essential for an author. I do this by putting together landing pages which advertise my work and which also offer the user a free e-book in exchange for their information. As we know, everybody loves a freebie and this is a really effective way of not just building lists but building super relevant lists.
Managing Director at web-consulting company chillifruit.com
COLIN BARKER
First of all, it is important to have a good Email Marketing Service (EMS) to send a bulk of emails to various people. Some popular services include Mailchimp, Sendinblue, Get Response, etc.
List segmentation is another way of gaining more subscribers, even though it’s technical. It can get you casual subscribers on your mailing list and you can make them sign up for your newsletters and website.
Lastly, Facebook leads ads are effective for building email lists to set up potential customers.
ANDREW GOTTLIEB
In building your email list, it all begins with your content strategy. We recommend that you brainstorm 3-5 topics per month to write about that would be relevant to your readers. In exchange for their email address, they will be given access to this free content that makes their life better.
The question then becomes, how do you drive traffic to your free offer?
We recommend setting aside a small budget per month (as small as $200) to run paid ads on Facebook and Instagram that systematically grows your email list. This is the fastest way to build your email database. When you run ads on these platforms, you can target your existing audiences (website traffic, emails lists, and social media fans), lookalike audiences, and interest-based audiences.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewlgottlieb/
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