How to build an email collection program

Most brands chase bigger email lists But list size means nothing if nobody buys Here’s how to build an email list that actually converts 👇 1. Stop offering weak incentives Everyone uses “10% off” Offer value that matches your brand instead: → Early access to product drops → Entry into exclusive giveaways → Personalized product recommendations This will attract the real fans of your brand 2. Optimize every entry point Don’t rely on pop-ups alone Build your list through: → Checkout opt-ins → Post-purchase surveys → Blog content upgrades → Quiz funnels → Collabs & giveaways 3. Qualify your subscribers Not everyone should be on your list Ask smart questions during sign-up to segment early (e.g. skin type, size, interest) You’ll send more relevant emails, get better results and make more money 4. Build stronger relationships Your list is only as strong as the relationship you build Nurture subscribers with storytelling, education, and value - don’t just hit them with a sales-based email once a week Trust always comes before transaction 5. Protect your list health Clean your Email List regularly - remove cold subscribers who haven’t opened in 60-90 days Better engagement = better deliverability = more sales A big list might feel good But a buying list feels a lot better

If I were the Head of Content for a $10M ARR SaaS company, here’s the exact playbook I’d run: 1. Media Brand Create a 'faceless' social media content brand. Publish daily content that’s hyper-focused on your niche and directly aligned with your target audience. Publish content on any social channel: - LinkedIn - X (Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube - TikTok Examples: Ad Professor and The LinkedIn Creator. I did this on one channel (LinkedIn) and it's helped increase product signup growth by 101%. 2. Search Capture Create SEO content to convert searchers. Start at the bottom funnel: - Competitor comparisons - Competitor alternatives - Best-of guides Then move to the middle funnel: - How-to guides - Case studies - Templates - Tips These types of lower-funnel SEO content make 8 figures a year for our clients (collectively). 3. Programmatic Scale top-funnel SEO traffic with automation (AI). - Topic vs topic - Glossaries - Ideas lists Essentially, any topic that has 100s of variables in the keyword framework (e.g. How to calculate [variable]). Tip: Use Byword to make this easy. Programmatic content cost-effectively generates millions of traffic for our clients every MONTH. Don't sleep on it. 4. Content Upgrades Create specific lead magnets to convert multi-channel traffic into email signups. Offer something of utility: - Templates - Checklists - Swipe files - Resource lists These must be an 'upgrade' of the content the user is already consuming in order to get a high conversion rate. Platforms are unreliable and can change tomorrow. De-risk yourself and start collecting emails today. 5. Weekly Newsletter Keep your email signups 'warm' by delivering valuable content via a weekly newsletter. This can be anything your audience finds useful: - Tips - Examples - Interviews - Strategies - Templates - Case studies - Industry news Promote the newsletter wherever you're already creating content to convert more signups. We built an email list from 0 to 13,500 in 6 months, growing by 250 every week (on auto-pilot). Users receive a weekly email that delivers value while also natively promoting our product. 6. Viral Content Create unique content that generates signups, backlinks, digital PR, and virality. For example: - Research reports - In-depth guides - Free tools Rule of thumb: If it feels uncomfortable to give away for free, it’s probably the exact thing that'll set you apart. 7. Distribution Repurpose and distribute content you're already creating for other platforms and channels. - Turn newsletters into blog posts - Turn blog posts into Reddit posts - Turn LinkedIn carousels into X threads - Turn multiple blog posts into lead magnets - Turn X posts into scripts for short-form videos Use all the channels and profiles at your disposal. It's no longer viable to rely on one channel. - Social accounts can be restricted - Search behaviour is evolving - Paid ads are volatile Make 2025 your year of multi-platform content.

Your email list is your most valuable marketing asset. So here are 5 funnels you can use to build it starting today: Template 1: The Bare Bones The simplest one: you post content, drive it to your profile where they can join your email list. It works well as long as: - You’re attracting the right crowd with your content. - You’re having enough traction to get meaningful signups daily. The problem is that beyond the qualify of your content and your profile, your audience doesn’t have an incentive to join your email list. Which brings us to number 2: Template 2: The Magnetized I call it “Magnetized” because it involves a lead magnet: a valuable, free resource that your subscribers get in exchange for their email. Here are a few rules of thumb to follow: - It must be so valuable people would willingly pay for it. - It must solve a specific problem your audience is facing. - It should tie directly to your core offer. That will increase the number of conversions. But it doesn’t solve for the amount of traffic. Which brings us to number 3... Template 3: Augmented I like ads for 4 reasons: 1. They allow you to increase traffic 2. They allow you to do that quickly 3. They allow you to do that without relying on other creators. 4. They also allow you to target specific people (either via targeting or specific copy) Those get more people to see your lead magnet, download it and join your email list. Template 4: Collab The next level is to leverage other people’s audiences via guest posting. Here’s how it works: 1. Make a list of newsletters in your niche 2. Guest-write an issue of that newsletter 3. Add your lead magnet link to the bottom 4. Make sure to offer the owner of the newsletter to do the same with your audience. Just like collabs in music: this tactic allows you to get in front of a qualified warm audience. The only problem is that you have to rely on someone else’s goodwill. Template 5: Viral Who are your best sales reps? Happy customers. How do you make them promote your newsletter? Do this: - Create newsletter-specific content (not recycled stuff) - Provide non-obvious insights - Make it actionable. - Incentivize them By doing all 4 you’ll create growth loops that will allow your newsletter to grow on autopilot. Template 6: Pinnacle Combine all of the above. Complex, but unstoppable.

Most agencies and consultancies never generate leads beyond their network. Here’s how to change that: Over the last 6 months, we’ve brought in 3,000+ leads… The key is building an always-on funnel that blends: → Content → Focused outreach → Outreach driven by signals In this post, I’ll break down the targeted outreach piece. We’ve built a system to reach tens of thousands of our ideal prospects. Here’s the exact, step-by-step process we’ve refined for companies ready to escape inconsistent revenue: 1. Start with quality prospect data This is the foundation. Never rely on a single source—layer multiple signals instead: → Lists of prospects (Apollo) → Tech stack discovery (BuiltWith) → Hiring triggers (TheirStack) → Competitor followers (TheBoomerang) → Social engagement signals (Trigify.io → Lookalike audiences (CompanyEnrich) Each source adds a different angle of intent—many of them can even run on autopilot. 2. Centralise and qualify in Clay Clay is your unfair advantage. It brings all your data into one place. Then, AI qualification kicks in: → Confirming role (decision-maker status) → Checking location (territory fit) → Verifying company details (industry/size alignment) This step filters out prospects who would never buy—saving huge amounts of wasted effort. 3. Find and verify emails No single provider has everything, so use multiple sources. We use Prospeo.io, LeadMagic and Icypeas for this. Beyond this, we rarely find any additional emails. And if we do, the providers are so expensive you may as well just focus on net-new. 4. Build bulletproof email infrastructure This is where most people fail. We rely on Hypertide.io (Microsoft/Azure & Google - although also trying Mailreef and Zapmail at the moment) and Smartlead to: → Properly warm up domains → Monitor deliverability health → Land emails in the primary inbox—not spam If you skip this, even the best messaging won’t matter because nobody will see it. 5. Scale personalization ChatGPT is the best copywriting assistant for personalization at scale. We use a standard waterfall process which we've tweaked and refined across 100,000s of records. It ensures your outreach feels handcrafted while being highly efficient. 6. Launch targeted outreach Finally, deploy across multiple channels: → LinkedIn DMs (lemlist) → Email sequences (Smartlead) _________________ 📌 Want to learn how to build an always-on lead generation system? Watch our free training: https://lnkd.in/d3davd-b It'll show you how to set up AI automations that generate qualified prospects 24/7 while you focus on closing deals.

When I worked at Attentive and then eventually Sendlane, I reviewed 100s of brands' email marketing campaigns every quarter. Here are 3 things they did that built high conversion email lists. So many marketers focus their energy on email flows and perfecting everything else, but if you’re sending them to a list that doesn’t care…wyd? And if you say you’re dropping a pixel and sending unsolicited emails to site visitors, unfollow me rn. Ok kidding, but it isn’t how to build a list that’ll convert and it will kill your deliverability. Do these 3 things instead: 1️⃣ Test different incentives. What incentivizes you to give your email? Think about it: If you’re asking people to provide their email, figure out what will convince them to do it. News and updates aren’t mission critical unless there’s some exclusive event or VIP offer. So test different offers like discount incentives, a free gift, giveaways etc., to see which collects the most. That’ll show you their buying behavior and what exactly they’re looking for from your brand. 2️⃣ Collect email & SMS on & off site. Whether you’re at an in person event or your products are in retail, throw a QR code on everything. 2 actionable tips on how to frame a QR code today: → For field events, attach a QR code to a “Spin To Win.” Easy way to get sign ups from people that are actually interested in your brand. → For your packaging, provide value to your audience and gate it behind an email wall. For example, supplement companies’ audiences are often health conscious individuals that are most likely looking for weight loss or healthier lifestyle solutions. So, advertise workout plans and recipes that only people on the email list can get access to. 3️⃣ Don’t forget about Instagram & TikTok. Remember, impulse buying is real. 73% of Americans’ purchases are unplanned and 89% of shoppers have a history of impulse buying. And social media is the breeding ground for exactly that. Make sure email signups are prevalent somewhere in that customer experience. Because creating content builds trust in your product → trust with a mix of impulse brings that buyer to checkout → and your tailored emails boost LTV. 💡 Fun fact, there are tools out there where if a customer comments a certain keyword, they’ll get an autoDM that lets them enter in their email. The email automatically gets pushed into your ESP. These are 3 easy tips every brand can start applying today to their marketing efforts. Email doesn’t have to be hard, but if you’re attracting the wrong people, then it’ll feel impossible.