📝 How to Grow Your Email List Using Facebook

Jul 22, 2021

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For every $1 that you spend on email marketing, you'll get a return of about $42. Furthermore, 49% of consumers said that they enjoy getting these emails as long as they're from one of their favorite companies.

Email marketing is not dead.

In fact, email marketing is more important than ever. Given that most people check their email on their phones and work culture is pushing emailing outside of normal hours, companies are thriving with email marketing.

So, it's time to grow your email list. And, you can do just that through social media channels like Facebook.

Keep reading to learn how.

Is Facebook Worth My Time?

Despite the growth of other social media channels, Facebook still reigns as one of the supreme platforms. Its large audience makes it easy to form an email list with just a few great strategies.

Facebook is also popular for making it easy to make a great first impression. If you're able to catch someone's attention on the first try, your content is more likely to show up on their feed in the future.

And, if you have a physical business, Facebook makes it easy for people to find you. They can do so through their friend, through search, or through similar pages.

When it comes to reaching existing customers, Facebook is a little limited. This is why it's important to catch your audience with your email list. With your emails, you can catch them directly.

Once you have their emails, you can reach them on your own terms. And, you can send messages and track analytics as you please.

So, Facebook is worth your time as long as you can bring in consumers with a great first impression. You should also be sure to keep your page up so that consumers can find you.

Pro tip: create a group in which you can interact with your consumers. This will create a tight-knit community for you and your consumers to communicate, share ideas, and live life together.

Facebook Tricks: How to Grow Your Email List

So, if a first impression is all you get, how are you supposed to grow your email list? What tips and tricks do you need to bring in more consumers with your social media marketing?

We've got eight masterful ideas for how to add customers to your email list. And, they're bound to work.

1. Put Your Email Newsletter on Your Cover Photo

The cover photo is the large picture that lies at the top of your Facebook profile. So, it's eye-catching and steals the attention of most anyone visiting your Facebook page.

As the first thing that people see, your cover photo has to represent your brand. And, what's better than placing your email newsletter right there in the branding?

You can create an image that brings together all of your social media platforms, your email newsletter, and your company name. Platforms like Canva have design templates that you can use to make one, cohesive cover photo that can include all of this information while remaining aesthetic.

By including all of this information, you'll make it easy for potential customers to reach out when they're looking for a little bit more of your brand. And, they'll have plenty of options to choose from. So, even if email isn't for them, they can follow you on another platform.

You can check out our Canva templates to get your creative juices flowing.

2. Use the Call-to-Action Button on Your Profile

Facebook really hit the jackpot when they brought out the call-to-action button. Companies are using this button to have people sign up for memberships, watch videos, join clubs, and even join email lists.

All you have to do is customize the button to say what you want it to say. Then, it's all set. Anyone who comes to your profile and clicks on that button will be transported to the signup page for your email list.

If you want your signup button to work cohesively with your cover photo, you could place an arrow in the lower right corner to point towards the button. So, when you ask people to sign up for the mailing list on the photo, you can point to where they can do that.

Keep in mind that you can use this call-to-action button for anything. But, if you're looking to grow your email list, this is the best use for the call-to-action button.

3. Run a Contest on Your Facebook Page

Have you ever seen messages on social media where a company asks people to share their emails in exchange for a special gift? Those are contests.

If you run a contest on your Facebook page, you can gather emails in exchange for some kind of prize, too. You could give away one of your products or offer a service for an extended period of time. You may consider giving a gift card.

Whatever it is, post the rules and watch the submissions roll in.

If you want to do something more creative than asking for email addresses, you could ask for something pertaining to your business. A veterinarian could have a 'cutest animal' photo content or a chef could ask people to post their favorite recipes.

Get creative. You could ask your staff if they have any suggestions or ask your audience what kind of contest they would want.

With this kind of campaign, you get to have fun while collecting email addresses. So, don't make it too serious.

4. Offer Exclusive Content Through Your Facebook Page

If you've been advertising and marketing for your company for a while, you likely have e-books, PDFs, and other downloadables. If so, you can use these as leverage to collect email addresses.

If you don't have this kind of content, you may want to think about making it. Just be sure that you're creating content that's relevant to your company. Otherwise, people aren't going to be interested in giving you their email for content that they don't want.

Once you have chosen a downloadable to offer, you should keep it behind an email address wall. This means that consumers have to provide their email addresses in order to get access to the content.

All you have to do is announce this on your Facebook page. Just create a post where you link the downloadable. Then, the visitor will click on the link and be transported to the page where they can type in their email address.

This may seem like a sneaky way to get email addresses, but it's effective when it comes to getting new customers. All of these people who are providing their email addresses are already interested in your company if they were interested in the downloadable.

So, they're more likely to enjoy the content that you're emailing. And, they're more likely to make a purchase from your company.

5. Host an Event on Facebook

Facebook shows a multitude of events all the time. Restaurants host them. Schools host them.

Everyone loves Facebook events.

So, you should get in on the fun. By posting your very own Facebook event, you can reach people that have never even heard of your company before.

Whether it's online or in-person, you can set up everything that your customers need right on Facebook. You can charge for the event or make it free. You can give details about the event, and get a headcount for the potential number of attendees.

During the registration process for your Facebook event, you can collect email addresses. Or, during or after the event, you can ask people to sign up for your email list. Either way, you've got more email subscribers headed your way.

The best Facebook events offer something to the attendees. So, you should consider offering knowledge, food, items, or something else useful. Usually, this will depend on the industry that you're in.

Once you've planned your event, it's time to share it with all of your Facebook followers. By sharing and reposting, you can encourage more and more people to attend.

You should also make sure to encourage your followers to share the event with their friends. That way, you'll be able to draw an even larger audience.

6. Share Sample Newsletters on Facebook

This is a tip that many marketers don't think about. Many people think that sharing their newsletters on Facebook will deter people from signing up for their mailing list. Why would people sign up for the mailing list if you're just going to share everything on your Facebook?

While that's a reasonable thought, it's a little misleading. If people enjoy the posts that you're launching on Facebook, they're more likely to sign up for your email list so that they don't miss posts in the future.

It may also be a great tactic to only share some posts on your Facebook. This will give people a sneak peek into the mailing list without giving the whole thing away.

This way, people will have a great reason for signing up for the mailing list even if you're sharing some of your posts on your Facebook page. Signing up for the list will give them access to some articles and posts that you aren't sharing.

It's like a different kind of exclusive content that they can get for sharing their email address.

7. Consider Text-to-Join Options

Most people are accessing Facebook and their email through their mobile phones. So, to make it easier for them, you may want to consider a text-to-join option for signing up for your email list.

There are plenty of options out there that make it easy to set this up for your followers. And, all it takes is a quick Facebook post to let them know that it's an option.

It may seem like a hassle for your customers to have to text to join the mailing list, but they're already on their phones. This will seem more convenient than having to click on a link and provide more information.

So, meet your customers where they are by letting them send a text. It's a preferred way of communication.

Pro tip: you could consider text versions of your emailing list. Many companies are transitioning to email lists as text messages. While these haven't reached mainstream popularity yet, they are rising in prevalence and becoming popular with younger audiences.

8. Make a Facebook Ad

A Facebook advertisement is one of the best ways to get information about your business out there. Even though Facebook has made the transition to a more family-centric platform, advertisements are still prevalent on the platform.

So, you can still use Facebook to advertise your business and get the word out about your products and/or services. Even better, you can get the word out about your email newsletter.

In order to drive action for your business, you can promote a post about your email newsletter. With this promotion, more people will be able to see the post and sign up for the newsletter.

With Facebook's adverting options, you'll be able to reach your target customers with your promoted post. So, you'll be able to reach people who are interested in your company and its products/services. Thus, people who are seeing the post and signing up for the newsletter are more likely to make purchases.

Just make sure that you're taking full advantage of Facebook's ad targeting features. If you use these right, you'll get the most return on the investment that you made for the promoted post.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to grow your email list through social media marketing on Facebook, it's time to implement these techniques described above.

If you're looking to improve your newsletter, check out all of our free guides on newsletters. You'll learn everything you need to know about creating them, growing them, and monetizing them.

Until next time!

—Casey