The Ultimate Guide to Email + SMS List Growth: Proven Tactics & Expert Insights (Part 1 of 5)

1. Introduction 

Poor list growth strategies mean email + SMS marketing stagnation or, worse, collapse. 

Building and maintaining a subscriber base is crucial to the success of a powerhouse lifecycle strategy. Without ample list growth fueling email + SMS, brands are at risk of losing audience attention, wasting valuable time and resources, and losing revenue. 

When brands fail to invest in list growth, their subscriber list naturally shrinks over time from unsubscribes, bounces, and inactivity. Without more subscribers to fill the leaky bucket, a brand’s email + SMS program will become less effective, hurting revenue. Think of a sink - if the drain is open and the faucet isn’t on, you’re left empty quickly. How high the faucet is turned on can determine if someone is just maintaining the status quo, or causing the water levels to rise. Even more impactful? Helping to close the drain.

Beyond revenue, risks abound. A brand’s reputation is also at stake. A stagnant or shrinking list can result in overcompensating with poor sending habits and risky behavior that can cause increased spam complaints and a damaged sender reputation. This can lead to emails and messages being filtered to spam folders, or being blocked entirely. We refer to this as Deliverability. Once a brand’s reputation and deliverability has been impacted, it can take months to correct,  ultimately damaging a brand’s ability to connect with its audience.

More importantly, when a brand doesn’t invest in new subscriber list growth, it’s missing out on the opportunity to attract new customers, or potential future customers that take more consideration to purchase. An actively growing list helps a brand expand their reach of high intent parties who are interested in a brand’s product or service. This is particularly true for brands that base their business model or overarching marketing strategy on repeat customers, as new customers can become second time customers and VIP cohorts over time. 

So, how does a brand avoid these risks and grow to their potential?

It’s simple. Implement effective email + SMS list growth strategies and tactics as outlined in this guide.  A well orchestrated email + SMS list growth strategy can transform a brand by helping to make lifecycle and loyalty into its bedrock.

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2. Think outside the box: Crafting Compelling Offers

Before we dive into the nitty gritty of List Growth, it’s critical that a brand has a compelling offer in exchange for the customer’s email + phone number. Here are a few of the most popular types of offers across brands and industries.  

• Cashback (such as through technology like Fondue)
• Dollar-Off Markdown
• Exclusive or VIP Content Access
• Free Catalog
• Free Gift with Purchase
• Free Product Samples
• Free Shipping
• Giveaway Entry
• Loyalty or Rewards Points
• Percent-Off Discount
• Quiz Results
• Time-Sensitive Offer
• Webinar Registration
• eBook Download
• ...and additional types of gated content specific to your brand

When selecting offers to test, brands should do so in a manner that provides meaningful data, oftentimes testing the same copy across various creative or the same creative across multiple offers. Also, brands shouldn’t shy away from stacking multiple value-adds for each offer to get the highest potential upside and to make the offer irresistible! 

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“The best way to capture someone’s email is to provide something of value first. Offering CashBack is a powerful way to grow subscriber lists and increase revenue. Instead of coupons, CashBack allows customers to choose how they want their funds so that the brand can give value immediately, plus a reason to shop, again, later.” 
- William Herlands
Co-Founder & CTO, Fondue

Continue to "Get 'em while they're hot: Onsite Email & SMS List Growth Best Practices" (Part 2 of 5)