How to Build an Email List for Successful Affiliate Marketing

Email marketing is a powerful tool for growing a business. It can be tough to begin and even seem daunting at first, but consistent efforts prove fruitful in the long run. A commonly asked question amongst newbies in the marketing industry is: How do you build an email list for affiliate marketing? This guide will help affiliate marketers better understand tactics to grow their email subscriber list easily yet effectively.

Tips for creating an affiliate marketing email list

Use a dedicated CTA for email signups

A good call-to-action (CTA) will help get more email subscribers in less time. Affiliate marketers can place attractive CTAs on their websites and social media posts. An engaging CTA can engage the target audience’s attention and prompt them to immediately take action, which in this case, would be to subscribe to an affiliate marketing list. One can also place a CTA for newsletter subscription on the product page after a user has completed their purchase.

Encourage website visitors to sign up

A primary means of building an affiliate marketing email list is encouraging website visitors to sign up for informative newsletters. One can also use lead magnets to entice them further. A lead magnet is a free service/product that businesses offer website visitors in return for their contact details. Some popular lead magnets include free ebooks, coupons, webinar registration, and free courses.

Another way to encourage website visitors to sign up for an email list is through strategically placed, creative pop-up forms such as this:

Depending on the target audience, these pop-ups can be simple with an elegant design or extremely specific. One can make pop-ups appealing by adding irresistible incentives like coupons and other freebies.

Make an automated email flow

An automated email flow or email marketing campaign helps send emails to all subscribers as soon as they join. The emails must be informative, educational, and related to the affiliate products. It is essential to preplan an email flow so that existing subscribers have a reason to share the affiliate marketers’ emails among their connections and thereby contribute towards organically getting more subscribers.

Starting with a welcome (onboarding) email for every new subscriber is vital to help them understand the offer. This should be followed by creating different email campaigns to promote the latest content for people interested in specific products or lead magnets. The primary goal is to keep subscribers updated, engaged, and eager to receive new emails. Once a marketer has built credibility and trust, they can add affiliate links to the emails.

Create a separate landing page

New affiliate marketers prefer using multiple sources to generate traffic to their websites. But most consumers don’t consider signing up for an email list. A better way to get these people to sign up is by creating different high-conversion landing pages for different ad campaigns on social media. Each page would offer a clearly defined, distinct benefit to consumers, enticing them to sign up immediately.

Produce engaging content

To ensure existing subscribers continue receiving emails and do not unsubscribe, affiliate marketers must produce content attractive to their audience. This can be in the form of guides, unique usage of the advertised product, blog posts, new developments in the niche, or anything relevant to the audience. 

Alternatively, one can prompt users to sign up for their newsletters by creating something extra for the topics they’re already covering. For example, if their affiliate products are related to the photography industry, one could share content regarding exclusive deals or lesser-known uses for photography equipment, thus adding value for subscribers. 

Leverage the power of social media

Successful affiliate marketers must always be active on social media. Those already utilising social media to build their brand can leverage the same strategies to grow their email list too.

If an affiliate marketer isn’t using social media for their business, but has a pretty good following, they can create a simple post informing all their followers/connections about their latest email campaign. Most connections would quickly sign up for the newsletter because they already know the affiliate well and the type of content they share. One can also plan a paid social media campaign to invite targeted consumers to subscribe to their newsletter.

Run contests and giveaways

Even when nothing else works as one expects it to, contests and giveaways always turn out a good number of leads. It’s because giveaways and contests become popular quickly and are often shared by consumers within their network. Many consumers are willing to share their emails to get the best reward. However, to acquire qualified leads, affiliates must ensure that the contest or giveaway reward is relevant to their target audience.

One can also run viral contests on social media by prompting the audience to share the contest in exchange for bonus entries. For example, a competition for the best photographers can offer one bonus entry for every five referrals. To be eligible for the bonus, the subscribers must sign up with their email addresses. Voila! The affiliate marketer gets their leads, and the photography enthusiasts get a chance to showcase their skills.

Reach out to contacts

Professional and personal networks are often untapped resources for lead generation. Many people in these networks are often eager to sign up for newsletters or informational content created by well-known personalities. One can contact those interested directly, letting them know how a specific email marketing campaign can benefit them. They will most likely share it with their network if they find it beneficial.

Introduce a powerful referral programme

People are more inclined to buy or subscribe to something when friends or long-time users recommend it. Introducing a powerful referral programme can thus help affiliate marketers spread the word about their business far and wide. Of course, they will have to provide enough value to their existing email subscribers and consumers as motivation to share their newsletter’s subscription link.

Conclusion

Whether it’s an experienced affiliate professional or someone new to affiliate marketing reading this article, the tips shared above will have answered an extremely popular question: How to build an email list for affiliate marketing? 

All these tips will require patience, persistence and continuous effort to perfect. But the final result will be ten times more rewarding than the work put in to gain those leads. Building an email list of qualified leads is an affiliate’s end goal to sell more products, and these simple yet effective techniques will help them do that easily.