If you’re a podcaster, you probably know it’s not easy to attract and grow an audience. But one thing that can help you be successful is to find new ways to engage your audience. Building a solid email list is a great way to do that. In this blog post, we are going to look at why it’s important, the benefits it can provide, and the best ways to go about growing your email list.

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Benefits of an Email List

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the key benefits:

• It enables you to create an email newsletter, which is great for keeping your audience engaged.

• You can provide visual elements or links that expand on the content from your podcast.

• You can ask for feedback. This can help you gain some useful insight or ideas for future episodes. And giving listeners that opportunity to share their opinions can create a deeper connection.

• It’s another way to show potential advertisers that you have a dedicated audience. In addition, you can include an ad in your newsletter as another source of revenue.

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4 Ways to Build Your Email List

1. Plug it Everywhere

It should go without saying that if you want to grow your email list, you should ask your audience to sign up. But maybe you aren’t making full use of all the ways you can do that. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Your podcast: Mention your email list during your podcast, preferably right near the end of episodes, when listeners will be more likely to follow up on it. It could be as simple assaying,  “Subscribe to our mailing list to get exclusive content, updates, and new episodes!” And don’t forget to include a link when writing the show notes or description.
• Your website: Create a link to sign up to your email list and place it on a very prominent place on your site.The people visiting your website are likely to be interested, so make it as easy as possible for them to find it.
• Social media: Use your various social media platforms by having a link or reminder to join your email list on your profile pages, or make posts that promote the great content that’s available to your newsletter subscribers.

2. Provide Interesting Content

One of the essential steps in growing your email list is to provide quality content in your emails. Otherwise, the people you’re able to attract won’t stick around for long. So strive to make every issue of your newsletter useful or interesting.

Here are some quick tips on how to provide quality content:

• Keep your target audience in mind and focus on what they want.
• Try to keep the tone and content consistent with what you do on your podcast.
• Include visual elements or links that expand on things you cover on your podcast. This acts as a sort of bonus content that gives listeners a reason to stay subscribed.

3. Find Inspiration

If you’re struggling for ideas on the format, tone of voice, or what to include in your newsletter, consider looking for inspiration. If you are currently signed up for any email newsletters, look at what you like about them and what has kept you subscribed.

Also, sign up to the email lists for some of your favourite popular podcasts and see what ideas they can give you.

4. Don’t Stop

One thing to keep in mind is that the contacts on your email list probably won’t last forever.This can be due to people opting-out of your email newsletter or abandoning their old email addresses. So you should never completely stop your efforts to attract new people to sign up.

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Email Marketing Tools

When it comes to getting the most out of your email marketing, there are some tools that can help, such as email marketing platforms. They can make it easier to manage a large list of email subscribers, and typically provide some standard features that will be useful for growing your email list. That includes:

• Templates for email newsletters
• Email automation
• Analytics (such as tracking many people open your emails)

One of the most popular platforms is Mailchimp, and it offers a free version that lets you manage up to 2,000 email subscribers. Another option is Constant Contact, which is quickly growing and features simple-to-use tracking tools.

There are many platforms that can offer additional features,and typically have fees ranging from $20 to $100 a month depending on the number of subscribers.

Some other examples include:

• ‍Campaigner
• ‍Active Campaign
• ‍ConvertKit
• ‍Drip

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About Ownr

Ownr is an RBC Ventures company that helps entrepreneurs launch their businesses in Canada. It can help you register your business, in a quick and simple way, for a fraction of what you’d pay a lawyer.

Through its blog, Ownr also provides useful information on many aspects of running a business.