Expand Your Subscriber Base: Share to Social Networks

If list-building feels like a Herculean task to you, try turning to your existing subscribers for help. They can do most of the leg-work by sharing the content on their favourite social networks. All you have to do is write share-worthy content and give subscribers the means to pass that content on.

You can increase incoming traffic from these networks by as much as 2,000%, and increase engagement with the content by 25% (MarketingSherpa) by harnessing the power of word of mouth (or as it has recently been dubbed, ‘word of web’). To get the most out of sharing to social networks, do the following:

• Identify the most popular and relevant social networks used by your subscribers; online surveys, monitoring current incoming traffic etc.
• Place share buttons strategically in your email campaigns; don’t hide them below the fold, place them next to summaries of your most share-worthy content
• Test the new buttons on a segment of your email list before rolling it out across the board; this will help you iron out any mistakes through trial and error for maximum effectiveness
• Include a note to subscribers with the email explaining how the buttons work when you introduce them

With this strategy in place, it’s time to set up some monitoring and measuring procedures to evaluate the project’s success. Suitable metrics include how many times people click on the buttons (easy to measure with an email marketing provider’s analytics tools) and the amount of incoming traffic.

By encouraging subscribers to share content in this way, you will find more organic, relevant signups to your newsletter and increase the likelihood of conversions. Take some time off from list building and let your subscribers do the ‘work’ for a change.