It’s common knowledge that if you have a website, you need to have an email list. An email list allows you to directly speak to your leads and customers, which builds trust, increases engagement, and boosts conversions. In fact, according to HubSpot, 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI (return on investment).
But have you ever considered that you can start growing your email list before you even launch your website? It sounds a bit backwards, but it’s totally possible and a great way to stir up excitement and build relationships with potential customers. So, when your website does launch, you’ll get a ton of traffic and engagement right away. Plus, those email subscribers you’ve been building a relationship with for weeks or months ahead of time, will be more likely to make a purchase.
Here’s how to grow your email list before launching a website.
Create a Coming Soon Page
One of the most effective ways to grow your email list before launching a website is to create a coming soon page. Creating a coming soon page for your website will allow you to get a jump start at ranking in Google as well as have traffic and leads when your site goes live.
You can easily build a stunning coming soon page using SeedProd’s Coming Soon Page plugin. Using SeedProd’s real-time page builder, you can quickly design an eye-catching, excitement-stirring coming soon page. With SeedProd you get access to over 500,000 free background images, over 750 Google fonts, and over 50 themes. Most importantly, you also have the ability to add an online form to collect email addresses to your coming soon page, like in the example below.
With a coming soon page, you can give your audience a sneak peak at what your website will be about. Plus, users who are interested can provide their email address in exchange for updates or a notification so they can check out the site the second it goes live.
Optimize Your Email Signature
Another simple way to grow your email list before you make a website is to optimize your email signature. Instead of just signing off with your name, your email signature needs to be optimized to the fullest in order to promote your new website and collect email addresses.
For instance, the email signature below includes an offer for a free consultation and includes a link for those interested to follow. Once they click on the link, users would fill out a contact form for a free consultation and voila! Now they’re subscribed to the email list.
Of course, you don’t have to offer a free consultation in order to get email subscribers. You could offer a discount, a lead magnet, or just invite them to join your list to get access to exclusive news or content.
With a simple link in your email signature you can passively grow your email list each time you send out an email — you never know who’ll be interested in becoming a subscriber. Think about all the emails you send in a week. You probably already have a decent network of connections including family, friends, former coworkers, peers in your industry, and so on. Don’t send out a mass email to all of these people promoting your new website though. Instead, start re-connecting with them in a natural, personable way.
Create Content
Just because you don’t have a website yet, doesn’t mean you can’t create and share content. Creating useful content before your website launches will give users a sneak peak of what you have to offer and allow you to present yourself as a thought leader in your industry. So, where do you put your content if your website isn’t live yet?
The answer is social media. You can create and post content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, even YouTube and introduce your future website to a whole new audience. Just remember to promote your email list while you’re at it by including a link to your coming soon page.
You can also share content directly on your coming soon page itself. With SeedProd’s Coming Soon Page plugin, you have the ability to embed a YouTube video right to your coming soon page. This will encourage users to interact with your coming soon page and stick around long enough to provide their email address.
Creating content and splashing it across the internet is a great way to attract a ton of users to your coming soon page and capture their attention — and email address — so that they stick around for your website launch and beyond.
Build a Fan Base, Pre-Website Launch
Instead of starting from scratch when your website launches, with these tips you’ll already have plenty of leads who are excited to see what you have to offer. Once you start collecting email addresses, be sure to include a welcome email in your email strategy. A welcome email will make your subscribers feel like part of a community and give them instructions for what to do next. By growing your email list before your website launch party, you’ll get to enjoy tons of website traffic, user engagement, and sales from day 1.