Why Financial Advisors Should Never Buy Email Lists (and How to Build One for Free)

Despite what you may think, email marketing is not dead. In actuality, it’s still a highly relevant and effective means of marketing. However, in order for your email marketing to be successful, you need to find people to send your email campaigns to that will actually open them.No matter how desperate you may feel to build your email lists to the point that you are willing to buy one, we can assure you that this is not the best path for you. Buying email lists will actually do you more harm than good. Instead, focusing on sending emails to people who have opted in and voluntarily given their contact information is the best way to grow your email list.More than 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI.

Why You Should Never Buy Email Lists

  • You’ll break the rules of consent under GDPR.
  • Trustworthy email marketing services don’t let you send emails to lists that you have purchased.
  • Quality email address lists aren’t available for sale.
  • People on a purchased email list don’t actually know anything about your business.

5 Ways To Build Your Own Email List

1. Provide Value

If you provide people with free things such as e-books, infographics, etc. and ask for their contact information in return, they will be more inclined to give it to you because they realize they are getting something out of it. Not only will you be able to prove your value and show your expertise, but you will also be able to collect up more contact information to help grow your email list.In the example below, Twenty Over Ten client Eastern Planning, Inc. provides a free whitepaper download on their homepage in exchange for people’s names and email addresses. This is a great (free) way to build your email list.

2. Leverage Your Blog

Blogging is a great way to establish yourself as an expert within your field. In addition, it’s also a wonderful way to build your contact list. How do you do this? Place a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your blog that leads to a newsletter sign-up. This encourages people to share their contact information with you if they feel like they gained something from your blog and want to continue reading your content. This is why having a well-established and strong blog is so important.Lead Pilot user, Digital Wealth, has a CTA at the end of their blog to share more financial tips in exchange for people’s names, email addresses, and phone numbers.

3. Create Popups With CTAs

If you think that popups are only viewed as annoying and serve no purpose, think again! Popups are a great way to increase conversion rates, generate more leads, and help build your email list. If you want to catch people’s attention to get them to signup for your newsletter, popups are the way to go.The top 10% highest-performing pop-ups averaged a 9.28% conversion rate.In the example below, Lead Pilot user Outright Financial Strategies has a great popup with a CTA that says “Sign Me Up” that appears on their infographic.

4. Segment Your Email Lists

Segmenting your email lists based on when people subscribed to join your list is a great tactic to utilize. Since certain people subscribed to join your email list at different times than others, some have more familiarly with your brand. So, for example, your emails for the people who have most recently signed up to receive your emails should be more focused on your brand. In comparison, your oldest signup emails should be more concentrated on maintaining a solid relationship.

To segment your email campaigns and choose which contacts to share email content with within the Lead Pilot platform, follow these steps:

1. Click the “Share” button at the top of your “Edit Draft” side window. This will open a “Share Settings” side window:

2. Click the email toggle button so it turns green and then click “Customize” :3. Emails will be sent to “All Contacts” by default. Click “X” to remove “All Contacts” and make changes to the recipients:4. Click “Options” to open a dropdown of segments and lists to choose from. Select which list(s) or segment(s) you want to send your email content to:

5. Host A Webinar

A webinar is not only a great way to leverage your expertise and provide your current and prospective clients with value, but it’s also a great strategy to collect up more contact information to construct your email lists. In order for people to sign up for the webinar, request that they give their name and email address. This is an easy way to help grow your email lists, not to mention that people will enjoy your webinar and be engaged with your business.

Last But Not Least

There are so many great ways to grow your email list for free. In other words, never fall for paying for email lists. It will do you more harm than good. Remember, you want your subscribers to be genuinely interested in your business and be truly engaged with your content. These 5 simple tips will help get you started with expanding your email list for free in no time.