How To Get More Newsletter Subscribers
By: Josh Spector
Tags: Marketing, Content Marketing, Newsletter, Social Media, Email Marketing

How To Get More Newsletter Subscribers

What I’ve learned from building a 25,000 subscriber newsletter.

It’s not easy to get someone to give you their email address.

The last thing most people want is more incoming emails in their life.

But with the right approach you can still build a large and engaged subscriber base.

Here are five keys to getting people to hit that subscribe button, based on my experience growing my For The Interested newsletter to 25,000 subscribers.

1. Promise (and deliver) value.

No one will subscribe to your newsletter as a favor to you — they need to know what’s in it for them.

Your newsletter’s description must express a clear value proposition to give people a reason to subscribe.

Asking people to subscribe to your newsletter solely to get a reminder about your future creations isn’t really providing value to them — it’s actually about providing value to you.

That’s why people rarely subscribe to those kind of newsletters.

Instead, make it clear that your newsletter delivers value.

When I invite people to subscribe to my For The Interested newsletter at the bottom of posts like this one, I promise them tips to produce, promote, and profit from their creations — the description is about THEM, not me.

You want potential subscribers to know what to expect, why they should care, and how subscribing will benefit them.

2. Ask your audience to subscribe.

Don’t assume readers will know you have a newsletter or just “figure it out.”

They won’t.

Be explicit, be obvious, and don’t be shy about asking them to subscribe.

If you’re proud of your newsletter — and you better be or it will never work — then there’s no reason to be hesitant to ask people to check it out.

Feel uncomfortable about it? Then go learn how to get over your fear of self-promotion.

3. Showcase your signup form or call to action.

This seems obvious, but apparently it’s not.

I have conversations with clients all the time who wonder why they don’t get more subscribers and then I look at their website and can’t even find their signup form.

You can’t get someone to subscribe if they don’t see the signup form.

Incorporate your signup forms (and links to them) in places where your audience can’t miss them.

With For The Interested, I plug the newsletter at the bottom of articles on my website and on Medium, in the navigation menu of my site and my Medium publication, and in countless other places.

Make your newsletter impossible to miss.

4. Build trust.

Because so many people and companies abuse the privilege of having access to their audience’s inbox, trust is more important than ever.

People are skeptical when you ask for their email, so the only way to get someone to subscribe to your newsletter is if you first get their trust.

The way to get an audience’s trust is to consistently deliver what you promise, show them you care about them, and provide legitimate value in your interactions.

If you struggle to get your audience to subscribe to your newsletter, it’s often a sign they don’t trust you yet.

5. Create something that aligns with your audience’s interest.

If you make videos about knitting, your audience isn’t going to subscribe to your newsletter about real estate.

The better your newsletter’s content matches the core interests of your audience, the more likely you are to convert them into subscribers.

This means the less defined your niche and the more vague you are about who you aim to reach, the harder it is to attract subscribers.

The better you know your audience and what they value, the better able you are to position your newsletter in a way that compels your audience to invite it into their inbox.

Want more tips to produce, promote, and profit from your creations?

Join the 25,000+ creators who get my For The Interested newsletter.