Revealed: Why Building an Email List is Absolutely Essential in 2023 (6 Undeniable Reasons)

Are you making the huge mistake of ignoring email marketing for your business? If you don‘t have an email list or you‘re putting off growing one, you‘re leaving an enormous amount of opportunity on the table.

I know it‘s tempting to pour all your energy into social media and hope for viral success. But the truth is, email absolutely crushes social media and most other channels by every important marketing metric. It‘s not even close.

Email is the most direct, personal, and effective way to reach your audience and turn them into loyal customers and fans. If you want to succeed online in 2023 and beyond, you need to build an email list ASAP. Let me prove it to you.

Why Email Marketing is a Superpower Hiding in Plain Sight

First, let‘s define what an email list actually is. An email list is a collection of email addresses from people who have voluntarily signed up to receive marketing messages from your business or website. They are giving you permission to show up in their inboxes on a regular basis.

By opting in, they‘re raising their hand to tell you they want to hear from you. That‘s an incredibly powerful thing that can‘t be overstated.

Imagine having a direct line to your best potential customers who want you to contact them. Who look forward to hearing from you and are eager to buy what you offer. That‘s what an email list gives you.

And yet, so many businesses and websites neglect their email lists in favor of generic social media posts that disappear into the void. They‘re missing out on the highest ROI and most impactful marketing channel available.

Skeptical? I don‘t blame you. You‘ve probably heard people say email is dead, nobody reads emails anymore, social media is the only way to reach people today. But the data tells a much different story:

As you can see, email has tremendous reach, engagement, and profitability. While it may not be as flashy as social media, clearly people are very much using and responding to email.

For every $1 spent on email marketing, businesses generate $44 on average. That‘s an astounding 4,400% return on investment! Email‘s ROI is unmatched by any other channel.

Not to mention, you actually own your email list. It‘s not dependent on the whims of Facebook‘s algorithm or Twitter‘s management. Your business‘s most valuable marketing asset is under your control.

6 Reasons to Build Your Email List Right Now

In case you‘re still not convinced, let‘s dive deeper into exactly why email is so powerful and why waiting to build your list is a critical mistake.

1. Email is extremely personal and direct

Think about your own inbox for a second. It‘s a curated space filled with messages from people and brands you know and care about. Sure, some spam slips through, but for the most part you‘ve chosen who gets access to your inbox.

Reading and responding to email is a personal, almost intimate experience compared to casually scrolling social media feeds filled with posts from random acquaintances and brands screaming for attention.

When someone gives you their email address, they‘re inviting you into that personal space. Showing up there is a privilege. Using it well forges genuine human connection that inspires people to take action.

2. Email gives you a direct line to your audience

Once someone joins your email list, you have a reliable, scalable way to communicate with them on your own terms. You‘re not at the mercy of a social network‘s algorithm to get your message to the people who want it most.

Email has much higher deliverability than social media. Over 90% of email gets delivered successfully to recipients‘ inboxes, whereas organic reach for a Facebook page‘s posts is often in the single digits.

When you have an important message to get out to your audience, email is the most predictable and effective channel to reach them.

3. Email drives way more conversions and sales

Email marketing generates $44 for every $1 spent. I already mentioned that stat but it bears repeating. No other digital marketing channel comes anywhere close to that ROI.

The average click-through rate for an email campaign is 2.4%, compared to 0.07% for a Tweet. A Twitter user is 18x more likely to see and click a link in an email than in a Tweet.

Even more important, email subscribers are far more likely to actually buy something. The average conversion rate for an email is nearly 18%, compared to less than 2% for social media.

Why are email conversion rates so much higher? People joined your list because they want to hear about your products and offers! They practically asked you to sell to them. Versus a social media post that‘s just another ad in a sea of distractions.

4. Email has unparalleled targeting and personalization capabilities

A major advantage of email is the ability to personalize and target your campaigns on a granular level based on subscriber data.

With list segmentation, you can send specific messages to people based on their interests, behavior, location, and more. Trigger automated campaigns when a subscriber takes a certain action, like abandoning a shopping cart or attending a webinar.

This kind of laser targeting leads to much higher engagement and conversion. Segmented, personalized campaigns generate a 760% increase in revenue compared to generic one-size-fits-all emails.

You can even create completely customized campaigns for each individual subscriber using advanced marketing automation platforms. The only real limit is your creativity.

5. Email integrates with and enhances all your other marketing

Email marketing doesn‘t exist in a vacuum. In fact, it enhances and complements every other part of your digital marketing strategy.

Use social media to attract engaged followers, then encourage them to join your email list for exclusive content. Sync your email platform with your CRM and ecommerce store to personalize campaigns based on purchase behavior. Trigger automated emails based on website activity. Create lookalike audiences for social ads based on your email subscribers.

The possibilities are endless. Building an email list multiplies the power of all your other marketing efforts.

6. Email lets you build strong customer relationships over time

According to Litmus, 56% of customers say they stay loyal to brands that "get them." In other words, brands that understand their needs and deliver personalized, relevant value.

Email is hands-down the best channel to build that kind of in-depth customer relationship over time. When someone first joins your list, you have the opportunity to welcome them, deliver your best content, and show how well you understand them.

Then continue providing relevant value at a steady cadence and watch the relationship blossom. Gradually include personalized offers. Loyal email subscribers often become your most valuable customers and evangelists.

It‘s nearly impossible to build that level of intimate customer relationship through scattered social media posts. But with email it‘s par for the course.

Real Businesses Winning With Email Marketing

Need more proof of email‘s unrivaled effectiveness? These businesses are using email to achieve incredible results:

• Spanx added an opt-in checkbox to their checkout process and grew their email list by 72,582 subscribers in a single month. Automated welcome and cart abandonment emails helped lift monthly email revenue by 141%.
• Glossier attributes 7% of their total online revenue to their "Friends of Glossier" email and referral program. They used a waitlist to generate buzz pre-launch and gave subscribers exclusive early access.
• Huckberry grew their email list to over 1 million subscribers using exit-intent popups, content upgrades, and referral campaigns. Email marketing now generates over 33% of their total sales.
• Leesa recovered 12.5% of abandoned carts using a series of cart abandonment emails. The campaign earned a 6,200% ROI in just one month.
• Envelopes.com lifted average order value by 65% by sending personalized product recommendations based on past purchase data.

The list goes on and on. Businesses in every industry are using email to drive more traffic, leads, and sales than any other channel.

How to Get Started With Email Marketing The Right Way

I hope I‘ve convinced you of email‘s unmatched power to grow your business. You‘re probably excited to start building your list right away. Here‘s exactly what you need to get started:

1. A website or landing page to capture email signups. This can be a simple page explaining what subscribers get for signing up and featuring an email capture form.

2. An email marketing service to store your email list and send campaigns. I recommend Brevo or ActiveCampaign for most businesses. Constant Contact is also a great choice for beginners. Look for features like automation, segmentation, registration forms, templates, and analytics.

3. High-converting opt-in forms to turn website visitors into subscribers. Use exit-intent popups, floating bars, in-line forms, gamified wheels, landing page forms, and more. OptinMonster is hands-down the best tool for this. It easily integrates with any website and email platform.

4. A lead magnet or opt-in offer to entice people to subscribe. This could be a discount code, free shipping, exclusive content, templates, training, or any other valuable incentive.

5. An email marketing strategy to map out what kinds of campaigns you‘ll send, how often you‘ll send them, how you‘ll segment subscribers, your goals, and more.

Once you have those pieces in place, you‘re ready to start building your list and harnessing email‘s incredible potential.

How to Skyrocket Your Email List Growth

With the right strategy and tools, you can grow a big email list faster than you might think. Here are some of the most effective ways to get more subscribers:

• Create an irresistible lead magnet that solves a specific problem for your target audience. Make sure it‘s easily digestible and delivers a quick win.
• Use exit-intent popups to convert abandoning visitors. Over 70% of people who leave your site will never return. Catch them before they go with a targeted popup offer.
• Run a viral contest or giveaway. Use a tool like Woobox to create a contest with built-in viral sharing. People earn extra entries by referring friends.
• Add opt-in forms to your highest-traffic pages. Don‘t just limit sign-up forms to your homepage. Add them to your best content, resource pages, and anywhere else that gets steady traffic.
• Place content upgrades in your most popular blog posts. Create bonus content like checklists, templates, or guides related to your top posts. Offer them for free in exchange for an email.
• Add an opt-in checkbox to key forms. Place an optional checkbox on your checkout, registration, and contact forms so people can join your list with one click.
• Host a webinar packed with valuable teachings. Promote it to your social media following and require an email to sign up.
• Directly ask your social media followers to subscribe. Post about your newsletter and share email-gated content. Add sign-up links to your profiles.

The more ways you ask for emails and demonstrate value, the faster your list will grow.

Start Harnessing Email Marketing‘s Power Today

I‘ll leave you with a few eye-opening stats. 98% of Americans check their email daily. Checking email is the #1 activity on mobile devices. People send over 300 billion emails per day—and that number is still growing every year.

No matter your business or industry, your target audience is using email. Probably multiple times per day.

So if you‘re not actively building an email list and sending valuable email campaigns, you‘re missing out on the most powerful, highest-ROI way to reach them. Period.

Imagine if you started building a list today. How quickly could you grow it? How many more leads and sales could you generate? How much momentum and growth are you leaving on the table by neglecting your most valuable marketing asset?

If you only take one thing away from this guide, let it be this: Start building your email list today. Not next week, not next month or next year. Today. It‘s one of the most important investments you can make in your business in 2023 and beyond.

Follow the tips I shared and you‘ll be well on your way to harnessing email‘s unrivaled superpowers. If you‘re hungry for more email marketing insights, check out my ultimate guide to email marketing.

Now go start building that list!