List Building: Why a Bigger Email List Isn’t Always Better

list building
list building

When you want to grow your brand and connect with your audience, starting an email list is essential. But list building isn’t always about having the most subscribers. Instead, a small but dedicated list can be just as effective. Find out why bigger isn’t always better and learn how to approach list building the right way for your brand.

Why a Big Email List Can Boost Your Brand

It’s easy to see why bigger might be better. A larger email list means more subscribers have opted in to hear from your brand. That means you can connect with a larger slice of your target market each time you send an email.

No matter what type of email you send, a bigger list can deliver more results. Want to welcome new subscribers with an automated sequence, drive traffic to your new blog post, or generate online sales? With more subscribers, you can typically aim higher and expect better outcomes.

Why a Small Email List Can Benefit Your Brand

For some brands, having a small list might mean that you haven’t invested in attracting subscribers. But for other brands, keeping your list small is more about making sure that your subscribers truly want to hear from you. With regular list maintenance, you can make sure you’re delivering value to every subscriber — which means you’ll be more likely to generate the results you aim to see.

After all, growing your list for the sake of it can mean nothing but countless subscribers who never open or respond to your messages. When that happens, growing a big list can get expensive for your brand without driving the website traffic or sales numbers you want.

How to Approach Your List Building Strategy

Whether you’re starting from scratch or you want to rein in an oversized list, use these tips to craft your strategy:

  • Aim for Growth: As your brand develops, you’ll want to reach an ever-increasing portion of your target market. To grow your contact list effectively, try tactics like connecting with customers at events and inviting social media followers to subscribe.
  • Maintain Your List: Not every email will appeal to each subscriber on your list. But you’ll want to make sure your subscribers are responding to emails at least occasionally. Each quarter, review your email analytics and identify subscribers who haven’t opened or clicked through from an email for the past three months. Try sending an automated email sequence to disengaged subscribers, encouraging them to open or click. If you don’t receive a response, it’s okay to remove them from your list so you can focus on engaged customers instead.
  • Ask for Feedback: As you grow your email list, you’ll want to make sure you’re offering value to subscribers and cultivating loyal customers. Naturally, happy and engaged subscribers tend to become the best and most lucrative customers. Try asking subscribers for feedback on the content, timing, or frequency of your email newsletters or sales messages. Put that feedback to work and you could turn interested subscribers into delighted customers.

From list building to creating content that attracts attention, we’re here to help you craft an effective email marketing strategy for your natural CPG brand. Connect with us to start putting the power of email to work for your brand.

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