Listen
How to Build an Email List of Thousands
There’s always money in the banana stand. Wait, no that’s not right.
What we mean to say is, there’s always money in your email list. (Tomato, tomato.) Not social media, not Messenger, and certainly not display ads.
To achieve marketing ROI (yes, please), you have to own your audience. Email lists are hands down the way to go. So don’t let Facebook’s ad features hypnotize you because, in the end, Facebook has the control.
Aaron Agius and Sujan Patel have some serious insights into list-building in today’s Listen.
Let’s gooooo…
- (01:15) Start with a bang. We’re not talking about just adding an email capture pop-up box to your website. You need something bigger, and more impactful – something you can promote. Think an amazing piece of content, a viral contest, a giveaway…those types of things.
- (03:30) Did you know you can download all the email addresses of your LinkedIn connections? Warning: don’t just add these people to your email list. Send them personal, individual emails telling them what you’re doing, and how to opt-in to your new list.
- (04:40) Or, once you’ve exported your LinkedIn contacts, create a custom Facebook audience with those emails.
- (06:13) Email signatures are a largely untapped resource. Put a frickin’ subscribe link on your signature. How many people do you email each day? You can capture a small percentage of those people – 1% is better than 0%.
- (07:11) The tools that Sujan and Aaron use to build their lists.
- (09:25) Cross-promoting and co-marketing are amazing list-building tactics. Talk to people with big lists and see how you can collab with them.
One final note: whatever you do, make sure you’re creating serious value for anyone who signs up on your list.
HEY! Dig what you’re reading? Get more by signing up for our marketing newsletter right here.
Read
Red Bull’s Event Coverage Is an Essential Lesson for Marketers
Disclaimer: the views expressed in this article reflect the opinions of only one of the Carnage writers because the other one thinks Red Bull is delicious for whatever reason.
For a drink that tastes like a soggy gremlin (was it all the Red Bull vodkas in college? Perhaps.), they sure have one helluva capital b Brand. It surpassed a simple energy drink and skydived (skydove? skieddive?) its way into a lifestyle. They have a stellar social media presence and sponsored events everyone wants in on.
One event, very unique to the brand, is its cliff diving competitions. Its Instagram account flexes over 100k followers plus dream-worthy engagement that hit virality from athlete’s posting on their own accounts.
Like the flavor or not, we can all learn from Red Bull’s branding and coverage of events, which is the purpose of today’s Read. Served up with a side of 5000% your daily dose of B12.
So sit back, take a swig of that sweet, sweet nectar, and see what lessons can be learned from Red Bull’s x-treme social media savvy.
Watch
Stranger Danger
If y’all thought riding in a stranger’s car was unsettling, do we have newwwwws for you…
Lyft partnered with Netflix to give unsuspecting passengers the ride of their death. Let us explain. If you witnessed your Lyft driver choking up a pseudo-monster, what would you do? Personally, we’d bail quicker than The Clash could begin singing Should I Stay or Should I Go. Would we have waited to hear the Stranger Things theme music and colorful lights?
NAH FAM. Y’all wrong for this one, Lyft.
Like a less fun version of Cash Cab (shoutout Cash Cab), you bear witness to your driver deal with some Will Beyers sh*t until the Stranger Things realization sets in, and you’re like “Oh! Tight! I love this show!!!!!!!!” (Which we do and we are very excited for this Holy Day, the day of season 2.)
Anyway, not in LA or Philly? Consider yourself safe from this terror ride.
“Don’t execute on anyone’s advice if you can’t explain why you’re doing it.”
Steve Blank
