How To Create A Mailing List On Wordpress

Email is one of the most efficient and cheapest forms of marketing on the Internet. It's often an inexpensive way to engage a vast audience in a very short amount of time. However, building a WordPress users email list is not easy to do.

Over the years, many have felt that email marketing has lost its touch, but this just isn't true. It's still worth every website's time to make a mail list because there are over four billion daily email users. That's half of the world's population.

It's a great platform for businesses, big and small, to reach out to customers and help increase sales. In fact, this is exactly why 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers.

In terms of return on investment (ROI), email marketing is unmatched.

Today, we're going to show you several ways to create a WordPress email list and how to get the most out of the experience.

Why Email Lists Are Important

Email is one of the most common forms of communication on the Internet. Thanks to integrating apps in smartphones, these messages can be sent to virtually anyone regardless of where they are.

This means you have greater potential to keep users informed regarding any aspect of the website or business.

Sending people emails does more than just give you a way to inform others. It also can play a role in marketing products and increasing revenues.

For example, it wouldn't take much to offer a 20% discount on select items from those who opt into an eCommerce mailing list.

A single message can be sent in mass to thousands of recipients. Of course, this is dependent on how many people are actually on the list, but the point is you can engage them all with just one email.

More importantly, since those people are voluntarily opting in to receive emails, they want to be exposed to your marketing.

Are Emails Better Than Social Media?

For those with limited time and resources, you might be wondering if email marketing is a better option than social media.

While there are plenty of exceptions to this, on average, most businesses find more success with email marketing.

The truth is that while you can reach a lot of people on social media, most people will quickly scroll past any advertisements you buy.

Or they will ignore your latest messages on the platform, especially if they are just highlighting new products or sales.

And this is because most people use social media to have fun. They are not going to the platform to make a purchase or find a new product, they want to chat with friends and family.

Whereas subscribers on your mailing list actually opt-in to receive these notifications.

If you can only choose one, email will give you more bang for your buck.

How to Build WordPress Users Email List

Method 1: Using WordPress User Registrations

Step 1: Install Profile Builder

Perhaps one of the easiest methods to build a WordPress email list is to make it part of the registration process. Using plugins such as Profile Builder, users must activate their profiles through email confirmation.

This helps verify the address is correct and active.

This is only one part of the plugin. It can do a lot more like adding a "Forgot Password?" message under the login or even restrict what users can access in terms of products they can view (perfect for membership shops).

But first, we need to install it:

Click on Plugins and select the Add New option.

Search for, install, and activate Profile Builder.

Step 2: Add Email to Registration Process

Luckily, adding email as part of the registration process is really simple and only takes a few clicks of the mouse.

Click on Profile Builder and select the Settings option.

You will see multiple tabs in this section, but for the purpose of this tutorial, there's only one option we need to worry about, General Settings.

Locate the Email Confirmation Activated option. It is a drop-down box that will allow you to select "Yes" or "No" and select the "Yes" option.

You might want to take a few moments to see what else the plugin offers.

For instance, you can also customize the requirements to create a password. Website security has never been more important, so making sure visitors use a strong password is a great idea.

Click on the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the screen when you are satisfied with the changes you have made.

You now can start creating a list of addresses based on those who register with your website. It's a good idea to inform people prior to registering that the email address may be used to send messages.

This will help reduce the risk of being seen as spam.

Profile Builder also comes with a WordPress widget that is placed in the sidebar for user logins.

Method 2: Use Jetpack for Follower Subscriptions

Step 1: Install Jetpack

Jetpack is an amazing plugin, especially for beginners. It comes with more than 20 common tools to help any website developer. These tools include the module called, "Subscriptions."

This allows visitors to subscribe to the website or comment section of any post.

It will also help develop an email list accessible through the WordPress.com interface. Of course, this is only one of Jetpacks many features. It is often described as the swiss army knife of WordPress.

It can do almost anything, all you need to do is activate the right module.

To enable Subscriptions in Jetpack:

Install and activate the plugin, "Jetpack" if it's not already in your WordPress tools.

Step 2: Enable Email Subscription

The first thing we need to do is actually enable the email subscription option.

Note: You will need to set up Jetpack for use before continuing. The setup process is extremely short, and you simply need to create an account and pick a plan, and yes, the free plan is fine.

To do so, click on the Jetpack and select the Settings option.

In the settings screen, you'll see an area with five sections: Security, Performance, Writing, Sharing, Discussion, and Traffic

Click on the Discussion tab.

At the bottom, you should notice a Subscriptions section. It has a series of sliding switches that you can interact with. By default, this feature is off. So first, you must activate it by sliding the first switch.

Once this is activated, you can adjust the other two sliders. These allow visitors to subscribe to your website and to specific comments for email notifications. By default, these should both be on and you should leave them this way.

Thus, the end result should be all three switches on.

These settings are saved automatically, so you can safely exit this section.

Step 3: Add the Subscription Widget

You should now take the time to add the subscriptions widget to your sidebar. This will make it easy for visitors to subscribe, thus accelerating your growth.

Click on Appearance and select the Widgets option.

Locate the widget "Blog Subscriptions (Jetpack)" and drag it to your sidebar or the appropriate widget area.

You can customize this widget to your liking, which you should, after all the default name is "Blog." Once you do, click on the "Save" button at the bottom.

Step 4: Customize the Email Message

And finally, since you are going to be sending out emails, it is a smart decision to review the email messages.

Click on Settings and select the Reading option.

Scroll down until you see the Follower Settings section and you will see the default email messages. I highly recommend customizing these messages to match the tone and personality of your blog.

And there is a very good reason to do this.

People will start ignoring your emails if they sound generic or look very basic. The world of email marketing has grown significantly and basic emails can no longer survive in the current climate.

Instead, everything needs to meet certain quality standards.

When you are done editing the messages, click on the "Save Changes" button at the bottom.

Your website will now collect subscribers whether they choose to do so from the sidebar or while leaving a comment. Jetpack will automatically inform these users when new comments are added or any time a new post is created.

The email list for Jetpack can be accessed by going into the module settings and clicking the link. This will take you to WordPress.com and show you the list of registered accounts.

Do I Need An Email Marketing Service?

At first, you can definitely manage your WordPress email list manually. But as that list grows, this will no longer be a viable option.

Instead, most websites will utilize an email marketing service. These services allow you to easily add new subscribers to receive regular emails. They provide multiple email templates that you can use to craft the message you want to send.

There are a number of email marketing campaign services available that offer incredible incentives beyond the power of your website. These are methods that can bolster any business marketing campaign.

Most of these will include easy-to-use message builders and in-depth reports based on user actions. They offer information regarding various aspects such as how often messages are opened and whether a recipient has clicked on any links within the text.

One of the more engaging features of these systems is that the entire process is capable of being automated. This means all you need is a list of addresses and the system will do the rest.

Some may also include personalization templates so that each recipient reads his or her name in the message.

Give People A Reason to Open Your Emails

Adding new subscribers to your email list in WordPress is not easy, but it's even harder to keep them viewing your emails.

Let's be honest, if you get multiple emails from the same sender, and none of them contain any information worth your time, you are probably going to either label the message as spam or look for the unsubscribe option.

This is why every email needs to be worth the time it takes to read.

For instance, one approach is to offer exclusive deals to email subscribers. This not only keeps subscribers happy but also encourages others to sign up to get those deals. Even a small discount will suffice.

Another approach is to include a general discount code. This doesn't have to be in every email, but by subscribers knowing there is a chance, they are more likely to open the email to check.

Of course, discounts and deals are not the only way to keep subscribers.

The other content you include matters. Sending out emails with broken links or that are just badly designed isn't going to help keep subscribers on your mailing list. Instead, you need to customize them to look stylish, just like WordPress.

Avoid Spamming Subscribers

Now you may have gotten the impression that as long as you provide subscribers with value in an email, you can send as many as you want. And more emails mean more exposure to your brand, so it seems logical to send a lot.

Do NOT do this.

Email users today can quickly pick up on spam. If they feel your emails are too frequent, they will unsubscribe or mark your email as junk. The latter is far worse than if they unsubscribe because it makes you think your emails are reaching more people than they are.

And if the behavior continues, it's not just subscribers that will label your email as spam. Email services like Gmail or Yahoo will eventually determine that the emails you send out are spam.

Once they label you as spam, your email marketing days are over.

Start Emailing Visitors Today

Sending email has been an activity millions of people have used before the Internet developed into the platform we know and love today. It's a cost-efficient platform that will help you engage customers on a grand scale.

Start building your email lists today.

With so many options available that are free to use, you have nothing to lose but a bit of time.

What kind of additions do you use on your site to engage your visitors after they leave? How many visitors have subscribed to your website?