Grow your mailing list with Shopify and AWeber.

An engaged list of subscribers is the key to email marketing success. But it's not just about how many subscribers you have – it's about having the right people who are interested in your brand and what you have to share with them.

To help you grow your list and attract quality email subscribers, there are a few steps you need to follow. And it all begins with the sign up form.

Follow these steps to set up an email marketing campaign:

Adding a newsletter signup to your online store lets you collect customer email addresses that you can use for email marketing campaigns. You can learn more about email marketing on the Shopify blog.

​

Although you can't email customers through your Shopify admin, you can use the Shopify AWeber app to send promotional emails. Email marketing apps usually work by syncing your Shopify customer data with a third-party email marketing service like AWeber.

All free Shopify themes have a newsletter signup section that you can add to your home page.

To add a newsletter signup section:

Your form should tell readers exactly what they're going to get after signing up to your list. Will you be sending them a weekly newsletter? Product promotions? Setting clear expectations will be key to attracting quality subscribers who want to hear from you – and staying out of the spam folder.

Your sign up form should clearly explain the benefits to signing up for your list, including information about content (i.e. blog updates, email newsletters) and how frequently you'll be sending (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly). By defining this up front, your subscribers will know exactly what they signed up for, which increases the chance they'll view your emails as valuable instead of spammy.

This is the part of your sign up form where you ask readers to take a specific action. In this case, your call-to-action (CTA) is to sign up to your email list. Instead of going with the generic “Sign Up” button, however, try getting creative. A unique, contextual and action-oriented phrase such as “I wanna join!” or “Send me my free ebook” will certainly grab your reader's attention.

Here's a great example from entrepreneur and author Marie Forleo:

​

​

This CTA works so well because it complements the rest of the content within the form. It's actionable, fresh and relates to the incentive that encourages sign ups.

Plus, the copy at the bottom of the form helps set expectations of what people get by subscribing to the list.

Your sign up form should appear on highly trafficked website pages, such as your homepage or blog. Ideally, you want to place it in a location where it's noticeable and grabs your visitor's' attention. Since the location will also depend on the type of form you use, be sure to consider this as you decide on what form is best.

To create a consistent experience, your sign up form design should reflect the look and feel of your website and/or brand.

A cohesive user experience helps to establish your credibility and build trust with your audience.

In addition to carrying over various brand elements, consider the size of your sign up form and colors used within it; for example, you might want to use a more attention-grabbing color for your CTA button.

People love receiving exclusive gifts and discounts. So why not add one to your sign up form? Offering an incentive (or lead magnet) that appeals to your audience is a great way to encourage them to sign up to your email list – especially individuals who are on the fence.

Nobody wants to ‘Join a newsletter’ so stop asking. Give them something in exchange for their information, which is really a currency in the digital age. Make sure they are getting something valuable in that exchange and they’ll love you for it.

- Justin Rondeau,DigitalMarketer

Common lead magnets include product discounts, ebooks or whitepapers, a downloadable checklist or printable and more.

If you're active on social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter, you may already have a growing community of people interested in your business. So why not reach out to this audience and encourage them to subscribe to your email list?

By doing so, you can expand your reach, increase the chances that they'll see your content and nurture customer relationships in a way that can be more powerful than if you were to rely on social alone.

Fortunately, encouraging your social followers to sign up to your email list can be as simple as sharing a post that teases exclusive content in your emails. Or, consider adding a sign up form to your Facebook business page and sharing a link to a web-hosted version of your sign up form.

There are also certain social platforms that provide additional opportunities for you to promote your list. Facebook's Call-to-Action feature is one of them:

​

​

By linking this button in your cover photo to your email list, you can drive even more email sign ups.

Host a contest that features a valuable prize and requires an email address to enter. Promote it on social media, your website and any other place where you can interact with your audience.

People are more likely to sign up to your email list after you prove that the content you have to offer is worth it.

If you have a blog, take the time to write content that's going to make a difference in helping your audience.

Once you prove to them that they need your content, they'll be primed for signing up to your list.

To drive more traffic to your website, try tactics like syndicating your content on publishing platforms like Feedly and Alltop. Or leverage strategic partnerships with influencers or other businesses that have similar audiences to yours. The more you can reach new communities of individuals who are likely to be interested in your brand, the more traffic you'll be able to bring to your website – which can increase sign ups to your email list.

Whether you're at an event or brick-and-mortar store, you're interacting with people who might be interested in your email list. Leverage your interactions with your audience by downloading an email sign up form app (like AWeber's Atom app) to your phone or tablet to collect new email sign ups on the go.

If you'd prefer to go ‘old school,' the reliable pen and paper sign up sheet works just as well. Just remember to add your new subscribers to your email list!

Take Action! Identify one strategy to start growing your email list and focus on setting that up in the next 10 minutes. An easy first step is creating a sign up form and adding it to your website. You can always create incentives and try another list building tactic another day! (Don't have an email marketing platform? Try AWeber today free for 30 days!)