10 Ways to Promote and Grow Your Email List

By now, you know that your sports team needs an email list. But setting up an email sign up form and adding it to your website is not enough. You need to actively promote your email list to increase the chances of fans signing up for exclusive news.

Of course, one of the easiest ways to encourage signups is to offer something extra in addition to regular updates. This could range from ticket pre-sales to game previews or access to club merchandise at a discounted price.

Once you come up with an attractive offer, you need to let your fans know about it. And that’s exactly what we will cover in today’s article.

10 Ways to Promote Your Email List

There are various ways to promote your email list. You can promote it on your website, on your social media accounts, and even during sporting events and matches.

1. Add a signup form to your homepage

One of the easiest ways to promote your email list is to add a signup form to your website. Most commonly, you’ll find it in the sidebar on many websites. You can also add the form to your homepage like Wellington Lions did.

Wellington Lions Signup Form

You can get creative and include it as a notification bar at the very top of your website and have it display on every page.

2. Create a Signup Page

Another way to use your website to your advantage is to create a separate page with your signup form, explaining all the benefits of becoming a subscriber. A practical example of this is the signup page on the Chicago Bulls website which offers gameday previews, news, press releases, exclusive interviews, and information about their tickets and special offers.

Chicago Bulls Sign Up page

Add this page to your main navigation menu or include a graphic that links to it in your sidebar. Doing this allows you to promote your email list at all times without using obtrusive pop-ups which may annoy your fans.

3. Use exit-intent pop-ups

Pop-ups are highly effective when used correctly. While blasting visitors with a pop-up form immediately when they land on your website tends to annoy your visitors and is frowned upon by Google, there are still ways to use them to your advantage – by using exit-intent pop-ups.

Exit-intent pop-ups use a technology which detects when a visitor is about to leave your website and then triggers a pop-up form to sign up for your email list. Pair this with an incentive that offers special offers on tickets and your fan base will find it hard to resist signing up for your newsletter.

Mavs exit intent

Take a look at the Mavs’ website to see an exit-intent pop-up in action and get an inspiration.

4. Add the link to your signup form in social media bios

Almost every social media platform allows you to enter a link to your website. You can use this to your advantage by replacing it with the link to a page with your email sign-up form. If your chosen platform is Instagram, you can even include a call to action in your bio to encourage fans to subscribe to get “insiders only” content.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers sign up in bio

Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Instagram account is an excellent example of using their bio to promote their email list

5. Add a Call-to-Action to Your Facebook Page

If your team has a fan page on Facebook, you can take advantage of their call-to-action tools to bring attention to your email list. Many email marketing providers offer tools which allow you to connect your email list with your Facebook page.

Denver Broncos sign up on Facebook

Denver Broncos uses this to their advantage by adding a simple Sign Up button at the top of their page which then leads to a page on their website that outlines all the benefits of subscribing along with a form to capture visitor’s email address.

6. Take Advantage of Pinned Tweets

Twitter is great for staying in touch with your fans and sharing the latest news and you should already know how to use Twitter for promoting your team. But due to its fast-paced nature, sometimes it’s hard to keep up. So how do you make sure that your fans see the Tweet promoting your email list? By pinning it to the top of your profile!

Just click on the three dots on the Tweet that is promoting your email list and select Pin to profile. Now, whenever someone visits your profile, they will instantly be able to go to your website and become your subscribers.

7. Use a Mobile App

Some email list providers offer a mobile app which lets you gather subscribers wherever you are. This means you can effectively use any events your team participates in to promote your email list and grow your subscribers.

MailChimp mobile app

MailChimp and Constant Contact are just two examples of email service providers that offer this functionality. You can use it before game matches, during interviews or media conferences as well as any other event your team is attending.

8. Make the Jumbotron Work for You

Sharing a message on the jumbotron (or similar) during the game break can be quite effective in promoting your email list. In fact, it will put your email list in front of thousands of people attending the game. Considering those are your most loyal fans, you have higher chances of converting them to email subscribers.

Make a short promo message that displays the link to your signup form and let it roll between game intervals.

9. Add a Call-to-Action to Your Videos

Sports team videos are a strong marketing medium, and many sports teams use it to their advantage. Whether you offer game previews or recordings of past games, use them as a chance to tell your fans about the benefits of subscribing to your email list.

Aside from actually telling them at the end of the video, don’t forget to include a clickable call-to-action or put the link in the description of your video on YouTube.

10. Create a Contest

We mentioned a few times before that creating a contest can work wonders for promoting your sports team and getting more visibility. The same method can be used to promote your email list.

Raffle off a pair of tickets for your next game in exchange for their email address and use an app like Rafflecopter to manage your contest and randomly pick a winner.

Get Started Promoting Your Email List

Promoting your email list is one of the best things you can do for your team. It will allow you to convert your fans into loyal subscribers and make it easier to establish an even better relationship with them.

But before promoting it, take some time to come up with an additional compelling offer to encourage your fans and visitors to subscribe. And, make sure your website is in top-notch condition so you can make a great first impression on anyone who comes to your website in search for more sports-themed content.

If you need a little help refreshing your website, don’t forget to check out our SportsPress plugin and themes to give your website a makeover and be sure to download our checklist of 10 ways to promote your email list.

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