What Is The Best List Building Software [Beginners Guide]

The best list building software is the one that integrates all the necessary tools into one platform. Keeping your costs and learning curve as low as possible. My all-in-one list building software of choice is GetResponse, let me tell you why.

Does this mean it will always fulfill all your list building needs?

Not forever! Once you start growing, you’ll want to upgrade some of those functions to more specialized tools. But, by then your email list should be making you a good chunk of money.

If I were to start all over again knowing what I know today, I’d start with GetResponse only and save those expensive monthly fees I paid for ‘the perfect tools’ for more important investments.

What does list building entail and why is GetResponse the answer to your all your needs?

In this post, I will break down list building into small, easy steps, and show you how you can perform them with this one piece of software alone.

Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means that if you click on the link and buy something, I will receive an affiliate commission. This has no cost to you and I only recommend tools that I use or have used myself and that are within the most useful, to the best of my knowledge.

The Basics of List Building and How GetResponse has You Covered

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Everybody talks about the importance of having an email list but very rarely do they teach you how to build one.

Let me show you exactly how to do it using only GetResponse.

You can also use this as a guide to start building your list with other tools the right way if you wish.

GetResponse also offers training to guide you on how to build an email list the right way. You can access it free here.

Let’s start by breaking it down into steps:

Step #1 – Attract your audience to your page

There are different methods of attracting visitors (aka driving traffic), but mainly they can be divided into:

• Paid – Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Youtube Ads, Solo Ads, etc.

• Organic (usually through content creation) – Blogging, Youtube videos, Pinterest pins, etc.

Depending on your traffic method, you’ll need to have either a Landing Page or an Opt-in Form (I’ll explain this shortly) where your visitor can introduce their email address.

Step #2 – Offer something irresistible they’re interested in

Once someone lands on your page or is consuming your content, you need to present them with an offer they can’t resist.

Something that will solve a problem they have quickly and usually for free.

This is also called a Lead Magnet.

These can come in many different formats and I will show you how you can set them up with GetResponse.

Step #3 Collect their email address

Once your visitor introduces their email and clicks the ‘subscribe’ button to receive your amazing offer, you’ll need to collect it into a list.

Later, you’ll want to communicate with all these contacts at once and you won’t want to perform any of these tasks manually.

Most email marketing softwares focus on this, with GetResponse you can easily integrate this basic task with all others seamlessly and in the same platform.

Step #4 Deliver the offer and start a relationship

Now that you have a new subscriber, you need to deliver the offer that enticed them to subscribe.

This will be your ‘first date’ with your new sub and you need to make a great first impression.

A great way to start off right is to set up a series of automatic emails, where the first one goes out immediately after the subscription and delivers your offer while telling them who you are, followed by a couple of others that are sent throughout the next couple of days.

These can be set to go out automatically very easily with GetResponse autoresponder feature.

Step #5 Keep your relationship alive

You have a subscriber, they got to know you a little, developed trust, received something that helped them solve a problem – which helps them see you as an authority.

This is a relationship like any other, where both should benefit.

Like in a marriage, you need to keep them happy and interested.

But not all subscribers are the same, so you need to segment them according to their actions in order to be relevant to each and every one of them.

You can easily do this with GetResponse’s workflow automations.

Here, your subscribers interests will be tagged based on their actions.

Don’t worry if this sounds too complicated. It’s not. And I will explain how it works soon.

For most people, some of these might seem more important than the others.

You might even think that you can start collecting emails and only start emailing later once you have a sizeable list… (I fell for that).

This would cost you a lot of subscribers later and neutralize your initial effort.

Leads with whom you didn’t create a relationship will probably unsubscribe when you start emailing them or simply not open your emails if they ever reach their inbox

Building High Converting Landing Pages within GetResponse

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To get someone to subscribe to your email list, you need to make them an offer they can’t resist and present it to them in an irresistible way.

In order to present this offer to your audience in a way they can’t say no, you’ll need to build a landing page.

This is a page free of all distractions and in which your visitor has only two choices: become a subscriber or leave.

Starting out, I advise you to keep your landing page extremely simple, with only a few words promising a specific result from your lead magnet, a name and email prompt and a subscribe button also worded according to the result you offer.

You’ll probably be told that you need a good landing page and funnel builder which can get up to $300 per month.

Whoever tells you that, is probably just trying to sell you something.

To start, you’ll be very well served with GetResponse’s Landing Page builder, incorporated into their platform and plans which start at $15.

This is one of the easiest drag-and-drop Landing Page builders, and they offer amazing free training to help you build yours, and a very helpful Facebook group focused on landing pages.

The drag-and-drop landing page builder is very similar to their email creator and it’s extremely easy to use.

You can choose to host your landing page on your website or on GetResponse’s with the option to connect to a domain of yours.

They now offer SSL certification on these, which means that your page will show as secure (https://).

Keep it Simple with an Opt-In Form

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Alternatively, in GetResponse you can create an opt-in form or choose from hundreds of professionally designed templates and place it anywhere on your website or blog post.

Even though landing pages usually convert better, there’s a place for opt-in forms.

If a visitor is reading an article on your blog and is interested in the content, most of the times, they won’t want to click to another page.

In this case, by placing an attention-grabbing opt-in form relevant to the content in the right place, you’ll turn that faithful reader into a faithful subscriber.

Your Irresistible Offer (the first step into your subscriber’s heart)

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Depending on which business you’re running, your lead magnet can take many forms, and all of them can be delivered through or with GetResponse.

First, understand that a “Subscribe to my Newsletter” form will not get you any subscribers…

Remember WIIFM. That’s always the first question in your visitor’s mind “What’s in it for me?”.

You need to promise a very specific result that can be achieved quickly and easily.

For more on lead magnets, you can read this post.

By setting up an autoresponder in GetResponse, you can deliver any form of lead magnet you decided to create and make sure your relationship starts off on the right foot.

Getting your subscriber to open your first email and click on a link to download your offer will ensure future emails are delivered correctly to their inbox and not to the spam folder.

Webinars (the fastest way to grow a list)

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One of the fastest ways to build an email list is through a free webinar, and once again, GetResponse has you covered.

Webinars are great to sell high ticket and information products.

You can host a short lesson where you share some basics of what you have to teach for free and offer your full course at the end.

You’ll collect all of those contacts and even make some sales.

The best thing is that people who attend your webinar, even if they didn’t buy your product, have not only subscribed to your email list but also begun to know you (start of a relationship).

These webinars can be hosted live and/or recorded to work as part of automation.

Autoresponders are Your First Dates

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Building an email list is not just about getting your audience’s contact information…

What’s the purpose of having a list if you’re just going to store their contact information and never email them at all?

I won’t go into the benefits of email here, you’re probably already aware of those and that’s why you’re looking for the best list building software.

What you need to understand, however, is how much it will cost you to not start emailing your subscribers from the first moment.

Half of them will forget why they subscribed in the first place, how awesome was your initial offer, or even who you are.

So, once you have their attention and they’re excited to receive your ‘I-can’t-believe-this-is-free’ offer, you need to start creating a relationship with them.

Does this mean you need to send an email to every new subscriber?

Yes, and no!

Using the autoresponder feature within GetResponse, you can set up a series of emails that will go out automatically at a certain time after someone has subscribed to your list.

This way, every new subscriber will receive the same ‘virtual hug’ from you, even while you sleep.

You can then remain fresh in their minds by emailing them as often as you think you should.

Your Subscribers are NOT All the Same

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Segmentation is a scary word, but a very powerful technique and 95% of all business are failing to implement it.

By segmenting your list, you’ll ensure you remain interesting to them and that they’re interested in your communication and offers.

GetResponse offers a workflow tool, where you can set up complex automations based on your subscriber’s actions.

You can tag or move subscribers within lists based on them opening, clicking or buying a product of yours.

Let’s say you’ve subscribed through a live webinar that taught “Go From 0 to 1000 Subscribers in Less than a Month, Even if You’ve Never Built a List Before”.

In this webinar, I taught you a few techniques to start building an email list very fast and at the end offered a course where you could just follow-along and consult a coach with any problems you had.

If you were to buy this course, I’d know that you were not only interested in building a list, but you were going to become an expert through my course and could offer you complimentary information through email or even complementary offers if I had any.

All of these actions would be tagged in the workflow and subsequent emails would be sent to you automatically because:

1. You attended the webinar
2. You bought the course

Different emails would be sent to someone who attended the webinar but didn’t buy the course.

Maybe that person couldn’t afford to pay for the course but was still interested in building a list.

I can still help this person with a different sequence of emails, and maybe later they’ll be able to buy the course.

Segmentation is not an easy concept to understand, but hopefully, you got a feeling of its importance.

Once you start building your list and playing with the drag-and-drop workflow editor, which has a live tutorial to guide you through the whole process, everything should be made clear and you’ll see how easy it can be.

Make Sure They Love Your Emails

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Before you start building your list, it’s important to follow some steps to make sure your subscribers will open your emails.

You can read my post: “10 (Almost Unknown) Tips to Triple Your Email Open Rates” to make sure your list is being used to its full potential.

And here’s a complete and comprehensive guide to list building: “Email List for Affiliate Marketing [Complete Actionable Guide]”

Conclusion – The Only Do-It-All List Building Software

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There are a lot of good email marketing tools out there, and each has its benefits, but none can do as much as GetResponse.

I’ve used a few and stayed with GetResponse because it offers everything I need with a very intuitive and user-friendly UI.

I currently use Clickfunnels to build my landing pages and funnels, and while I wouldn’t give up this software at this time, I wouldn’t have started using it so soon if I knew what I know now when I started building my email lists.

Others will answer “what is the best list building software” with huge lists of tools which will cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars. However, I believe that you shouldn’t be spending all of that, nor do you need to, unless you’re already making a lot of money.

But don’t just take my word for it, try GetResponse for FREE for 30 days without even entering your credit card details and play around with all these features to start building your list the right way!

You’ll also have free access to their amazing list building training which will prevent you from getting stuck by showing you the exact step by step process of building a list.

GetResponse’s basic email plan starts at $15 up to 1000 contacts and gives you access to all of the tools you need to get started!

You can read a full GetResponse Review here!

Did you know all the steps you needed to build a list? And did you know there was one software that could handle it all?

Leave a comment below telling us if you know a better and cheaper software to easily build an email list from scratch.

Your feedback is important!