While marketers and content creators alike continue to explore new and exciting ways in which to distribute their content, the most reliable and efficient way in which to do so when balancing time, effort and money is email. Email marketing is easy to do, has virtually no cost (unless you use a sophisticated, premium email marketing solution) and is a platform through which virtually all internet users interact. Email marketing has become less efficient in recent years when measured by the effect each individual email can have with its readers, but boosting the number of subscriptions can help offset this trend on a larger scale. We’ll discuss below how you can use four simple tips to do just that.

Encourage the Use of Forwarding

One simple way in which to boost subscriptions beginning today is to find ways in which you can convince existing readers to forward the email to friends. Of course, you want to include an automatic forwarding option in the email to make things easier, but what can be used so that readers are actually pinging servers by doing it? If you utilize affiliate tracking and landing pages for email sign-ups for this particular effort, you can sweeten the pot for readers by promoting a giveaway or discount of some sort to those who follow through (simply ask the new subscriber to provide you with their friend’s email address on the landing page when signing up).

Always Use the Best Content

Some marketers get into the habit of sending out as many emails as possible; this is the side-effect of email inflation, in which more emails seemingly have to be sent to compete with the ever-increasing total number of emails that people are receiving. Instead of going for quantity, opt for quality. Studies show that high-quality content sent weekly – whether it be videos, infographics or detailed blog posts – can produce engagement rates that exceed the use of several lesser quality emails sent in a given week.

Outline Subscription Benefits

Provide excellent insight of current events on a weekly basis? Hold contests via email on a regular basis? Then be sure to let potential subscribers know! The more you promote the benefits of subscribing to your newsletter or updates, the more likely they will be pinging servers at phenomenal rates to sign up. Because people inherently want to know what’s in it for them, this can be the single biggest factor in convincing readers to subscribe.

Integrate Subscription Options in Multiple Ways

Whenever someone is ready to submit a comment on one of your posts, include a subscription option. Whenever someone has just arrived on your page and you want to use an ad overlay, include a subscription option. Whenever someone makes a purchase through your website, well, you get it. There are several different ways in which you can add a subscription option – ideally, at points of conversion or engagement – that will boost overall subscription rates. When you merely have a subscription option in just one or two locations, a large chunk of potential subscribers will simply never see it.