Does your business have an email marketing campaign? If not, you are missing out on a unique opportunity to keep in contact with your customer base.

But here’s the problem many companies have with email marketing – they don’t have any emails to send content! As you might imagine, this could easily throw a wrench in your plans to send out marketing emails.

Email marketing is all about reaching out to your customers. But how do you expect to create a substantial list of emails to use? It’s a challenge many marketers haven’t been able to overcome, but we have seen the following five solutions work time and time again.

1. Offer free premium content.

When people visit their website, offer them a welcome gift. Ebooks, infographic downloads, online tools, and special access to premium landing pages are great gifts you can offer. All they have to do is enter their email and they will receive this valuable content, and you will have a way to keep in touch.

2. Use social media to promote emails.

Your social media marketing can help grow your email list. Create content that promotes your email marketing. Use Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram to explain the benefits of signing up such as exclusive content and up-to-date news.

3. Create multiple email campaigns.

Some people like certain types of emails. Create different types of campaigns centered around the type of content such as news, promos, articles, etc. You can also focus on a specific area of your industry for each type of email. This is helpful so subscribers have options and there is a higher chance they will find something worth clicking.

4. Take advantage of offline marketing opportunities.

Heading to a convention? Have a storefront? Have a face-to-face interaction with customers? Ask people for their emails when they converse with you. Again, freebies, chances to win prizes, and other incentives help people keep in touch.

5. Make emails people want in their inbox.

Don’t forget, it’s very easy to subscribe or to simply delete an email, so make your content worth reading! Take the time to create special content that is only available to your email subscribers such as news, coupons, free downloads, etc.

Email marketing is all about keeping in constant contact with your brand, but also to provide content that will position your brand as influential and active. With the above ideas, your list of email will steadily grow and you will see a spike in online engagement.