With email marketing, you can regularly connect with potential customers. As a small business owner, you have endless opportunities to nurture leads into conversions.
Let’s take a closer look at three lead generation strategies and one critical lead nurturing strategy you should bake into your sales process.
1. Use a Customer Data Platform (CDP) to Understand Your Audience
Build an accurate ideal customer profile with a CDP tool. A CDP, or Customer Data Platform, is a qualified lead data hub.
It centralizes all of the data you collect throughout the customer journey — including information from website forms, social media, and ads.
For instance, you might discover that your B2B SaaS lead segments struggle with three core things:
- Finding a robust platform that supports them as their small business grows without breaking the bank
- Needing insight on building project management boards and setting up custom fields
- Wanting a frictionless user experience
By tailoring your approach to each group, you’ll send relevant content that positions your solution as the answer to their unique problems. More on this in a bit.
2. Add Irresistible Calls to Action (CTAs) to Your Website
Grab potential customers’ contact details with the following eye-grabbing calls to action (CTAs) on your website:
Offer Exclusive Deals to Capture Email Signups
Offer website visitors the chance to sign up for exclusive deals on items, solutions, or experiences they want.
For instance, Cruise America, a travel brand that offers RV Rentals in California, has a newsletter opt-in box under its “Deals” section on its homepage.
The copy reads “More trips. Exclusive deals. Get new trip ideas, itineraries & the latest RV deals every month.”
Source: Cruise America
This simple CTA helps the brand build a steady stream of prospective clients who are genuinely interested in booking travel experiences.
By sending personalized email marketing campaigns and the right deals, Cruise America nudges its ideal customers to conversion regularly.
To maintain this engagement, continually sourcing new email marketing campaign ideas, from flash sales to behind-the-scenes content, is critical.
Plus, according to Campaign Monitor, emails with personalized subject lines see a 26% higher open rate than non-personalized ones.
Use “Get a Quote” CTAs to Introduce Leads to Your Funnel
Give leads a gentle introduction to your sales funnel by offering them the chance to get a quote.
For instance, Beaches of Normandy Tours, a company specializing in WWII historical tours in Normandy, has a CTA box under its tour packages on its home page. The copy reads “Bringing History to Life.
If you are looking for military historical tours in Europe, we are the best local experts you can find.”
Beaches of Normandy Tours continues the copy by touching on its tour process. It shares why it’s the best travel brand in its niche and uses storytelling to help site visitors envision what it’s like to experience a historical tour.
To the left, it has fields for the user to choose a year, tour version, and date for the trip they’re interested in. They can then click “Get a Quote” to fill out a contact page.
Source: Beaches of Normandy
Not only does the brand register the visitors’ information, but it also automatically checks the box “Subscribe to newsletter.”
Users interested in a quote need to uncheck the box if they’d like a quote without opting into the newsletter.
During the quote sequence, the visitor can also book their tour date with a 10% discount if they’re happy with the provided quote.
Source: Beaches of Normandy
In other words, this lead gen campaign quickly turns into a lead nurturing campaign. This is an ultra-creative way to collect first-party data, grow your email list, and convert website visitors into buyers with a single CTA.
Use Coupons and Discounts to Accelerate Conversions
Give website visitors the chance to score a generous discount off your product, experience, or service.
For instance, FrameStore, a custom framing store, uses a 50% off coupon CTA across its website, product pages, and landing pages. It also uses it as an exit-intent pop-up to give site visitors multiple opportunities to claim the discount.
The copy varies depending on what page the CTA is on. For example, in the exit intent pop-up, it reads, “Hang on! Before you go . . . Get Your 50% Off Coupon.”
It then continues, “At the FrameStore, we invite you to save big on our uniquely crafted custom frames. Proudly preserve and display your most cherished pieces.” The copy ends with a “Get Your Coupon” button.
Source: Custom Frame Store
FrameStore has used this CTA for months — because it works! If you sell products or want to quickly build your lead list of qualified leads, a generous discount is worth testing.
3. Run Automated Lead Magnet Funnel Campaigns
Capitalize on paid traffic and reduce the burden on sales representatives by running social media ads.
Test various social media platforms and QR codes to streamline lead capture, and see which ones help your campaigns achieve the highest click-through, lead-generation, and conversion rates.
For instance, consider testing:
- Text-based images
- Longer videos
- Infographics
- Still images
- Carousels
- Reels
Regarding how you’ll get opt-ins, you’ll need enticing gated lead magnets. This means prospective customers will need to give you their contact details before they can download your white paper or claim your discount.
Some lead magnets you can use include:
- Original stats and research
- Exclusive interviews
- A webinar invitation
- A free PDF guide
- Digital brochures
- Coupon codes
- Live trainings
- White papers
- Ebooks
- Gifts
4. Automate Lead Nurturing Emails to Convert Subscribers
Nurture your new opt-ins into conversions with strategic lead-nurturing emails. Piggybacking on strategy one, you’ll need to segment your email list and send targeted, valuable content to each customer group.
Set up your customer groups and automated email sequences before adding CTA buttons to your site and running social media ads.
For small businesses, this is critical to ensuring leads enter your sales funnel as soon as they submit their contact details.
Plus, sometimes leads forget they opted in to a newsletter. This can throw them off if they receive an email from you too much later — and may even contribute to unsubscribe rates or spam triggers.
Test and refine your content and marketing automation tools as you track metrics and see what’s working. You can also poll or survey new leads for more insights on the types of emails they’d like to receive from you.
Find the balance between giving information, telling stories, and selling your solution. Your email leads want interesting, informative content they can use to improve their small businesses or their lives.
They also need to consistently hear about the solutions you offer so they can remember the problems you solve and consider giving your brand a try.
Next Steps: Turn Email Subscribers Into Customers
To build and nurture an email list, you need time. But when you uncover the right lead gen process, the work is so worth it.
For good measure, here’s a quick recap of the strategies we shared in this guide for small business owners:
- Use a CDP tool to gather actionable insights on your target audience
- Add an irresistible call to action to your website
- Run automated lead magnet sales funnel ad campaigns
- Automate lead nurturing email campaigns
Ready to turn high-quality leads into buyers?
Bookmark this article and share it with your marketing team and marketing virtual assistants. Then, carve out time to set up your CDP, analyze data, and create your ideal customer profile.
Next, set up your automated email sequences, add your website CTAs, and run (and test) your social media ads.
Be sure to refine your lead building and nurturing process as you track metrics and sales results.
Looking for more information on how to attract quality leads to your landing page? Visit POWR blog now.
Here’s to your success!
Frequently Asked Questions About Email List Building
How long does it take to build an effective email list?
There’s no definite answer. Most small businesses start seeing meaningful results after a few months of consistent effort. A smaller list of engaged subscribers who actually open and read your emails will convert better than a large, unqualified list.
What’s the best way to grow an email list without buying contacts?
It’s collecting first-party data through your own channels. Website CTAs, lead magnets, quotes, coupons, and gated content allow people to opt in willingly. This keeps your list compliant, engaged, and far more responsive than purchased lists.
Do small businesses need a CDP for lead generation?
Not necessarily. However, having a system that centralizes customer data becomes increasingly valuable as your email list grows. Even basic segmentation tools can help you send more relevant messages and improve lead quality early on. And as Neil Patel, digital marketing expert, says, “successful email marketing campaigns are not about sales—they’re about relationships.”
How often should small businesses send lead nurturing emails?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but consistency matters more than frequency. Many small businesses start with one email per week or a short automated sequence after signup. Monitor open rates, clicks, and unsubscribes to find a cadence that keeps leads engaged without overwhelming them.
What should I send if leads aren’t ready to buy yet?
Not every email needs to sell. Educational content, stories, behind-the-scenes updates, and practical tips help build trust over time. When leads consistently find value in your emails, they’re more likely to remember your brand and convert when the timing is right.
Author Bio
Ryan Robinson is a blogger, podcaster, and (recovering) side-project addict who teaches 500,000 monthly readers how to start a blog and grow a profitable side business at ryrob.com.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theryanrobinson/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRyanRobinson
