What is email list growth rate?
Email List growth rate, as the name suggests, is simply the rate at which your email list is growing.
How to calculate email list growth rate?
To calculate the email list growth rate, subtract the ‘number of unsubscribers’ from the ‘number of new subscribers’. Then divide this number by the ‘total number of email addresses’ on your list and multiply by 100. And you’ll get your email list growth rate.
If more people are unsubscribing compared to new subscribers then your list growth rate will be negative. If new subscribers are more than unsubscribers, it will be positive.
Formula for calculating email list growth rate
Real-life example of email list growth rate
Let’s understand list growth rate by an example:
You are running an email campaign and 12 new people recently subscribed to your mailing list. But, 4 people unsubscribed from your list. And let’s say you have a total of 500 email addresses on your mailing list.
By putting all this info into the formula, your list growth rate will be: (12-4) / 500 x 100 = 1.6%
What’s considered a good email list growth rate? (benchmark)
A good email list growth rate on average is 2.5%. Email list growth rate is a dynamic factor and can largely vary across different industries, so there can’t be just one answer for everyone.
Approximately 22.5% of your email marketing list expires each year due to natural decay. So, it becomes even more important to keep growing your email list and keep it updated.
Apart from the list growth rate, you should strive for at least 1,000 subscribers for your mailing list, otherwise, it’ll harm your conversion rate.
Ways to increase your email list growth rate
- Use lead magnets: Lead magnets are a great way to gather emails from your audience. You can use templates, worksheets, mini e-books, guides, etc. as lead magnets in exchange for your audience's email addresses. Read this guide for lead magnet ideas: 25 Lead Magnet Ideas (With Examples!)
- Offer exclusive discounts or freebies for subscribers: You can run a social media campaign announcing discounts or free stuff, exclusive for your email list subscribers to attract the audience to sign up for your list. Suggested read: Why Send a Personalized Discount Email
- Use quality content to attract sign-ups: Content is by far the best way to attract quality subscribers. Create content on LinkedIn or Twitter and ask your audience to sign up for your email list to get access to advanced content. Take a look at these newsletter ideas to keep your subscribers engaged: 27 Awesome Newsletter Ideas
Watch this video by Neil Patel disclosing his secrets to 270k+ subscribers: