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How to Use Meta Ads to Get More Subscribers
Leverage Ads on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to Grow Your Audience
Lenore Sterner & Brandon Storey
September 2nd, 2024
This article has been updated to maintain its accuracy and relevance
In 2023, email generated an estimated $10.33 billion worldwide.
Starting an email newsletter in 2024 is one of the best options for small business owners and creators looking to grow their revenue. But if you want to make real money with your email newsletter, you first need to have a solid list of subscribers.
While many people take to growing their newsletter through organic social media and SEO, getting the ball rolling to see real results can sometimes be challenging.
So, how do you attract attention to a newsletter?
For those with some capital who want to build their list quickly, using paid advertising like Meta Ads can be one of the best tactics for gaining more subscribers.
Table of Contents
What’s the Difference Between Meta Ads and Facebook Ads?
Well, not much. Some sites still refer to the old name, Facebook Ads. Other sites, like Google Tag Manager, use “Facebook Ads.” Meta Ads can be run on any sites owned by Meta, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
To make things more confusing, there is Meta Business Suite and Ads Manager (and both links have a Facebook domain). In both places, you can create ads. It’s helpful to consider Meta Business Suite as more of an overview, or a one-stop shop for your marketing efforts on Meta, and Ads Manager to be more of the nitty gritty of your ad campaigns.
Here’s a breakdown of the two options, with a bit more detail about what the sites offer. Today, we’re going to talk about Meta Business Suite, but the steps are similar no matter where you create the ad.
In this article, we’ll cover how to use Meta Ads to get more newsletter subscribers. Plus, we’ll answer the common questions about Meta ads relative to growing your email list.
Here are seven simple steps you can follow to grow your list using Meta Ads.
1. Choose “Lead Generation” for Your Campaign Objective
Let’s get right into it. Open up business.facebook.com. Next, click the “Create Ad” button, under “More.”
Now that you’re ready to create a Meta Ad, one of the first steps is to choose your campaign objective. There are a few options to choose from, but you’ll want to select “Get more leads.”
This will ensure that the Meta Ad will prioritize showing your ad to people who are most likely to subscribe to your newsletter, perfect for email subscriber generation.
Keep in mind: your content, and Meta’s rules about ads involving social issues, elections, or politics. “Social issues” is very broad and it’s possible that your content could fall underneath it (even if your content isn’t directly political).
In this case, you’ll have to go through the process to get verified to run your ads. The process is fairly straightforward, but can take several weeks, as Meta will need to mail you a code to verify that the address on your ID is accurate, so plan accordingly.
2. Narrow Down Your Target Audience
Next up, it’s time to look at your audience. This is one of the most powerful—and important —aspects of your Facebook ad. Facebook lets advertisers and publishers narrow down their targeting based on several factors, including:
Age
Gender
Geographic location
Language
Relationship status
Education level
The line of work they’re in
Financial status
Whether or not they have kids
Interests
Online behaviors
Whether or not they’ve interacted with you before
And more
Think about who your target audience is with your newsletter. The better you are at connecting your ideal audience with your Facebook targeting, the better your ad will perform, and the more subscribers you’ll get.
Keep in mind: Another reason to nail down your targeting is that it can save you money. The ad will have to work harder to get new leads if your targeting information isn’t aligned with your true newsletter audience.
3. Decide What Information You’ll Collect
If your goal is to get more newsletter subscribers, there’s no question you’re after email addresses. So for this step, you’ll want to select email addresses as information to collect.
However, you may also want to ask for other information like:
First name
Last name
Phone number
Date of birth
Gender
Job title
And more
Just keep in mind, you don’t need to collect all of this information. You get to decide what to ask for. It could be beneficial to have more information on your audience as it may help you serve them better.
However, it isn’t always advantageous to ask for more. The more information you ask for, the lower your conversion rate for the ad will likely be, as people will see it as too much work. Starting out, we recommend starting simple by asking for just an email address and a name.
You can also track your subscribers using a Meta Pixel and Google Tag Manager– providing the opportunity for excellent data points that you can use to better inform your strategy and optimize your ads.
4. Establish Copy & Design
Now, it’s time to tackle your ad creative. Here’s where you’ll come up with the graphic(s) and copywriting to convince the ad viewer to sign up for your newsletter.
You get to choose your ad format. Meta lets you choose between a single image, video, carousel, or slideshow. Keep that in mind when designing your ad.
Remember to create an attention-grabbing image. Social media is a visually intense medium. Ensure you’re including a relevant, eye-catching image (or a few images) that will capture your audience’s attention.
Images can help get your audience’s attention, but it’s your copywriting that will persuade them to sign up for your newsletter. Your copy should clearly state why the viewer should subscribe in just a few words. Remember, you can use copy on both the graphic itself as well as the headline and description. Take advantage of every section.
If you’re struggling to come up with something, just come back to the copywriting principle WIIFM, or “What’s in it for me?” If your ideal audience saw your ad, what benefits of your newsletter would convince them to sign up?
You could speak about the key insights you share in your newsletter here, but this could also be a free download, checklist, mini-course, or ebook you’re offering in exchange for someone signing up.
One last tip when it comes to your Facebook ad copy: don’t forget to include a clear call to action (CTA). You don’t need to come up with anything fancy here to start. You can begin with a simple “Sign up to the newsletter,” or “Subscribe Now,” as a starting point. Facebook will give you a few options to choose from here.
5. Set Your Budget
Next up, it’s time to set your budget. Figure out what you can afford to invest in your ad. Meta makes it easy on you by allowing you to set a maximum daily budget.
If your budget is $100 per month, then set your daily budget at $3.33. If your budget is $1,000 per month, then $33.33 should do it. Automatic bidding is typically the best and easiest option if you’re just getting started with Meta Ads.
Your actual budget will vary, meaning that one day you may spend less, and the next you may spend more, but the maximum amount will stay within your overall budget.
Remember that the more you spend, the more people Meta will show your ad to, which likely means more subscribers. That being said, it’s worth noting that new ad accounts or ad accounts that haven’t posted in a while may have a restricted budget initially (don’t worry, it will go up as you continue to use your account!).
6. Create an Automated Welcome Series
This next step isn’t actually about Facebook. It’s time to head over to your email newsletter software.
The story isn’t over once someone subscribes to your list. If you don’t have the back-end infrastructure set up to keep that lead warm and engaged, you’ll lose them forever, meaning your Facebook ad work will be a waste.
You should have an automated welcome series setup for subscribers once they sign up to your email list, since it’s one of the most-read emails. The average open rate among welcome series emails is a whopping 68.59%.
One of the best ways to do this is to send out a multi-day email series. This could be three, five, or even ten emails sent out at specific intervals to introduce yourself and your brand.
Your introductory email series can be based on a simple welcome series template, or you can design it yourself. And your welcome series is where you will hand over any incentives you promised in your ad, such as a free download or discount.
You should use these automated emails to tell your subscribers exactly what they can expect out of being on your list. Remind them of the benefits of your newsletter, how frequently you’ll send one out, and why they should stick around.
It’s important to provide your subscribers with value as soon as they subscribe so you stay fresh in their minds and you get your relationship with them off to the right start.
7. Optimize
Now that you’ve got your Meta ad set up, and your email newsletter list is growing steadily, your work is done, right?
Not yet!
Now, it’s time to monitor the results of your ad (and your welcome series). Begin by checking your Meta analytics to see how your ad is performing. Next, it’s time to test.
Meta lets you perform A/B tests so you can improve your ads. This could
involve testing your creative like a new headline, image, or copy. Or, you could adjust your audience.
You’ll also want to test out your welcome series in your newsletter software. Software like beehiiiv lets you perform A/B tests on your emails to improve your newsletter and keep increasing subscriber engagement.
Keep in mind that optimization is an ongoing process. The more you test your ads and your emails, the more you’ll learn about your audience and what they’ll respond to so you can better serve them and improve your business.
So, how do you go from zero subscribers to thousands with an email newsletter?
Acquisition is the name of the game. For many, they choose to grow their list through their social channels or through a referral program. For others, they use paid advertising like Meta Ads ads to acquire newsletter subscribers.
Meta Ads can be a decent option if you’re willing to invest a bit of cash to reel in new readers quickly.
Here are some of the most common questions about scaling your newsletter subscriber list:
How Do You Get Subscribers With Meta Ads?
Here are two main ways you can use Meta Ads to gain new subscribers:
1) Running Meta Ads with the “Send people to your website” marketing objective, or
2) Run Facebook Lead Ads
Meta Ad #1: Send people to your website
The first campaign objective is all about getting people to your site. With this method, it’s assumed that your site is completely optimized to grow your email list. You have email sign-up forms in the right places on the right pages that the ad sends people to.
The major downside is that it requires more steps for people on Facebook, since they have to go outside Facebook to get on your list. The more steps, the lower the conversion typically is.
Meta Ad #2: Run Facebook Lead Ads
With the second option, Facebook Lead Ads, you create campaigns targeting people who are likely to be interested in signing up for your newsletter. Facebook shows them a lead form directly on Facebook and they can sign up to your newsletter. Then, Facebook automatically passes along the information to your email software.
How Do I Get My First 100 Newsletter Subscribers?
Your first 100 newsletter subscribers are the hardest to capture.
The reason being? You’re just getting started. Everything is new and unknown. You aren’t really sure how to make it work or if it will even work. However, there are a number of proven methods to get you your first 100 newsletter subscribers. Here are a few ways you can reach the 100 mark with your list:
Create an email pop-up form on your website.
Offer exclusive freebies like a free checklist, ebook, service trial, or mini course.
Offer content upgrades (i.e. a premium or expanded version of a blog post on your site).
Offer a discount on a product or service you sell.
The main thing you need to do to reach 100 subscribers is to simply ask for your site visitors’ emails. There are several ways to do this, but just keep asking, whether it’s in a static form on your footer, a pop-up form, or inserting a call to action at the end of a blog post.
So, how do you increase the number of subscribers on a newsletter?
The rules for growing from 0-100 and 100-1,000 are essentially the same: offer a variety of options to get people to subscribe. However, the main thing you’ll want to work on to get to 1,000 subscribers is A/B testing.
You need to start testing different types of offers and lead-capturing tactics to see what works best.
Here are a few ways you can grow your list to 1,000 newsletter subscribers:
Give away products for free in exchange for emails.
Give away a free trial or demo of your service in exchange for emails.
Invest in a variety of paid ads (i.e. Facebook, Google, Pinterest).
Sell a product. When someone completes checkout, ask for their email address.
Start guest blogging. This is a great way to link back to your site and drive traffic.
Remember, you don’t need to work on all of these ideas. Just start with one or two and test the performances. As long as you keep iterating, providing value to your audience, and giving them multiple chances to sign up to your newsletter, you’ll eventually hit 1,000 subscribers.
Case Study: Tyler O’Shea
Tyler O’Shea on beehiiv used Facebook to grow his audience for his newsletter Joker Mag – but realized pretty quickly that Meta Ads aren’t the most effective way to use his marketing budget.
Instead, he started putting his time and energy into beehiiv boosts. If you’re unfamiliar, beehiiv boosts are an excellent way to get new subscribers. (and also a way to earn money as well!)
He realized that not all of his Facebook followers were engaging with his content. So, he had to clean up his follower lists and remove those who weren’t engaging, creating a lot of work that just wasn’t sustainable.
Now, he has an incredible 57% open rate and 15-20% click rate from the subscribers that he got through Boosts – way more sustainable than trying to grow his audience organically.
Better yet, he owns his email list – unlike with social media, where his list is limited to Facebook or Instagram, and his growth is limited to their algorithms.
Take Charge Over Your Subscriber Growth With beehiiv
If you want to unleash the true potential of your newsletter, then you need to use the right software. Whether you’re looking to grow your business or monetize your creativity, beehiiv offers a simple solution for anyone with a newsletter.
beehiiv offers a robust email list building service that lets you easily collect leads, automate campaigns, design beautiful emails, and segment your subscribers. Plus, the platform is the best choice for monetizing your passion, so you can earn a real income without the stress of complicated software.
Sign up for beehiiv today to watch your subscriber list grow with ease.
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