How to Create a Free Challenge to Help You Grow Your Email List

Email list-building is a double-edged sword. Sure, you want a steadily growing email list, but you also want to avoid having a large list filled with people who are not interested in your content or offerings.

One way to grow your email list with subscribers who are highly engaged and eager to learn from you is by doing a free challenge!

A free challenge is a short, high-value program you offer in exchange for someone’s email address. It's a lead magnet that builds your email list with people who are interested in what you offer.

Why Use a Free Challenge?

Free challenges are a win-win for you and your participants. You provide valuable content that helps your potential customers while building your email list with engaged subscribers interested in what you offer. Here's why you should use it:

1. Builds Trust and Credibility

By providing valuable content for free, you establish yourself as an expert in your field. People get to know you and your approach, building trust and making them more open to your future offerings.

2. Engages Your Audience

Challenges are interactive, keeping your participants engaged with your content daily or weekly. This consistent engagement strengthens brand awareness and keeps your brand at the top of your audience’s minds.

3. Gathers Valuable Leads

People who sign up for your challenge are actively interested in what you have to offer. This targeted list allows you to nurture leads and convert them into paying customers down the line.

4. Effective for Selling Paid Offers

Free challenges not only help build your list but also serve as a powerful tool to promote and sell your paid offers. Participants who find value in your challenge are more likely to invest in your paid programs or services.

5. Suitable for Evergreen and Live Launches

Free challenges fit well with different marketing strategies, whether launching with an evergreen or live model. Evergreen challenges bring in new leads all the time, while live challenges create excitement and urgency by engaging people in real time.

How to Create Your Free Challenge

Now that you see the benefits, here's how to create a free challenge that grows your email list:

1. Identify the Problem Your Challenge Will Solve

Who is this challenge for?

Do your research to figure out the specific problem of your ideal audience that you want your challenge to solve.

From here, you can define the topic of your challenge and how it will solve your audience’s pain point.

The challenge must be highly relevant to your ideal audience and deliver achievable results and improvements by the time it ends.

2. Structure the Challenge

Duration: Decide how many days your audience will spend to finish your challenge. Is it 5 days, 7 days, or longer?

Make sure to break down the steps into manageable daily tasks that are easy to follow and complete with clear instructions to keep your participants engaged.

Format: Choose how you will deliver the challenge to your audience. Will you be sending out the daily tasks through live sessions via Facebook? Or will you pre-record the videos and send them via email?

Decide on the most effective and convenient delivery method that suits your participants’ preferences. Make sure that they easily access and participate in your challenge.

Content: What will your participants do or learn daily from your challenge?

The daily tasks must be actionable and measurable providing your participants clear steps and results that help them achieve the challenge goals and see tangible progress each day.

3. Create an Irresistible Sign-Up Page

Your well-thought-out challenge content deserves a landing page to captivate and convert your eager audience.

Design a separate opt-in landing page showcasing your challenge’s benefits that will make your ideal audience sign up.

Your challenge opt-in landing page must include an attention-grabbing headline, a clear and compelling description of what participants will gain when they join, engaging visuals, and a strong call to action encouraging visitors to join the challenge.

If you are pressed for time and unable to create the sign-up page with all the preparation you’re doing for your challenge, my Challenge Template is here to the rescue.

This pre-built Kajabi template has all the pages your challenge will need, a Registration Page, a ‘Thank You’ page, and a Video Hosting page to house your challenge videos, allowing you to quickly and effortlessly set up a professional-looking sign-up page that will attract and convert your audience.

4. Promote Your Challenge

Now that you’re all set, it’s time to spread the word!

Promote your upcoming free challenge on all the platforms you’re currently on whether it’s social media, your email list, or your website. You may use any, if not all, of these strategies to help you with the promotion:

Social Media: Share engaging posts, stories, and reels on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Use eye-catching visuals and persuasive copy to attract attention.

Email Marketing: Send out a series of emails to your current subscribers, highlighting the benefits of the challenge and encouraging them to sign up.

Collaborations: Partner with other businesses in your niche to co-promote the challenge and reach a wider audience.

Blog Posts: Write blog articles related to the challenge topic and include a call-to-action for readers to join the challenge.

Paid Advertising: Consider using Facebook ads, Instagram ads, or Google ads to target your ideal audience and drive traffic to your sign-up page.

By utilizing these platforms and strategies, you can ensure that your free challenge reaches the right people, maximizes sign-ups, and ultimately boosts your email list growth.

5. Provide Support and Engage

And so your challenge begins!

During your challenge, make sure to stay in touch with your participants every day. You can send them updates by email, answer their questions in live sessions, and create a friendly community on platforms like Facebook.

Encourage everyone to share their progress, help each other out, and have a great time together. This way, you'll keep everyone motivated and ensure they enjoy the challenge.

Free challenges are a powerful tool to build your email list and cultivate a loyal following.

By offering valuable content that addresses your audience's needs, you can establish yourself as an expert and nurture leads who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.