30+ Free Gift Ideas for More Email Subscribers

If there’s one thing that makes it easier for you to grow your list quickly, it’s to give away something valuable in return for the opt-in. If you’re not sure what to give away, here are over 30 ideas to get you started.

MONEY-MAKING TIP! Always remember to monetize these freebies. Your ultimate goal in gaining a subscriber is to quickly turn them into a customer, so ensure your freebies are highly targeted to a product or service you promote. So your free report or CD that solves a problem for your subscriber should ultimately lead them to a solution that can help them get to success faster, achieve better results or provide some quick benefit to them. 

Now without further ado, here are you free gift ideas:

1. A free PDF. Give them a report on something or a brief guide on something. We specialize in creating report and other documents you can give away free to your new subscribers. If you're in the personal development market, you can get your first done-for-you report for free here.  

2. An audio content download. A lot of people prefer to listen to audio in their cars or on their lunch break, instead of read. Use some written content you have and turn it into audio, interview someone or just speak off the cuff, if that's your thing. 

3. A video download. Videos give your audience a chance to see and hear. It also allows you to tap into new audiences by using platforms like YouTube, Vimeo and more.

4. A coupon or discount code. Have them opt-in for a coupon code for one of your products or for a discount of all the items in your store. This is a great way to convert a subscriber into a customer right away.

5. Free membership. Give them access to valuable ongoing content that in turn promotes your products and services.

6. Access to a forum or discussion area. People will sign up just to get access to the advice and conversations in the private area. Building a community is a key ingredients to building word of mouth, gaining trust and increasing your sales.

7. Tips. Give away a giant list of tips. For example, “101 Tips for a Better _____________.”

8. Tools. Whether you create the tools and software or you just give a list of helpful tools to complete a task, tools are in demand.

9. Excel spreadsheets. For example, if you run a weight loss site, give away a spreadsheet that makes it easy to track workouts. Anything that keeps your audience organized and goal focused is a valuable gift to your subscribers.

10. A mobile app. Help your subscribers get things done on the go. Have a useful mobile application developed and have them opt-in to receive the download link.

11. A CD or DVD. You may want to charge for shipping or calculate your cost-per-acquisition (how much it costs to get a new customer and how much that customer is worth) and give it away free. Either way, delivering a physical product in the mail can cement your relationship with your customer more than a digital download.

12. A guide to buying something. For example, write a buyer’s guide for choosing which Android phone to purchase. Include product reviews, comparisons and other useful information to help them make a smart buying decision.

13. A checklist. For instance, give people a checklist on what to look for when buying a new computer. People love checklists because they're short and to the point and help them get tasks done quickly.

14. A free preview. For example, give people the first chapter of your book for free.

15. Public domain content. Give annotated, edited or better formatted public domain content. For example, Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” is in the public domain. You could format it to your industry and give it away for free.

16. Answer a problem they needs solved. Think of the problems your ideal customer has and give them content that helps solve that problem. The solution can be sent by email, be a PDF download, a video or whatever makes sense for your audience.

17. Construct a course. For example, a 7-step course on Meditating to Gain Focus in Your life. Give them one email each day to help them reach their goal.

18. Link to your best articles and blog posts. Basically give away a report that’s really a guide to your best resources. When you promote it, tell them what they're going to learn and what problems you're going to solve for them. 

19. Give away recipes. People are always on the lookout for a great recipes. Think of saving them time, making them more healthy or providing some other useful benefit.

20. Do a screencast. Record your video screen and give away the video. Use it to teach something on your screen. This works great for demonstrating software, using a website or anything you can do on your computer.

21. Talk about mistakes to avoid. For example, “7 Mistakes to Avoid When Setting Your Goals.”

22. Interview someone in your industry. If it’s a recognizable name on an in-demand topic, you’ll get a ton of opt-ins.

23. Access to a live webinar. They have to sign up now to get the access code and you've got a new subscriber. Webinars are also a great way to interact with your audience and promote products that will help them.

24. A recorded webinar. Once you've done your live webinar, that's not the end of it. You can use this recording to get new opt-ins.

25. A printable workbook. People fill as they learn. Writing down lessons helps boost retention and people love printables!

26. Access to you. For example, promise to answer a question via email for anyone who subscribes. Just be conscious of the time you give and how that translates into revenue for your business.

27. Run a contest. Be weary of  doing a big giveaway and adding everyone who enters to your mailing list. Most people won't remember they entered the contest and will wonder who the heck you are. Instead, once they enter, show them a valuable opt-in offer that is hard-to-resist, but completely optional for contest entrants.

28. Deal reminders. If you frequently do limited time deals that are shared with customers only, let people know that.

29. Random giveaways. Give a prize away to someone in your list every week or every month. Use this to entice people to sign up.

30. Members-only events. If people want to come to the event, they have to sign up. They could be local events, virtual events or whatever works for your business.

31. Give a mystery gift. Don’t tell people what they’ll get before signing up, just tell them it’s something good. Or tell them what it’ll do for them, without saying what it is. Make sure you test this to see if it works and perhaps make it a very limited time offer, so they are more compelled to sign up.

32. Your existing valuable content. Lock your old content so people have to sign up to get access to it.

33. The second half of an article. For example, you might give Page 1 of an article away for free, but people have to sign up to get the second half. 

34. Statistics. Give away a detailed report about little known statistics in your industry.

Valuable subscriber gifts are the easiest way to get people on your list, but the secret to continuous and fast list growth is to take more than one of these ideas and create highly-targeted offers you can share on your blog, on social media, in your advertising and more. Most people stop at just one free gift, but then miss out on attracting more potential subscribers.