{"id":120418,"date":"2017-11-07T19:14:25","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T01:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/uncategorized\/list-building-challenge\/"},"modified":"2022-01-26T14:39:28","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T20:39:28","slug":"list-building-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/blog\/list-building-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"List Building Challenge: How to Get Leads, Offset Ad Spend, and Tap into Free Word of Mouth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What do <em>Time <\/em>magazine, <em>Shape <\/em>magazine, and successful blog-to-book authors have in common?<\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;ve all embraced the power of issuing a bold challenge to grow their audiences.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, I&#8217;m talking about the concept of a <strong>list building challenge<\/strong>.\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-66948\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox1.png\" alt=\"&quot;It speaks to people's desire to improve an aspect of their lives.&quot;\" width=\"300\" height=\"129\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox1.png 580w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox1-300x129.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the simple strategy of bringing people together to reach a common goal, and has led to\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hundreds of thousands of new leads<\/li>\n<li>Lower cost per acquisition<\/li>\n<li>Free word of mouth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2026to name a few benefits.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, we\u2019ve used the same list building challenge strategies I\u2019m sharing today to generate 56,938 sign-ups for <a href=\"https:\/\/30daylistbuildingchallenge.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our challenge<\/a>\u00a0in four years. Most of this growth came from word of mouth after the initial live challenge.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66842 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img1.jpg\" alt=\"Google Analytics showing the goal completions of the challenge from January 2014 to July 2017\" width=\"600\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img1-300x140.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Intrigued?<\/p>\n<p>Today, I\u2019m detailing how to run a successful list building challenge, WITHOUT leaving money on the table.<\/p>\n<p>But first, we\u2019ll take a look at what a list building challenge is, so you can decide if this approach is right for your business.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is a List Building Challenge and Why Would You Want to Run One?<\/h2>\n<p>An online list challenge consists of a set of directives and action steps given over the course of a few days, that leads to a specific (doable!) promise for anyone who participates\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66843 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img2.jpg\" alt=\"5 Day Japanese Challenge: A guide to giving a flawless self-intro in Japanese\" width=\"600\" height=\"301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img2.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img2-300x151.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For example, during the <a href=\"https:\/\/dojo.learnjapanesepod.com\/p\/5-day-japanese-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5 Day Japanese Challenge<\/a>, you&#8217;ll learn how to introduce yourself in spoken Japanese. You&#8217;ll notice that this challenge doesn&#8217;t promise that you&#8217;ll master the entire Japanese language in five days.<\/p>\n<p>Or there\u2019s the 7-Day Clean Eating Challenge by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shape.com\/healthy-eating\/meal-ideas\/take-7-day-clean-eating-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Shape<\/em> Magazine<\/a>. Here, participants\u00a0commit to making healthy recipes and eating clean to beat bloat, inflammation, and feel better about their bodies. Simple and to the point!<\/p>\n<p>So, why does a challenge work so well to build an audience of engaged fans and customers? Because <strong>it speaks to people&#8217;s desire to improve an aspect of their lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Challenges give people&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A reason to commit to a goal<\/li>\n<li>Pursue it in a community setting (with built-in accountability)<\/li>\n<li>Get guidance and reminders along the way<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Plus, because it&#8217;s easier to make changes when you&#8217;re doing it with friends, a challenge naturally pulls new people in through word of mouth&#8230; especially if it&#8217;s an effective challenge with a great topic!<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a look at a case study that shows how <strong>a compelling challenge goal can help you scale<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>How Simple Green Smoothies Went From 1,000 to 200,000 Email Subscribers in One Year<\/h2>\n<p>The founders of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simplegreensmoothies.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Simple Green Smoothies<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jadahsellner.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jadah Sellner<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simplegreensmoothies.com\/meet-jen-hansard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jen Hansard<\/a>, shared this graph of their email list growth, from their start in 2013 with only 1,000 subscribers\u2026 to 2014 when their list reached 200,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66844 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img3.jpg\" alt=\"Simple Green Smoothie graph of email list growth from 1,000 in January 2013 to 200,000 in January 2014. \" width=\"600\" height=\"439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img3.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img3-300x220.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Their approach to building an engaged community had several components, but the underpinning driver was their free 30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge. They ran it every quarter with a different theme, and their email list grew by tens of thousands each time.<\/p>\n<p>Participants in their Green Smoothie Challenge received daily emails with a recipe and motivation to keep going.<\/p>\n<p>In that daily communication, Simple Green Smoothies also encouraged people to\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep themselves accountable by posting a photo of their smoothie to social media<\/li>\n<li>Tag their friends<\/li>\n<li>Share the challenge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Running these challenges&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Helped propel the brand&#8217;s social media following<\/li>\n<li>Grew their email list size by 200% in a year<\/li>\n<li>Led to sales of complementary programs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Today, Simple Green Smoothies offers a similar but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simplegreensmoothies.com\/simple7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shorter 7-day challenge<\/a> on an evergreen basis, so anyone who finds the site can join at any time instead of waiting for the next live challenge.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-66846\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img5.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img5-300x189.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This change allows continuous growth.<\/p>\n<p>Since their early start with challenges, the founders have gone on to&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Publish a wildly successful print book<\/li>\n<li>Grow their email audience to now over 290,000 engaged \u201crawkstars\u201d<\/li>\n<li>As well as several complementary paid offerings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I reached out to Jan Hansard, who was a speaker at my live event in 2014, and asked her what she\u2019s learned since the early days of her list building challenge. Here\u2019s what she had to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never had a desire to build a business that sells products. From the beginning, I wanted to create a brand that helps people, resonates deeply with them, and that they&#8217;re excited to share with others. Live community challenges allow you to do that.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If you&#8217;re starting to get excited about the potential of list building challenges for your business, then keep reading!<\/p>\n<h2>How to Choose the Right List Building Challenge Topic to Increase Conversions<\/h2>\n<p>Anyone can organize a challenge.<\/p>\n<p>But it&#8217;s best to pick a goal that your audience is already interested in. In the case of Simple Green Smoothies, the results people are looking for include more energy, better health, and the potential of losing weight.<\/p>\n<p>Challenges work great in any number of niches. Health is a popular one.<\/p>\n<p>But any aspect of life that can be improved by taking certain actions can become the basis for a challenge, this includes (both paid and free):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Time<\/em> magazine hosts a <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/money\/collection-post\/4274056\/money30-welcome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">30-Day Money Challenge<\/a> for personal finance novices<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/stylechallenges.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Style Challenge<\/a> takes men and women through the process of designing a customized wardrobe for each season<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.7daymarriagechallenge.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">7 Days to a Stronger Marriage Challenge<\/a> focuses on couples and relationships<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dojo.learnjapanesepod.com\/p\/5-day-japanese-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5 Day Japanese Challenge<\/a>\u00a0offers a short lesson on introducing yourself in Japenese<\/li>\n<li>Sarah Jenks&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/sarahjenks.lpages.co\/challenge-optin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Live More Challenge<\/a> helps busy women create a life and a body they love<\/li>\n<li>Creative Hive has a business focused <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creativehiveco.com\/a-sale-a-day-challenge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Sale A Day Challenge<\/a> for Etsy shop owners<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let&#8217;s analyze why these topics work, and how you can pick something to base your challenge on that is going to <strong>get lots of sign-ups and sales<\/strong> for your paid offerings, too.<\/p>\n<p>To start, I recommend reverse engineering your free challenge topic based on the paid programs you have or plan to launch.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Erin Stutland offers a free challenge with five sample workout videos to give people a taste. From there it&#8217;s a natural upsell to join\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/shrinksession.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shrink Session<\/a>, a paid video workout program.<\/p>\n<p>When I emailed to ask her how effective her challenge has been for list building, this is what she had to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cWe haven&#8217;t found anything that works quite as well as this! Each time we do the challenge, we see a jump in new subscribers by at least 15,000 each time, often more. We have partnered with other brands that are in direct alignment with our message, so this helps drive new traffic. The Challenge gives us a great excuse to share our mission and what we do, in a really fun and interactive way.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66847 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img6.jpg\" alt=\"Shrink Session Challenge landing page\" width=\"600\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img6.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img6-300x204.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Also, when choosing your challenge, be sure <strong>it acts as a prerequisite<\/strong> or sample of your paid courses and products.<\/p>\n<p>Once users complete your challenge, participants will want to know what happens next and <strong>your paid offer should be the answer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not sure what your audience&#8217;s goals are, survey them and use their aspirations as a basis for your challenge topic.<\/p>\n<p>There are a lot of great tools to survey with, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SurveyMonkey<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wufoo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wufoo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TypeForm<\/a>, and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/forms\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Forms<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66848 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img7.jpg\" alt=\"The Wufoo survey tool\" width=\"600\" height=\"429\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here are some questions to consider including in your survey:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What\u2019s your biggest challenge or frustration with [your expertise\/industry]?<\/li>\n<li>Select the topics that you\u2019d be willing to invest in to figure out? (Even if the challenge is free, knowing what they\u2019re motivated to invest time in helps you start off on the right foot!)<\/li>\n<li>What keeps you up at night?<\/li>\n<li>Describe what your situation is like right now and what you\u2019d like it to be in an ideal world?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To keep your survey short and easy to fill out for a busy audience, consider including some options they can choose from. You can keep the last two questions open-ended to see what else they might be thinking about.<\/p>\n<p>When you pick a strong topic for your challenge, you don&#8217;t need to work as hard to &#8220;convince&#8221; people to sign up. In fact, your conversion rates are bound to be high \u2014 so take the time to come up with the right challenge concept that gets people saying yes!<\/p>\n<p>For instance, with our <a href=\"https:\/\/30daylistbuildingchallenge.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">30-Day List Building Challenge<\/a>, we&#8217;ve maintained an opt-in rate of 40.87% on our sign-up landing page over the years, even with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/build-real-relationships-with-automated-traffic-campaigns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cold traffic<\/a> and paid ads.<\/p>\n<p>Alright, you\u2019ve chosen your challenge\u2019s topic. But how long should it run for?<\/p>\n<p>(<strong>NOTE:<\/strong>\u00a0Before you can start selling to\u00a0your audience, you need to know who your ideal customer is, where they are, and what they will buy. Download our proven\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/lp\/customer-avatar-worksheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Customer Avatar Worksheet<\/a>\u00a0now and get clear on who you\u2019re selling to.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1 tc-custom-scroll\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/lp\/customer-avatar-worksheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-59815 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/CustomerAvatarGIF2Org.gif\" alt=\"Download our proven\u00a0Customer Avatar Worksheet\u00a0now and get clear on who you\u2019re selling to.\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\" data-frizzlyindex=\"2\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Setting a Doable List Building Challenge Timeframe<\/h2>\n<p>One thing that makes list building challenges so powerful is that they get people to focus on your communication with them for a short period of time&#8230; which <strong>builds that know, like, and trust factor<\/strong> and makes it easier to turn cold leads into happy customers.<\/p>\n<p>Reading an email, seeing a post on social media, or watching a video of someone <em>every day<\/em> for any length of time is going to leave an impression.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-66949\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox2.png\" alt=\"&quot;The shorter your challenge is, the more engagement you'll be able to keep throughout.&quot;\" width=\"300\" height=\"111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox2.png 580w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox2-300x111.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>So, what\u2019s an ideal length of time for your challenge to run?<\/p>\n<p>In our experience, anywhere from <strong>five to 30 days<\/strong> tends to work well. But the shorter your challenge is, the more engagement you&#8217;ll be able to keep throughout.<\/p>\n<p>I recommend giving your challenge a short timeframe for two reasons:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>It&#8217;s important for people to start seeing results in a quick period of time because that gives participants a <strong>motivating feedback loop<\/strong> <strong>to keep going<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Having a short challenge timeframe also means that <strong>participants can complete the challenge<\/strong>, instead of feeling overwhelmed and unable to take the next step (like joining your paid program).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Remember our Simple Green Smoothies example? They changed their initial 30-day challenge to a seven-day challenge once they realized people were falling off the wagon before the end.<\/p>\n<p>This allowed Simple Green Smoothies to give their participants a feeling of completion AND open up the space for their paid offerings, too.<\/p>\n<p>Besides giving participants a feeling of completion, there are other benefits to keeping your challenge under seven days:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You have less content and communication to create<\/li>\n<li>You can sell your paid complimentary products faster<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But a quick challenge like this may not work for all businesses or every list building challenge.<\/p>\n<p>If you go with a longer challenge, like 30 days, you can offer a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/customer-value-optimization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tripwire<\/a> to unlock all 30 days immediately, as we do with our challenge&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66849 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img8.jpg\" alt=\"Welcome to the challenge! Don't want to wait? Get instant access to all 30 video lessons to kickstart your list building efforts immediately.\" width=\"600\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img8.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img8-300x192.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re offering an \u201cinstant access\u201d version of your challenge as a Tripwire offer, then you\u2019ll be able to benchmark how many free challengers become paid members.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in our business, there\u2019s a 4% conversion rate from free participant to paid fast-track customer. That means that for every 100 sign-ups, we can expect to get four people to pay for the challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Having this data means we can set a realistic budget for our paid advertising efforts and know what our break-even point is.<\/p>\n<p>Next, we\u2019ll go over the three different ways to approach setting up a list building challenge.<\/p>\n<h2>The 3 Types of List Building Challenges<\/h2>\n<p>Running a challenge can be as simple or as complex as you make it.<\/p>\n<p>You can do it purely on social media which requires no set-up work. Or you can go as far as building a membership site and hosting daily video trainings for your participants.<\/p>\n<p>When and how often you decide to run your challenge will dictate what kind of technical setup you&#8217;ll choose.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you want to run your challenge a few times per year with live interaction, then you&#8217;ve got a lot of flexibility and you can choose any delivery method.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, if you want to be able to automate and run your challenge as an evergreen sequence for new participants who find you at any time, you&#8217;ll want to look into more advanced technical systems.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t need to be complicated, and you can set it up once and reap the rewards every day after.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at three ways to set up your list building challenge\u2026<\/p>\n<h3>List Building Challenge Option 1: Low Tech Blog or Social Media Challenge Option<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66850 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img9.jpg\" alt=\"An example of a challenge on Instagram\" width=\"600\" height=\"484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img9.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img9-300x242.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you plan to do a live challenge with a specific start and end date, then you can leverage a blog or social media and just schedule or live post throughout the challenge.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pick which platform you&#8217;ll focus on \u2014 blog or social media<\/li>\n<li>Map out your social prompts and content<\/li>\n<li>Get ready to hit publish as the date approaches<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With many social media platforms to choose from, you\u2019ll want to <strong>pick the one where the majority of your audience already communicates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>For that reason, I recommend Instagram and Facebook for most audiences since that\u2019s where a lot of communities are already gathered.<\/p>\n<p>You can also tap into Pinterest if you\u2019re in a DIY niche. While Twitter tends to be more tech focused.<\/p>\n<p>The main thing with picking your social media platform of choice is to make sure that your audience is willing to participate and post on their own to help you spread the word.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you make it easy for participants to take a picture and post it on Instagram then you\u2019ll get way more engagement.<\/p>\n<p>The same goes for Facebook. Think of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ice_Bucket_Challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ice Bucket Challenge<\/a>\u00a0that went viral by asking participants to film themselves dumping a bucket of ice water on themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Having a unique #hashtag picked out also helps others follow the challenge and join in!<\/p>\n<p>Next, I\u2019ve found that the more visual you can make your challenge on social media, the more \u201crecognizable\u201d it is and this helps it spread further.<\/p>\n<p>You could also use a blog or any other publishing platform to deliver your challenge.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits of publishing your challenge directly on the web, like <em>Time<\/em>\u00a0did with their <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/money\/collection-post\/4274056\/money30-welcome\/\">30-Day Money Challenge<\/a>, is that <strong>it&#8217;s there for anyone to see and share<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>However, this format does not lend itself to capturing as many leads, and it does not have a monetization strategy built in.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, if you pick a taboo subject (14 days to better orgasms, anyone?!) you might not have as many people sharing publicly on their social media profiles.<\/p>\n<p>Next, you&#8217;ll want to have a call-to-action (CTA) that brings people back to your website to opt-in for your challenge, as Simple Green Smoothies does on their Instagram page:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66851 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img10.jpg\" alt=\"Within the description of their Instagram page, Simple Green Smoothies includes a CTA with a link to join their seven-day challenge\" width=\"600\" height=\"365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img10.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img10-300x183.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can also use &#8220;social gated&#8221; content like Creative Hive uses on their challenge blog post.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66852 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img11.jpg\" alt=\"To unlock their challenge, Creative Hive asks you to share the challenge on social media\" width=\"600\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img11.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img11-300x94.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is a blog post that contains all of the challenge details, but you need to click \u201cshare\u201d on social media <em>before<\/em> you can unlock the challenge itself.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a small action that you can ask visitors to take to show their commitment and help you spread the word. This is done with a simple plugin like <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/social-locker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Locker on WordPress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And using this technique, Creative Hive has amassed over 4,800 shares on social media through their locked challenge.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66853 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img12.jpg\" alt=\"Creative Hive's challenge depicting the number of social shares it has earned\" width=\"600\" height=\"274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img12.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img12-300x137.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>List Building Challenge Option 2: Purely Email Based Challenge Option<\/h3>\n<p>A good middle of the road option that requires less tech set up but has a great lead generation focus is to deliver your challenge via an email sequence.<\/p>\n<p>You can run your challenge live with email broadcasts set to go out each day of your challenge. Or you could create an automated campaign that anyone can join down the line.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-66950\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox3.png\" alt=\"&quot;It's a great way to get feedback on your challenge topic and content before investing more time into it.&quot;\" width=\"300\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox3.png 580w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox3-300x128.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I started off my first challenge doing live email broadcasts, and it&#8217;s a great way to get feedback on your challenge topic and content before investing more time into it.<\/p>\n<p>You can ask participants to reply to your emails and tell you where they\u2019re getting stuck or what they want more of.<\/p>\n<p>In my case, I found out that while challenge participants wanted to know what I was doing to grow my own list, they were even more keen to receive small bite-sized actions they could fit into a busy schedule. They also wanted more technical how-tos.<\/p>\n<p>So, that\u2019s exactly what I gave them in the next iteration of my challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the biggest mistake I made when doing an email broadcast challenge was <strong>not giving myself enough time to create the content<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>For me, I was \u201clive updating\u201d participants on my own list building efforts and there wasn\u2019t enough time to take action and share the results.<\/p>\n<p>This led to emailing \u201clate\u201d and having to deal with people asking if they missed a day or when the next email would come.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, I would recommend taking the following steps:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Map out the content for each of the emails you\u2019ll send<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66854 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img13.jpg\" alt=\"An example of mapping out the first 12 emails of your challenge\" width=\"600\" height=\"503\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img13.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img13-300x252.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Write the first few emails to give yourself a buffer before you start (they don\u2019t all need to be done, but this takes the pressure off!)<\/li>\n<li>Create an opt-in form that enrolls people for the challenge<\/li>\n<li>Set up the email campaign or first few email broadcasts into your customer relationship management (CRM) system<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I recommend using a tag-based CRM, so you can keep track of who has done the challenge before and even which emails they clicked on.<\/p>\n<p>In our case, I&#8217;ve found that many people love repeating our challenge if we offer it again. So, don&#8217;t forget to include past participants when starting your challenge again.<\/p>\n<h3>List Building Challenge Option 3: Fully Fledged Online Course or Membership Challenge Option<\/h3>\n<p>If you&#8217;re willing to invest a bit of time in setting up your challenge using a members&#8217; area, you can make more of an impact by getting leads, sales, and even cross-sell other products. We call this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ambitionally.com\/generate-more-leads\/opt-ins\/original-list-building-ideas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Login Optin\u2122 Strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66855 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img14.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of the members' area of AmbitionAlly's 30-Day Challenge\" width=\"600\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img14.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img14-300x167.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In this method, you combine an email sequence with gated content inside of a membership site.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-66952\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge1.gif\" alt=\"It allows you to re-use your content and offer a more streamlined customer experience.\" width=\"300\" height=\"143\" \/>This gives your participants a reason to log in to your members&#8217; area, see what else they could sign up for, keep track of their progress, and share the challenge, too.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s essentially a combination of all the options and it allows you to re-use your content and offer a more streamlined customer experience.<\/p>\n<p>You can create a combination of training formats, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Short daily videos<\/li>\n<li>Downloadable PDFs<\/li>\n<li>MP3s<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each day can get \u201cunlocked\u201d on a schedule based on when the participant signed up. Or you could do a live cohort where each day gets unlocked based on calendar days.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66856 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img15.jpg\" alt=\"The Challenge members' platform with the first eight days unlocked\" width=\"600\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img15.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img15-300x221.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how to get started with your membership-based challenge:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Map out the content for each day of your challenge, whether they\u2019re videos, PDFs, or MP3s \u2014 you can also create these ahead of time to give yourself some breathing room<\/li>\n<li>Write the accompanying emails you\u2019ll send to get people to log in and access the day\u2019s content (HINT: use <a href=\"https:\/\/ambitionally.com\/wordpress-tutorials\/how-to-create-autologin-links-for-your-membership-site-on-wordpress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[auto-login links]<\/a>\u00a0to make it easier for people to access without having to remember their username\/password)<\/li>\n<li>Research and set up your membership technology (I\u2019m biased toward <a href=\"https:\/\/ambitionally.com\/features\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AccessAlly<\/a>\u00a0because we built it for this exact purpose)<\/li>\n<li>Integrate your membership site with your CRM tool so you can unlock content and send emails throughout the challenge<\/li>\n<li>Create a dashboard page that shows off your paid programs alongside your free challenge, as we do in the example below \u2014 this is where the cross-selling takes place<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66857 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img16.jpg\" alt=\"AmbitionAlly using a dashboard in their members' platform to show what a user has access to, and what products the member doesn't have, creating a chance to cross-sell\" width=\"600\" height=\"511\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img16.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img16-300x256.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Now, when it comes to choosing your membership or course platform, you\u2019ll want to pick something that fits your tech abilities and that\u2019s flexible enough to handle a challenge and other programs all in one place.<\/p>\n<p>There are WordPress-based options that allow a lot of extendability and that tend to integrate with many tag-based CRMs for more advanced marketing automation.<\/p>\n<p>Then there are all-in-one hosted solutions like <a href=\"https:\/\/teachable.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Teachable<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thinkific.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Thinkific<\/a>\u00a0that take care of a lot of things \u2014 but\u00a0aren\u2019t as flexible in terms of their integrations and branding.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re going full steam ahead with the membership style challenge, you can build community right inside your challenge with a member directory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tc-custom-scroll\">(<strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/community-management-strategies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">6 Essential Strategies to Build a Thriving Customer Community<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>You can also have social sharing built right into the membership site itself, as well as track progress and award points for participation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tc-custom-scroll\">(<strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/get-more-social-media-traffic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Want More Social Media Traffic? Follow this 6-Step Blog Content Distribution Plan<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>This involves more set up than the other options here but also builds a much more intimate relationship because you\u2019ve got people logging into your website. Instead of just glancing at an email or a social media post.<\/p>\n<p>Now, at this point, some of you may be thinking this is great, but how do you make money with a challenge? I\u2019m glad you asked.<\/p>\n<h2>Easily Offset Ad Spend by Offering an Instant Upsell<\/h2>\n<p>What if you could run ads for your challenge and <strong>know<\/strong> <strong>exactly what percentage of your new leads will buy your Tripwire<\/strong> because it&#8217;s so closely aligned with your opt-in offer?<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s exactly what you can expect with a free challenge that leads to a paid instant access or Tripwire version.<\/p>\n<p>This is how we present the Tripwire for our challenge&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66858 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img17.jpg\" alt=\"Using a Tripwire Offer to the free challenge to offset ad spend \" width=\"600\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img17.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img17-300x249.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the case of our challenge, we spent $10,795.01 on Facebook ads over the course of three years.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66859 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img18.jpg\" alt=\"The Facebook ad platform showing the total amount spent for this campaign: $10,795.01\" width=\"600\" height=\"730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img18.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img18-247x300.jpg 247w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Our return?<\/p>\n<p>$43,861.50 in revenue from a $27 Tripwire style offer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66860 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img19.jpg\" alt=\"$43,861.50 in revenue from a $27 Tripwire style offer\" width=\"600\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img19.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img19-300x102.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And this revenue does not include sales of our other products.<\/p>\n<p>Why does this work?<\/p>\n<p>Offering an instant access version taps into the &#8220;eager-to-get-started&#8221; feeling that many experience when they\u2019re trying to achieve a goal.<\/p>\n<p>Having the instant upsell also helps offset the cost of running ads to promote our challenge, which gives us the ability to spend more on ads.<\/p>\n<p>Next, let&#8217;s talk about how you can optimize word of mouth for your list building challenge!<\/p>\n<h2>Build in Social Sharing for Ongoing Word of Mouth<\/h2>\n<p>One of the most powerful aspects of doing a list building challenge is being able to foster a community and have members invite their friends along.<\/p>\n<p>Adding social sharing buttons with a strong CTA in your daily videos or emails can make all the difference. People won\u2019t share unless you ask them to!<\/p>\n<p>Below, see how we\u2019ve added social share buttons with a CTA at the bottom of the challenge&#8217;s landing page\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66861 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img20.jpg\" alt=\"Social share buttons with a CTA at the bottom of the challenge's landing page\" width=\"600\" height=\"491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img20.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img20-300x246.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve also run contests incentivizing participants to share on social media and gave bonus prizes to those who were most actively spreading the word. We track contest points inside of our members&#8217; area using a credit system, so members know where they stand.<\/p>\n<p>In essence, you can \u201cbake in\u201d the social aspects of a challenge so it grows on its own.<\/p>\n<p>And, as you\u2019ll see in the Google Analytics screenshot below, when we run a contest, our sign-ups for the challenge spike.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66862 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img21.jpg\" alt=\"Google Analytics screenshot showing contest signups spiking\" width=\"600\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img21.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img21-300x132.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Creating a community around your challenge can also help spread word of mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Think about adding accountability buddies and having people cheer each other on using a Facebook group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tc-custom-scroll\">(<strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/private-facebook-groups\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Build and Manage a Private Facebook Group<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h2>Cross-Sell Other Offerings Inside Your Membership Site<\/h2>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve gotten people engaged and excited, they&#8217;re going to look to see what else you have to offer.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s why having a &#8220;menu&#8221; of available courses or programs you offer is key\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66863 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img22.jpg\" alt=\"A board in the members' area showing what programs the user has access to and what programs they don't\" width=\"600\" height=\"398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img22.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img22-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Just like you won&#8217;t have people sharing your challenge if you don&#8217;t ask them to, if you keep your other products and courses hidden away on separate parts of your site&#8230; then no one will buy them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-66953\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge2.png\" alt=\"If you keep other products and courses hidden away on separate parts of your site, no one will buy them.\" width=\"300\" height=\"143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge2.png 1200w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge2-300x144.png 300w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge2-1024x490.png 1024w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge2-768x367.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Our approach?<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve had success offering a membership trial to unlock additional courses and programs, as well as doing one-off digital sales.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve brought in $574,761.71 in digital training program sales as a result of our lead generation through our 30-Day List Building Challenge, from 2013 to 2016.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66864 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img23.jpg\" alt=\"$574,761.71 in digital training program sales as a result of lead generation\" width=\"600\" height=\"277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img23.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img23-300x139.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Some of these sales were from one-click upsells right inside our membership site and others came from live launches to our engaged audience of list builders.<\/p>\n<p>To improve user experience and help ensure this conversion, when someone clicks on an icon for something they don&#8217;t own, send them to a sales page or one-click upsell page directly within your members&#8217; area.<\/p>\n<p>Okay! You&#8217;re ready to&#8230;<\/p>\n<h2>Create Your List Building Challenge<\/h2>\n<p>Now that I&#8217;ve explained the nuances of running a list building challenge successfully, let&#8217;s go through the seven steps to actually make it happen.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Create a List Building Challenge Step 1: Pick Your Challenge Topic<\/h3>\n<p>Survey your ideal customers and find out what their goals and aspirations are. This will help you decide on a doable challenge topic.<\/p>\n<p>Then, determine how many action steps and days your challenge will be.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66865 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img24.jpg\" alt=\"The 7-Day Clean Eating Challenge\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img24.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img24-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img24-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>How to Create a List Building Challenge Step 2: Create Your Opt-In Page and Follow Up with Your Leads<\/h3>\n<p>Set up a landing page to capture email addresses\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66866 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img25.jpg\" alt=\"An example of a challenge landing page to capture email addresses\" width=\"600\" height=\"496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img25.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img25-300x248.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u2026and follow up with challenge participants, with email for instance&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66867 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img26.jpg\" alt=\"An example of a challenge email welcoming a participant to the challenge\" width=\"600\" height=\"292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img26.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img26-300x146.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re running your challenge live and not automated for the first time (which I recommend!) then you don&#8217;t need to have all of your emails or social media posts done prior to your challenge\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n<p>But learn from me and save yourself the headache: Get the first few days mapped out and done BEFORE you launch your challenge.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Create a List Building Challenge Step 3: Set Up Your Instant Offer<\/h3>\n<p>Decide what your Tripwire or instant offer will be, and make it available on the opt-in Thank You page.<\/p>\n<p>Ours is a simple $27 fast track option.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66868 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img27.jpg\" alt=\"AmbitionAlly's Tripwire offer to get instant access to their 30-day challenge\" width=\"600\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img27.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img27-300x192.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But if you&#8217;re doing your challenge live for the first time, you might offer another very aligned product or service instead.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Create a List Building Challenge Step 4: Add in Social Media Sharing<\/h3>\n<p>Build in a reason to share the challenge.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66869 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img28.jpg\" alt=\"Including social share buttons to spread the word of a challenge \" width=\"600\" height=\"491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img28.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img28-300x246.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Whether it&#8217;s letting their friends know that they&#8217;re participating and their want support or it&#8217;s a contest giving prizes for those who help spread the word&#8230; make it easy to share with the click of a button.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Create a List Building Challenge Step 5: Create Your Content<\/h3>\n<p>Map out each day of your challenge and get creating.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s up to you if you want to do\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Purely written content<\/li>\n<li>Photographs<\/li>\n<li>Audio<\/li>\n<li>Video<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2026or a combination.<\/p>\n<p>I always say that it&#8217;s not so much about the format as it is about the content. The VALUE of the content.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-66951\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox4.png\" alt=\"&quot;Focus on the core promise of your challenge and emphasize the results people can expect by the end.&quot;\" width=\"300\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox4.png 580w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ListChallenge_Quotebox4-300x128.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>But some delivery formats lend themselves better to different goals and challenges.<\/p>\n<p>I think video is incredibly useful if you need to show how something is done, whether it\u2019s a screen capture with \u201cthings to click\u201d or even showing a hands-on technique like calligraphy.<\/p>\n<p>Purely written content can be tricky to pull off alone, so I would combine it with images (or GIFs, if you\u2019re feeling cheeky!) to keep it engaging.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Create a List Building Challenge Step 6: Invite Existing Audience<\/h3>\n<p>If you have an existing audience or email list, invite them to the challenge! They&#8217;ll be your biggest supporters and help you spread the word at the start in a big way.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s an example of us notifying our followers on Facebook about the challenge&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66870 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img29.jpg\" alt=\"Facebook post announcing the 30-day challenge\" width=\"600\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img29.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img29-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And here&#8217;s an email we sent to our list inviting them to our challenge&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66871 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img30.jpg\" alt=\"An email inviting list members to join the challenge\" width=\"600\" height=\"701\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img30.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img30-257x300.jpg 257w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Plus, if you used their feedback from Step 1 when deciding on your challenge topic, they&#8217;ll already feel invested and happy to help you grow the movement.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Create a List Building Challenge Step 7: Run an Organic or Paid Social Campaign<\/h3>\n<p>Finally, to really get the wheels turning, you&#8217;ll want to run an organic or paid social media campaign.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve done well with posting in different Facebook groups and on our pages&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66872 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img31.jpg\" alt=\"Announcing the 30-day challenge using a Facebook post\" width=\"600\" height=\"823\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img31.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img31-219x300.jpg 219w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and running ads to invite people to participate&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-66873 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img32.jpg\" alt=\"Announcing the 30-day challenge using a Facebook ad\" width=\"600\" height=\"787\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img32.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dmwsprod.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/list-building-challenge-img32-229x300.jpg 229w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In your advertisement, <strong>focus on the core promise of your challenge and emphasize the results people can expect by the end<\/strong>. This will help your click-throughs and conversions climb.<\/p>\n<h2>Over to You Now&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>By now you might be looking at your calendar and considering when to plan your list building challenge&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>My best piece of advice is to iterate and improve with each time you run your challenge. And keep in mind that it will likely take longer than you think to pull together.<\/p>\n<p>But the long-term benefits of running a list building challenge successfully are worth it!<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve run six live challenges (with the challenge being available in an evergreen fashion in between) in our business and it\u2019s generated 56,938 opt-ins and $574,761 in revenue from our courses in five years.<\/p>\n<p>And now you have the steps to do the same in your business!<\/p>\n<p>(<strong>NOTE:<\/strong>\u00a0Before you can start selling to\u00a0your audience, you need to know who your ideal customer is, where they are, and what they will buy. Download our proven\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/lp\/customer-avatar-worksheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Customer Avatar Worksheet<\/a>\u00a0now and get clear on who you\u2019re selling to.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1 tc-custom-scroll\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/lp\/customer-avatar-worksheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-59815 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/CustomerAvatarGIF2Org.gif\" alt=\"Download our proven\u00a0Customer Avatar Worksheet\u00a0now and get clear on who you\u2019re selling to.\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\" data-frizzlyindex=\"2\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how to apply Nathalie Lussier&#8217;s simple list building challenge strategy that generated 56,938 leads and ongoing word of mouth, all while offsetting ad spend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":66947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-list-building"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>List Building Challenge: Generate Leads, Sales, &amp; Word of Mouth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn to apply Nathalie Lussier&#039;s list building challenge strategy that generated 56,938 leads and ongoing word of mouth, all while offsetting ad spend.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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