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The Best Way To Grow Your Email List In 2026

Author

Max Sturtevant
March 11, 2026

The Inbox Newsletter

Hey it’s Max from The Inbox Newsletter.

A friend of mine just got a job at an 8-figure e-commerce store and he came to me with some questions.

Particularly, he wanted to know about list growth.

He knows email is important.

He knows SMS is important.

But he needed a larger list.

But…

He didn't want to feel like he was bombarding people with some annoying pop-up the second they landed on his site.

He was thinking about buying email lists and I cut him off real quick… hell to the no (do not ever buy email lists you will trash your deliverability and make no sales).

The answer in 2026 is quiz pop-ups.

Quiz pop-ups are consistently the highest converting pop-ups you can run on your website.

And the best part is that they contribute to the customer experience… not take away from it.

The reason comes down to psychology.

A standard pop-up asks for an email address right away.

That's a high-commitment ask (your email address) from someone who just landed on your site 4 seconds ago…

That’s like asking someone to marry you on the first date

That’s what it feels like for the customer ^

So we do something different…

We ask them on a date first.

A quiz pop-up starts by asking a question.

Example Quiz Pop-Up

Look at what this brand does ^

Their pop-up leads with "What problem are you trying to solve?" with four options.

Clicking a button costs nothing to the customer.

And customers love talking about themself so they are happy to answer the question.

Who knows, maybe they will get a customized solution (hint - they will).

But here's what happens after that tap…

Commitment bias kicks in.

Once someone answers the first question, they've started something.

Humans have a natural tendency to finish what they start, so by the time they reach the email field they're already invested in seeing the result and don’t want their effort to go to waste.

Quiz pop-ups also make the discount feel earned.

"Get 10% off" handed to every single visitor feels arbitrary.

But when a customer tells you they're focused on gut health and you come back with a personalized recommendation, that 10% feels like a reward.

The segmentation data is just the bonus on top.

Every answer a customer gives you is a signal you can use to send more relevant emails, SMS, and offers down the line.

If you're running a generic email capture pop-up right now, this is probably the single highest-leverage swap you can make.

We use Alia to build quiz pop-ups like these for our brands (my favorite pop-up platform).

Here’s the difference before and after implementing a quiz pop-up… A 2.5x in email list growth rate.

2.5x Increase In List Growth Rate

Get your quiz pop-ups up folks!

If you want me to literally review all your emails and pop-ups and optimize the f*ck out of your account join my community here.

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max Sturtevant

P.S
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