Tel : 0800 0431 298 |
|
||
|
A good list is a powerful tool. It gives you a way to reach hundreds-sometimes thousands-of customers with just one click. Best of all, it's free-no postage, no printing, no packaging. Email marketing lists are the most powerful direct marketing tool around. But you have to collect your emails the right way in order to ensure you're reaching the right people with the right message. Here are a few tips for building a strong permission-based email marketing list. Don't just ask for their email-give them something of value. Nowadays, you can't just ask people for their emails for marketing messages. You need to have another reason for collecting emails-something that customers want. Some websites offer a contest drawing or free giveaway to customers who give their email addresses, which is a step in the right direction. But the best way is to publish an e-zine or e-newsletter. With a regular publication, you'll keep showing up in their inboxes month after month-not just once. E-newsletters and e-zines are a great way to build your credibility, keep in front of your customers, and send carefully embedded marketing messages as "soft sell" items that are less likely to turn off customers-and more likely to generate sales. Offer incentives to sign up. That said, giveaways and discounts do have their place. Offer them as an incentive to sign up for your e-newsletter-and thus your email marketing list. People love free things, and naturally you need their contact info to send their gift or coupon. Incentives have been shown to boost subscription rates in just about every market. Don't hide your subscription link. Make sure your customers can sign up easily and quickly-they'll give up and go elsewhere if they can't find the subscription form in a few clicks. Put the sign-up script on every page in your website, front and center. That way, they won't have to look around. Keep the offers coming. Once you've built a solid list, don't let the offers stop there. Send discounts, coupons, or giveaways regularly with your online publication. The worst thing you can do after you get someone on your list is bombard them with marketing messages-instead, send them things they want. This ensures they'll find value in staying on your list, and you won't have a lot of opt-outs. A weekly deal or offer is a great way to do it, of course-but include your offers in an e-newsletter, and you'll give them even more value: advice or information on a topic they're interested in, plus lots of credibility points for your business. Have a strong privacy policy. Most people don't just give away their email address freely anymore-they need a certain amount of trust in your company, as well as a strong incentive. Write out a clear privacy policy and post it in an easy-to-reach spot on your website. Make it clear that you won't sell their email addresses to a third party. And keep your promise-nothing will ruin your credibility faster than customers seeing a lot of spam in their inboxes after signing up with you. Give an exit strategy. In addition, you should always include an "opt-out" message at the top of each email you send out, making it very easy for people to get off your list if they want to. This sends your customers a message that you care, and you don't want to send them emails if they don't want to receive them. Don't be sneaky. Whatever you do, don't put people on your list if they haven't consciously signed up for it. This trick is getting more rare as businesses are seeing that it doesn't benefit them to send email messages and require customers to "opt-out," as opposed to using a permission-based "opt-in" strategy. Third-party opt-in-where you ask customers to check a box saying they want to receive messages from your marketing partners as well as your company-is an ineffective strategy as well. Recent studies show that customers see these third-party messages as spam and delete them, even if they clicked on that box. The secret to building a strong email list is to get people to
want to sign up. That way, you'll have a list of people who are
interested in your product and industry, and who trust your company
enough to give their contact information already. These people are
great leads-so don't abuse them. Send them valuable messages with
a strong publication, including discounts. Do it this way, and you'll
have a dependable list of buyers in no time. |
|
|
