You might be wondering, in the age of social media and with so many people receiving unsolicited emails about Viagra why you should bother with email marketing?
The answer is simple: no matter what kind of product or service you provide, email marketing can be extremely profitable. It is a tried and tested method for reaching your audience and persuading them to take action.
You need very little technical knowledge to get started, particularly as there are so many excellent third party services you can use to simplify and automate the whole process for you.
However, the foundation of email marketing success is the actual quality and size of your permission-based email list. If you build a list of subscribers that trust you and consider you an expert in your field, your response rates will constantly climb and you will make lots more sales.
Growing and maintaining a responsive opt-in email list can be challenging, even for the most experienced marketers. Whether you’re at the beginning of your list-building journey or already have thousands of contacts, list management is hard work. Addresses change, subscribers become inactive, and some unsubscribe, chipping away about 20-30% of your list every year!
Despite that, email marketing still works and is incredibly effective. Businesses all around the world know that making small investments in list management and nurturing their email list can reap huge returns in marketing efficiency and campaign ROI.
We are sharing the following list building tips showing you how to get the most out of your email marketing, which will provide you with proven techniques and tips to help you grow your mailing list.
1. Add a Sign-Up Form Everywhere Prospects and Customers Go
Make it easy for your potential customers to join your mailing list. Sign-up opportunities should be easily accessible on every page of your website. Make sure they “pop” visually and indicate clearly what subscribers receive. Don’t forget your website and any blogs you control. Blogging is a great communication tool, so include a sign-up form in every post and continue the conversation!
2. Boost Sign-Up Activity
Make it quick and easy for your visitors to sign up. Don’t make them jump through hoops to get on your mailing list. All you need at first is their first name and email address. If you ask for any more information you will just put them off signing up.
Be clear, persuasive and honest about what subscribers will receive and how they benefit from subscribing. Include one or two short customer testimonials showing them that other customers are glad to be on your list.
Let them know how often to expect your newsletters and other emails. Don’t inundate subscribers, even if they indicate no preference.
You can link sample newsletter issues to your sign-up forms, so prospects can make an informed decision. It will help you to get more responsive subscribers!
3. Put Your Customers Mind at Rest From The Outset
Let’s be honest, if they don’t know you very well, most people will be worried that they will receive an avalanche of spam – or scams – when they give out their email address. Put their minds at rest by informing potential subscribers that you respect their privacy and their personal information and would never spam them or abuse their trust. A good tip is to link to your privacy policy page. Include a link to Customer Service for those who have questions.
4. Give Your Visitors an Incentive to Sign Up
You will significantly improve your chances of building a profitable and large mailing list if you give your visitors an incentive to sign up to your list. The most popular incentives are free reports, newsletters, special offers, and discounts.
5. Create a Great Squeeze Page
A squeeze page only has one function and that is to build your list so you need to make sure it’s compelling and convincing.
It should feature a powerful headline and a few of the “juiciest” benefits to get visitors eager to sign up to your list!
Entertain your visitors with an audio or video message explaining why they should subscribe. Or consider letting a customer provide the message! It creates that “human connection” and is an opportunity to direct them to the sign-up form on your webpage while you’re winning them over and building their trust in your brand.
6. Include Testimonials in Your Squeeze Page
It is so important to include customer testimonials. Studies consistently prove that customer opinions can be the most powerful conversion tool of all! Put one or two strong testimonials from satisfied subscribers on your squeeze page. Use any format, but you may find that multimedia (audio and/or video) is more “believable”. People like to see and hear the people behind the opinions, so they can make more informed judgments.
7. Use Social Media to Build Your List
Social media sites have become effective places to collect email addresses, particularly if you have lots of followers and fans. Place a sign-up form on your Fan Page, so fans can subscribe to your list. Then create a bond with your fans by sending personalized messages.
Social login makes it so easy as it allows people to sign up to your newsletters using their Facebook login. Research shows that nearly 8 in 10 respondents prefer to log in to sites using a social identity. And those who are active on social networks are more likely to comment on your services and products. By the same token, they’re more easily influenced by what others say on social sites.
8. Include a “Sign Up” Button INSIDE Your Newsletter
…or, if you are not using HTML, a text link to your subscription page. This may sound like a waste of time as they are already subscribers. But… what if a subscriber forwards it to friends and co-workers? Or shares it on social media sites? Or reproduces it online? You could explode your sign-ups, just by adding a form!
9. Create a Web-Base Newsletter Archive On Your Website
By offering an online archive or gallery of all of your newsletters, you make it much easier for subscribers to decide whether they’d like to sign up. The more informed they are about what you have to offer, the more likely they are to open your email messages.
Online newsletter and article archives are also an excellent way to generate additional traffic from search engines!
10. Include “Forward-to-a-Friend” and “Share” Links in Newsletters and Promos
This is the best way to encourage subscribers to share your newsletter content, offers, and articles with friends and on social media sites. “Word of mouth” is a powerful viral technique that works great with email marketing. If subscribers find your content useful and informative, they’ll pass it on, multiplying your readers and hopefully your sign-ups! It’s a powerful source of new subscribers – achieved with minimal effort. What’s more, because most people are active on social media, they are used to sharing information, so you won’t feel awkward asking.
11. Add Sign-up Forms to Your Blog Updates
Place a sign-up form on your blog to notify your readers of new posts. This has a threefold benefit: you build your email list, strengthen relationships with your readers, and get more traffic to your blog.
12. Let Others Reprint Your Newsletter
Encourage others to distribute and republish your newsletters, specifying that your newsletter content is not to be modified or used inappropriately. Many webmasters and newsletter publishers are actively looking for high-quality content, and if they reprint your newsletter, you may get new subscribers, traffic, and links to your site. If there are limits and conditions (on commercial use, for example) just state your policy clearly and concisely. Not only will you get more subscribers to convert into customers, it will establish you as an authority in your particular niche.
13. Use Google Adwords Campaigns
Google Adwords is a relatively cost-effective type of online campaign and can get excellent results while keeping you in full control of the budget.
It doesn’t matter whether you promote your newsletter subscription or a major product launch, Adwords can help generate many more subscribers and customers. Always make sure your newsletter sign-up form is on the landing page your visitors arrive on when they click on the ad.
14. Use Your Physical Mailing List
If you have a physical mailing list from your offline business, send a snail-mail postcard to your customers, offering a special discount for signing up for your email newsletter. If you don’t have a snail-mail list, consider leaving a sign-up form near your register or point-of-sale location or get your sales advisors to ask customers to join your mailing list when they are paying for their goods.
15. Contact Other Newsletter Publishers and Vendors
Use your networking and social media skills to reach out to other newsletter publishers or even vendors with complementary products or services. Let them know that you’d be interested in promoting their newsletter or offering if they’d do the same for you. This way, both of you can get more online exposure and build your list faster. It is a win-win situation for both parties.
16. Be Active On Similar Websites
Search for similar websites and newsletters using Google Blog Search or Technorati. Post relevant, helpful comments and trackback to your blog or squeeze page, including, of course, your newsletter sign-up form! Visit discussion boards, forums, Yahoo Answers, and similar sites to provide helpful comments and information, including a signature linking to your subscription page. Make sure your posts are engaging and not sales-oriented in any way.
In Summary
Include a sign-up form with every value message – everywhere you come in contact with prospects and customers. Feel free to vary the content and the design, but make signing up quick and easy.
Your list-building engine will generate new contacts 24/7.
www.bybmail.com.au