Email marketing is still strong and possibly stronger than ever, despite the changes in online activity over the past decade or so. In fact, with the growing use of smartphones, email use has increased, winning the test of time over other marketing methods.
Why build your email list?
Staying in touch with your audience, through regular emails, is an ideal way to build a lasting relationship with them. While you are building trust and familiarity, you are becoming their ‘go to’ for the services you offer.
People tend to be on your list because they either already have an interest in what you offer, or they have actually bought from you. This makes them highly qualified leads in comparison to other forms of marketing.
If your site ranks well in search results, visitors still only find you when they are searching for what you offer. And even if you rank no. 1 on Google, there is no guarantee your link will be clicked.
Email marketing is the most targeted, manageable form of mass communication available. And the most cost effective when it comes to getting returns on your marketing dollar.
What you hold in your email list are qualified prospects who are there at your reach whenever you have something to share with them.
Practical ways you can build your email list:
- Create opt-in forms on your website. These can be presented in different ways:
- Sitting in your sidebar on every page of your website
- Pop ups and fly ins (fly ins are panels that slide into view from the side or bottom of the screen). These opt-ins can be set to be triggered by time reached, scrolling and leaving the page.
- An inline opt-in form sitting within your page’s content
- Offer a freebie in exchange for an email address. This is proven to be an excellent incentive for people to sign up:
- An ebook outlining a solution you offer
- A handy checklist to help simplify tasks
- A short course of 7-10 daily emails each containing a helpful lesson or tip
- Access to a webinar
- Free tickets to a seminar
- An ebook outlining a solution you offer
- Create a resource library on your website which requires an email to access it. Include things in the library such as:
- Case studies
- Guidelines
- Links to useful tools
- Checklists
- Make good use of Facebook:
- Set up an email sign up tab on your Facebook page
- Add a ‘Sign up’ call to action button on your Facebook page, linking to a subscription form on your site or on your email service provider’s site.
- Post about your opt-in benefits on Facebook
- Advertise your opt-in benefits on Facebook
- On LinkedIn:
- Add a link on your profile or business page to link to your subscription page
- Post about your opt-in benefits
- Advertise your opt-in benefits
- On Twitter:
- Pin a Tweet to the top of your profile page
- Create a Lead Generation Twitter Card
- Create a call to action post in Instagram and Pinterest
- Share your website content on relevant social media networks to drive more traffic back to your website, where they may choose to sign up
- Speak at an event and present your details
- Collect cards at an event (be sure to ask if it’s OK to add their email address to your list)
- Host a webinar and present your details
- Update your email signature to prompt people to sign up
The list can go on. And I’m sure if you put your mind to it you could come up with more in relation to how your business operates.
Keep up the list building efforts and you will be able to develop a strong loyalty among more and more subscribers. They’ll get to know you, learn from you and trust you.
Hopefully, you’ll soon be managing thousands of email addresses. That means thousands of people you can share your news, content and offers with instantly.
Can you add any other ideas on how to build your list? Please share your comments below.
- Why websites don’t convert visitors into buyers - January 17, 2020
- 4 ways to charge up your customer conversion rate - December 15, 2019
- How Conversion Rate Optimisation Boosts Marketing ROI - November 15, 2019
