Email marketing is one of the most effective and direct ways to connect with customers (or potential customers) and forge a sustained, engaging relationship. This has always been true, and the approach is becoming all the more important in today’s mobile world. People are constantly checking emails on their mobile devices, so with the right approach and the right messaging, you can reach people in a meaningful way at any time. Statistics show that almost 70 percent of internet users consider email their preferred method for communicating with businesses.
The key is building up an audience that is interested in receiving your communications. Opt-in recipients are the only type you’ll want on your list, because sending emails to people who haven’t actively given you permission to do so is a fast way to pile up spam complaints, get booted from your email marketing platform, and diminish your brand reputation.
It’s a quandary that many digital marketers have struggled with: How do you entice a stranger who’s not overly familiar with your brand to give you their email address? People are growing increasingly protective of their personal information, and the extremely high volume of gimmicks, promotions and spam has understandably caused a lot of reluctance to share contact information.
There are still effective methods for collecting email addresses, though, and if you can deliver worthwhile content to subscribers you’ll find it easier to sustain and grow your list. Read on for a few tips on building your opt-in email list.
Feature a prominent email capture field on your website
This is simple but important. If growing your email list is important, make it easy for visitors to your website to provide theirs. Add a highly visible call-to-action to your sidebar. For best results, feature this on a page that is rich with quality content (such as your blog) so that people who are impressed with what they see can easily sign up to get more.
Incentivize sign-ups
Sometimes it just takes a little nudge. There are plenty of creative and useful incentives that you can offer someone for providing their email address. Exclusive and valuable content like a whitepaper or ebook are popular choices that have proven effective. If you sell and ship products, you could also do something like offering free first-time shipping to those who sign up. In the long run, collecting an email address is well worth a little up-front investment.
Create useful content, and demonstrate it
Nobody wants to have their inbox assaulted with constant spam and promotions. In order for your email marketing campaigns to resonate, you need to give your subscribers insightful information that they can use. One smart tactic is showing people what they’ll be getting before they sign up, by offering a sample newsletter that you feel encapsulates all the most appealing aspects of your messaging.
Encourage subscribers to share emails
If you’re delivering killer content, as we covered in the last item, readers will be more inclined to share it with their friends. Make sure that a “Share” or “Forward This Email” link is easy to find and use, because this is a vital way to organically increase your list. When developing content, focus on including stats, facts or insights that individuals in your target audience would be compelled to share with like-minded folks.
Promote on social media
If you have active social media accounts with solid followings, then you’re probably doing a good job of engaging users online with relevant info. Let your audience there know that they can get the same type of material you post and/or tweet sent directly to their inbox with greater depth. Send out links to your sign-up page every so often (but of course, not TOO often).
Offer exclusives for email subscribers
Make your subscribers feel special. I often see restaurants including valuable coupons in newsletters, so that only recipients get access to the great deals. Special content, promos and workshops for newsletter subscribers are all strong methods for creating a “members only” type feel for your list — and that’s exactly the kind of thing that will make people want to sign up and stick around.
Work with TSM!
We can help you implement any of the strategies mentioned above, as well as developing and executing exceptional email campaigns. Give us a shout and let’s work together.
