Marketing your business and products online has a significant number of advantages over methods that were used in the past. Emails can be rapidly sent out to thousands, even millions, of prospective customers in an incredibly short time span with such a small cost compared to mailing that it might as well be free. The only obstacle between your company and a successful email marketing campaign is getting the email addresses of potential customers and the permission to send them your content. To help you get on track to having a full and useful list of emails, here are seven tips and ideas on how to build one.
1. Strike a Balance Between Providing Content and Spam
An email subscription that never sends out content is fundamentally useless, but many companies err on the other side of the spectrum and send far too many updates to their prospective customers. If your email notifications are consistently filling a person’s inbox, then they may be tempted to unsubscribe or report your company for spam. At the maximum, send one email per day unless a notably significant event occurs.
2. Ask For It.
Simple concepts executed effectively and consistently are often the most effective methods. Whenever possible, make sure that visitors to your website or store are given gentle reminders that you want their email address. Making it mandatory to give an email for any particular reason can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, most people will have multiple email accounts and may readily give one of their personal or miscellaneous use emails. On the other hand, some people may not respond well to the feeling of being forced to hand over contact information. Situational judgment will be necessary, but as the additional incentives that come with giving their email increase you should feel safer about being more demanding.
3. Hold an Event
Humans, by nature, are creatures prone to social activity. Whether it is a dance, a sporting event, a novelty show, or just a simple gathering of people, you can attract potential new customers to your business with an event. By making the admission to an enjoyable event just via the person’s email, you will expand your email list and give a positive view of the company to those who attend. Pay particular attention to local tastes in activities and music when deciding what should be included in your event.
4. Giveaways
Convince people that you are giving them something for free and they will clamor to take it off your hands. This can be done with almost any product in your inventory, but the best turnouts will be for the best free products. If you want to snag clients who are pickier about what they will accept for free, then up the ante on your prizes. Just require that the person gives you their email to receive the item, and you will soon have a nice buffer to your list.
5. Exclusive Information and Offers
Making the email subscription advantageous to consumers is another way to get them to give their information. Many grocery stores use this process through the use of special cards that give perks to the customer when shopping there, such as sale prices and point accumulation. Other ideas can include information on upcoming sales and printable coupons. Whatever idea you choose to use, the key concept is that it should only be available through the person signing up to receive emails from your company.
6. Try to be Unique
There are thousands of companies out there competing for the attention of consumers. In just an hour of browsing the Internet, a user may be subjected to well into the hundreds of advertisements of various types. Even when using vibrant colors and flashing the image repeatedly, a person surfing the Internet may simply ignore an advertisement’s or request’s existence. Trying to provide a unique, memorable, but not aggravating request for people’s emails can be difficult, but doing so should net positive results in email contact acquisition.
7. Form Email List Alliances
Joining forces with businesses that do not directly compete with your own can be a good way to boost customer interest in providing their email. By signing up for just the email list alliance, the consumer will have provided their contact information to any company that participates in the alliance. The formation of the alliance may also include a combination of all the emails a company has, depending on the terms that were applied to their use of each email address. Make sure that any requests for an email address include a notation or check box for the person to indicate that they understand you will be sharing their address with other companies.
Common Sense Rules
When analyzing most of these tips, it should become apparent that none are particularly complex or unintuitive. The key principles of marketing apply here as much as in any other situation. Use your best judgment, take the ideas listed to heart, and seek to gain the trust of your potential customers. Follow these concepts, and your email list will surely expand soon.
