10 Ways to Build Your Email Marketing List
Great content fuels your digital marketing efforts, but your email marketing list sets it all on fire. The list is the spark. Here’s how to beef it up.
We hear a lot about the importance of content in digital marketing, and none of the hype is wrong. Brands must curate and create interesting, compelling, and relevant content to keep the marketing engine firing at high speed.
But as many digital marketers find, simply publishing blog posts every day or pumping out free downloadable resources isn’t enough. You may gather a few eyeballs here and there – many of whom will be supportive friends – but not nearly enough buyers of your products and services.
This is not to dismiss friends as a useful source of referrals. Quite the contrary, friends can be enormously helpful for giving your business credibility and spreading the word.
But businesses need more than social friends. Digital marketers need a list. The list is what sparks your growth. As much as you love your business and the products and services you sell, let’s face it: your buyers, fans, followers, and friends won’t be thinking about you night and day unless you have a way to gently nudge them.
We call this the drip, drip, drip of email marketing. With a robust and growing email contact list, you can reach your audience with new content on a regular schedule. If you’re starting fresh, building your list should be one of your top priorities.
Fortunately, there are many ways to gain subscribers…
10 Ways to Jumpstart Your Email Marketing List
Tip #1: Choose an email marketing service. Several vendors offer ready-made and custom email newsletter templates, auto-responder emails, integration with social networks like Facebook and content management systems like WordPress, landing pages, and a variety of other add-ons. MailChimp, Constant Contact and Mad Mimi are three worth checking out.
Tip #2: Create a sign-up form. Plenty of people will want to sign up for your newsletter, so make it easy with a form that they can complete right from the home page of your website. This is a standard feature of email marketing services, which make it so simple that your custom designed form will be ready in just a few clicks.
Tip #3: Integrate with Facebook. Most email marketing services offer the ability to create a Facebook app that puts your subscription form right on your business page.
See also: Which Social Media Networks Are Best for Marketing?
Tip #4: Promote on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Give friends and fans a taste of your email content by posting snippets to Facebook. Be sure to encourage them to subscribe for more great content. (And, of course, link to the sign-up form!)
Tip #5: Ask recent customers to subscribe. Send an invitation to those who’ve bought your products or services in the last 6 months, and pair it with an offer – perhaps a discount or coupon. Tread carefully, though. If you send emails to long-ago customers without their permission, it’s spam.
Tip #6: Encourage sharing. Include a “share with a friend” link at the bottom of all your emails.
Tip #7: Offer free downloads. Create useful resources for clients – a worksheet, template, ebook, or checklist – and request an email address before the download can be completed.
See also: 10 Ways to Create More Visual Content
Tip #8: Use your email signature. Incorporate the link to your subscription form at the bottom of all your emails.
Tip #9: Attend trade shows, meet-ups and events. Use offline events to capture email addresses of attendees with a signup form at your booth or table.
Tip #10: At point of purchase. Always ask your customers if they would like to subscribe to your emails, and the best time to ask is when they’re making that transaction with you.
Photo courtesy of ToastyKen on Flickr.
About the Author
Diane S. Thieke is the president and founder of Simply Talk Media, a digital media marketing consultancy. With more than 25 years in digital media and technology, she helps clients build stronger relationships with their customers and communities, using both social and traditional channels.