Your email subscriber list is arguably the most important tool to building and retaining your client and customer relationships. The best part about growing your list? It can be effortless. Here are some tools you can use to get your email list to build itself.
First and most important, you need to have a website with some level of granularity. I’m talking at minimum a homepage and a secondary page included. The secondary page may even be a landing page dedicated to signups, which you could repurpose for advertising campaigns. Then, you need to make sure the subscribe button is displayed LOUD AND PROUD on every page, because you certainly don’t want your audience to go through a scavenger hunt to opt-in. Some ideal places to insert the form are in the middle of popular content, at the top of a rail, and always at the page’s footer. Also make sure to put it on any kind of final page, like a check out page. Since they’re already connecting their account to your site, a simple “Yes, I would like to receive promotional emails from this business” is going to make a world of difference. Another popular option is to add a pop-up when a user intends to close the page, hopefully piquing their interest. The pop-up especially should include some kind of incentive for agreeing to share personal information, maybe a small discount or early access to new products. However you implement a sign-up button, I’d strongly recommend placing it in your highest traffic areas at the very least.
Considering the button itself, you should always include a snippet ensuring readers that their information won’t be shared outside of the company, as long as you don’t plan on sharing it. You’re also required to include a link to your full privacy policy, and you don’t want to hide it. This can make your readers feel more secure sharing their information if they’re confident you won’t be selling it for a quick buck. Additionally, if you have different newsletters, consider segmenting them. Segmenting means to let people opt in or out of certain subjects or days of the week. Not only does that allow you to gather more insight about your audience, but you’ll also be able to narrow down the most successful days and times for active engagement.
You really can’t go wrong by offering discounts. Whether it’s incentives for being a long-term subscriber, or a discount code for signing up in the first place, it’s estimated that around 60% of consumers are more likely to hit that “complete purchase” button when there’s a discount added. A survey from RetailMeNot found that about 62% of customers couldn’t complete a purchase without looking for a discount. Especially with deal hunting add-ons like Honey, even a small discount can make a world of difference. At the very least, even if they don’t check out, you’ll be growing a list of potential customers.
For those of you in the service industry, rather than retail, maybe plan and promote a webinar relevant to your business, or a contest/giveaway to people requesting a service in a slower part of the year. For example, a local plumber may run a promotion to win a discounted service. An OBGYN office could set up a webinar on prenatal care and what kind to expect during pregnancy. A restaurant could offer specials on certain days of the week with a special offer code or key word for people who were signed up. A common promotion would be kids-eat-free days. Based on the people who show up and use the key word, you’ll know about how much of your business is from people with kids, and can tailor certain things accordingly. A gym or fitness studio might offer a discount on a class with signup, an employment agency might offer a free pdf of interviewing tips for employees or interviewing techniques for businesses. Really anything that engages your clients and gives you the opportunity to connect with them. Be creative here! It doesn’t need to be specific to your business, but could be more general knowledge of your industry.
Once you are confident in your effectiveness to build the list, it’s important to focus some energy on retaining it. Having multiple lists can increase the effectiveness of each individual campaign you run, because you’re able to tailor the messaging based on the parameters of your different subscribers. Make sure you’re not sending out meaningless emails, just to send something out. The content needs to be relevant so you’re not losing ground by readers becoming disinterested or annoyed and unsubscribing. Keep an eye on your open rate and how they may increase or decrease based on messaging.
However you decide to implement opt-ins and email sends, every business could benefit from some type of email marketing. They’re a fairly cheap way to engage your audience on a regular basis and connect with them directly. Whether you use it for the occasional sale, or on a weekly basis, dedicating a portion of your time to building these lists is definitely worth it.