One of the most important things you can focus on as an online marketer is email list building. The email list is the primary tool for online marketing. A quality list is the foundation of your marketing campaign. Your goal is to build a quality list. The following little known strategies will help you gain an edge.
Segment your list. All your prospects do not have the same buying habits or interests and your email list building strategy should account for this. By segmenting your list, you develop subsets that can be used to targeted consumers. A clothing manufacturer may segment their list to men/women as well as by age ranges. This allows them to send updates on gender-specific trends and product information that may appeal to a certain age range. The type of segmentation depends on what makes sense for your business. The segments can be based on any criteria that allows you a better marketing focus.
Ask for referrals. A primary emphasis for many B2B/B2C companies is to develop a referral program. This is a great tool for email list building. You are looking to current customers to bring you new customers. This technique has been used in social media with great success simply by asking subscribers to invite their friends. By asking customer to refer friends, you increase your prospect database with no effort on your part. A common strategy is to offer a coupon or other incentive for providing a name and email of a friend who might be interested in learning more about your product/service. The email manager sends an invitation with a reference to the referring person. This adds a personal touch that is more inviting to a wary prospect and leads to more email list building successes.
Provide value. The hated word in online marketing is “unsubscribe.” Seeing an unsubscribe goes against your email list building efforts. The goal is to reduce the likelihood someone will unsubscribe. If you only send marketing emails that ask the customer to buy your product, you are likely to see a higher incidence of unsubscribes. Offer tips or other information of value to the customer. Including regular savings opportunities, such as coupons/discounts, will ensure that people are more tolerant of your marketing efforts.
Email list building takes time and commitment. If you invest your resources into a strong list and nurture it, you will reap the benefits.
