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28 Ways to Grow Your E-mail List
by Anna Yeaman
Three out of four leads won’t buy from you within the first six months.
E-mail marketing allows you to nurture those prospects until they’re ready.
To have a shot at building that relationship, you need to encourage them to opt
in.
So how can you start or grow an e-mail subscriber list? Here are 28 strategies my
clients and I have used:
- Transactional e-mails. Make the most of your transactional e-mails by
adding an e-mail sign-up link. In a survey by Datran Media of 2,000 marketers,
63 percent said they plan on integrating marketing messages into transactional
e-mails this year.
- Tradeshows/networking events. Make a note on business cards of contacts
that have chosen to be added to your e-mail list. Try sending a follow-up e-mail
to new contacts, and mention your newsletter as a way to keep in touch. Also,
try having a raffle/contest at your next show. Not only will it drive traffic to
your booth, but it’s an opportunity to collect e-mail addresses from anyone
entering. Let entrants know they will be added to your newsletter list.
- Viral marketing. Run a “Forward to a Friend Contest” in your e-mail
newsletter. If readers use the Forward link, they’re entered to win a prize.
- Subject line. Try adding “Pls. Forward” to the end of your newsletter
subject line.
- E-mail signature. Include a “Join Our E-mail List” link at the bottom of
your e-mail signature—and your staff’s. Try to make the language more
compelling!
- Customer support. Have your customer-support staff request e-mail
addresses. Familiarize them with your newsletter content.
- Squeeze page. Create a Web page that “squeezes” contact info out of a
visitor. Use a free download or more information about your services as a lure.
- Web site. Have a sign-up box on every page of your Web site. Each is a
potential landing page.
- Show list. Sometimes tradeshow organizers will provide a list of
attendees’ e-mail addresses. Send out a newsletter a few days before the show
introducing your company. One client of mine always includes a link to set up an
appointment and a download of her latest jewelry collection.
- Competition/contest. Offer a contest to win a voucher or gift
certificates for your products or services. Promote your contest in magazines,
at tradeshows, and on your Web site. One of my clients grew their list by
thousands by running a contest in Woman’s World magazine to win a $500 gift
voucher for their store.
- Cash register. Ask your customers to provide you with their e-mail
address when they go to the cash register. Be sure to set expectations around
frequency.
- Sign-up slips. Leave sign-up slips around your store, such as in the
changing rooms, and include them with purchases.
- Customer events. Hold events where you push e-mail sign-up. A lot of
retailers hold in-store parties around Christmas. Think of holidays that appeal
to your customer base, or just make one up, a la “Girls’ Night Out.”
- Pop-up/ pop-over. Use a pop-up box or pop-over on your Web site. Spiegel
has a Java-based pop-over sign-up form; GQ has a pop-up box on exit. I know,
some of us hate pop-up boxes, but they are effective.
- Business card. The back of your business card is a great place to promote
your newsletter, i.e. “Stay in touch via our monthly TechTips newsletter.”
- Cross-promotion. Team up with complementary businesses. Try not to hijack
each other’s newsletter; introduce yourself gradually to your partner’s readers.
Make sure you design your creative to fit in with theirs. Have you noticed how
Daily Candy cross-promotes, using its own artwork and copywriter for its
dedicated e-mails? It’s not so jarring and feels less like spam.
- Business associations. Contact your association for its membership
roster. There are thousands of associations and trade organizations. Many
provide their list to members for free. Send colleagues an incentive to sign up
for your newsletter.
- Articles. Write an article (like this one!) and publish it for free in
other newsletters and on Web sites. Add the line, “Want to receive more articles
like this? Click here.”
- Online sign-up page. Subscribers like to know what they’re getting into.
Your sign-up page needs to sell your newsletter. Include:
- A clear outline of the type of content your newsletter covers
- Explain the benefits of receiving your newsletter
- Testimonials from current subscribers
- A link to your privacy statement
- A sample of past issues
- Set the right expectations by stating your frequency
- #1 subscriber turn-off. Long subscription forms. Keep your subscription process
simple, requiring name and e-mail address only. If you ask for a postal code,
tell them why you need it. (To send information about local stores, for
instance.) You can always survey subscribers later for additional information.
- Reprint your newsletter content. Let others reprint your newsletter/blog
articles. You gather links back to your site and new readers. Just ask that they
add your contact information/link details.
- Direct mail list. Chances are you
already have a mailing list. Send out a postcard with an incentive to sign up
for your e-mail newsletter.
- Checkbox on all your forms. Wherever you have a
form on your Web site (and off), add a checkbox or extra entry where contacts
can sign up for your newsletter. Never force someone to deselect a checkbox;
leave them empty by default.
- Bills, receipts, and invoices. I read recently
how a restaurant successfully grew its e-mail list by attaching cards to each
bill. One of my clients adds stickers to invoices and store receipts encouraging
customers to sign up.
- Online video. Promote your newsletter in your online
videos. Do this early on; most Web videos do not get viewed all the way through.
If posting on YouTube, remember to add your URL to the title.
- Start a blog.
A nice side effect of starting my Style Campaign blog is that my newsletter
subscription list has grown dramatically. Blogs increase your site traffic and
allow the reader to get a taste of your newsletter content. Be sure to add a
newsletter sign-up link on your blog sidebar so it can be accessible at all
times.
- Comment on blogs. No time to start a blog? You can still comment and
get involved in discussions on other sites. Often your name will be linked back
to your Web site, which can generate newsletter subscriptions.
- Relevant,
timely, targeted content. Don’t put all your focus on growing your e-mail list.
It’s about quality, not quantity. You need to retain the subscribers you already
have. Sending straight promotional e-mails month after month does not cut it
anymore. Put extra effort into making your content useful. Look at magazine
articles in your field for ideas. Try soliciting reader feedback as much as
possible. Feature a Q&A, contests, and photos, or ask for reader stories and
reviews. E-mail is a club, connecting you to your most loyal customers. Don’t
mess up by focusing on short-term sales. By producing quality content, you will
be rewarded with a high return on your investment and happy, repeat customers.
Anna Yeaman runs Style Campaign, an L.A.-based e-mail marketing boutique.