Recently, the same question has been asked of us time and time again by SME’s…
“How do you build an email list?”
It is a very open question. Firstly, do you have a website?; a place of business? a customer base?
Hopefully you have at least 2 of the three. With any you can easily build an email list quickly.
A Website
A website provides you with an excellent springboard to creating an email list within weeks. You just ask! If you have website visitors and they are interested in your products or services, the visitors will want to keep up to date with the latest news about them. There are several strategies that will entice your visitors to sign up:
- Just ask! It seems simple but it is obvious. If you don’t ask, you don’t get! You can include a button or link to a page where the visitor can register there name and email address so they can be notified of the latest offerings and news from your site. Our site has a subscribe button on every page and a specific subscribe page so we don’t miss anyone
- Give something for free. Everyone loves something for free, the trick is – what do you offer? Make it something useful, something that adds value to your customer. We have managed to gain several hundred new subscribers each month from a website that has 1000 visitors per month just because the freebie was extremely valuable to the readers. If the visitors have found your page/site because of what you sell or write about – provide a download that gives them more information or solves a problem. Ensure they have to provide their email address and you will soon have more email addresses than you know what to do with!
- Competitions. If you sell products, run a competition that people can win your most popular product. The contestants will need to provide their email address, of course!
A Place of business or existing Customer base
Easy, easy, easy! This is the easiest…
- Place of business. It doesn’t matter if you have an office, a coffee shop or a mechanics, you can gather email addresses easily. Each time someone enters, you want their email address. You can either ask for it or offer something for it. A free biscuit with your coffee; Provide your email address and we will notify you before your MOT is due, etc. A business card lottery can work well – leaving a business card on a board is a fantastic way of introducing themselves to a wider audience (and you get their email address!).
- Existing Customers. Every time you speak with a customer, old or new, just ask for their email address. Done!
Social Media provides an excellent way of approaching potential customers and if there is something of interest to them, they will provide their email addresses pronto.
Following these simple techniques will reap you rewards. Many companies have managed to gather over 3000 email addresses within 4 weeks! Once you have the list you can keep your customers informed of the latest happenings at your business, news, giveaways and competitions.
If you would like assistance with building your lists, click the button below.
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