Tips for Building a Great Email List

The first step in a successful email marketing campaign is to build a good list.  Here are some tips on building an email list for your online business:

Home Page Sign-up. Have an area on the home page of your website dedicated solely to enticing people to sign up for something.  Having a regular e-newsletter to send is always a good idea, but you can also ask people to sign up for information on new products, promotions or special offers.  Whatever it is, it needs to be of value to your customers, not just to you.

Ask to Add. When you attend networking events, meetings or trade shows – wherever you are likely to meet potential new customers or are gathering business cards – ask those you meet if you can add them to your mailing list, to send them a newsletter or special offers.

Association Lists. If you are a member of any trade or community organizations, ask if you can have access to their membership list.  Many offer membership lists to members for free; some are available for a fee.

Sign-up after the Sale. If you have an ecommerce site, add a check-off box that encourages customers to sign up for your newsletter or special offers as part of the online checkout process.  If you take telephone orders, provide guidelines for employees to solicit email subscriptions after the sale.

Reciprocal plugs. Find other newsletters that you think your customers would enjoy and ask if they’ll promote your newsletter if you do the same for them.

Buy a List. There are quite a few online resources that offer lists for sale sorted by postal code, demographics, income, and lifestyle interests, buying behaviour, etc.   You can purchase a really targeted list based on your products or services and use it to test a variety of promotions or special offers.