With the number of fraudulent scams targeting your inbox and a spam folder that gets filled on a daily basis, it is easy to see why e-mail marketing gets a bad reputation.
Beyond this, with the recent compliance change required by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, a lot of individuals are touting that e-mail marketing is a “dead” channel not because it actually is but because the new laws surrounding it are intimidating at best.
However, when we actually take a look at the research, we see that email marketing jobs are trending, that email marketing is still king with 59% of marketers stating that it is their most effective channel for revenue, and it is still by far the most direct way of contacting potential customers with 90.9% of internet users using e-mail in one shape or form.
So, in this article, we are going to take you through six different methods you can use to create an e-mail list from scratch and what to do after the email addresses begin to roll in.
The 4 Things You Need Before Getting Started on Your List
Creating an e-mail list from scratch is not going to happen if you are grasping at thin air, and so there are a few things that you should have before beginning the process. Here they are:
- Figure Out Your Target Audience & Know Them. In figuring out who your target audience is, you can figure out where they hang out online. Women are mostly on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook while men are mostly on Youtube and LinkedIn.
- Create a Website With a Beautiful Landing Page. You will need a place on the web for your audience to congregate to. In most cases, you want this to be your own personal website. Now you don’t have to create a fully-fledged website, as a beautiful landing page will get the job done. Just make sure it has an image, a headline, your key bullet points, and an opt-in form. If you choose to go with a full website, you will need to utilize pop-ups.
- Choose an E-mail Marketing Platform to Work From. There are several dozens to choose from, so make sure to research each one prior to signing up, but their general purpose is to help you organize your list and send out the e-mails.
- Create A Irresistible Offer. Regardless of what you are choosing to sell, create, build, or offer, you will need to give people a reason to join your e-mail list. In order to have a reason, you need to provide something in exchange for their e-mail information. This is done by creating an irresistible offer; something that your target audience would want. This can be an e-book, software, or a guide; all of which should be free.
The Steps To Take for Building The List
Once you have the above four things, you can begin to actually start the process of building up your e-mail list. Now there are several ways to go about this, but they will generally involve creating call-to-action buttons, creating pop-ups, and driving traffic to your website/landing page with advertising.
- Use Existing Resources to Catch Those Beginner Emails. Reach out to those who you already have e-mail addresses for and ask them if they’d be interested in what you’re offering. If they say yes, you can add them to your e-mail list.
- Jump Onto Social Media and Post in Groups. Social media gives you massive exposure; so post your landing page/website homepage to them. On Twitter, use one or two hashtags, and on Facebook & LinkedIn, join groups and advertise there.
- Use Advertising Campaigns to Drive Traffic. Although organically building your list is the way to go, it is not the fastest. Supplement organic methods with purchasing advertisements. Use LinkedIn sponsored updates, Twitter ads, Facebook ads, and Google Adwords.
- Utilize Pop-ups & Call-to-Action Buttons on Your Website. Your menus, popovers, popups, and slide-ups should be in places where they cannot be missed. Add in top-bar-popups in your header and navigation menu bars, add in opt-in-forms to your sidebars, add in popup forms to your checkout pages, and don’t forget to add in call-to-action buttons to your individual blog posts, website footer, and your about page. Consider using a scroll box, which places your popup where your visitor chooses to stop on the page or pop-up timers as these allow your visitors to read through your content before bombarding them with the call-to-action.
- Treat Your Blog Like an Email Capture Page. Your blog is going to be the place that should get the most visits if you are utilizing content marketing correctly. If your blog has 25,000 unique visitors on a monthly basis, that’s a lot of potential e-mails you could capture if you just inserted in an opt-in-form.
- Give Away Free Stuff. Humans like free stuff. Your potential subscribers will want free stuff. Give it away and watch those email addresses come in. Consider giving away an email series, a guidebook, private blog content, a video tutorial series, or early access to new features coming to your website, discounts on new services, or sneak peeks at new products.
What To Do After You’ve Captured a Sizable Email List?
After you have gone through the steps of building up your email list from scratch and implementing in the methods needed to sustain the list (see above), you will need to educate your subscriber list on your brand and move them towards making a purchase.
- Create Automated Welcome Messages and Engage Your Audience. Take some time to introduce your brand, company, or product to your list, provide them with some social reviews, and maybe give them a behind-the-scenes look at upcoming features. Capture and engage them and of course, add in a discount code or two. Do the same thing with dormant subscribers every thirty days with automated re-engagement emails.
- Create a Consistent Schedule for Your Email Campaigns. If someone has signed up to you, they’ve shown interest and probably want to hear from you. Send out regular content to your email list on a consistent basis from month to month. This will keep them engaged and it will foster a connection with them.
- Segment Out Your Subscriber List. Not everyone is going to have the same interests or the same reasoning as to why they signed up to you. Segment out your subscriber list based on their behaviors, demographics, and age. Those who haven’t purchased from you in the past 30-60 days, those who have used discount codes, those who have clicked on your emails and followed through, and those who are actively engaging in discussion with you are a few ways you can slice and dice them.
As your email list continues to grow, always make sure that you are using lead nurturing and avoid the “set it and leave it” trap. You want to be creating and developing high-value relationships with your subscriber list, as this is what will boost sales.
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