Email List Growth Advice from Email Marketing Vendor
The following is definitely not an email best practice: Collecting business cards at an event, then adding all those names to your in-house email list. (Even if you haven’t done it, you know you’ve been a victim of it!)
That’s not opt in. It’s not even legal. But it’s so very tempting!
But there are plenty of ways to collect email addresses from people that do want to opt in. You might not get the same quantity as the fishbowl at the trade show, but the quality will far surpass those names. And when it comes to in-house email lists, quality beats quantity every time…especially when it means your behavior is legal.
As an email marketing vendor, we’ve seen our email marketing clients use all kinds of different methods for collecting permission-based email addresses that can improve their email marketing results. Here are a few of our favorites, some obvious but maybe overlooked, some not so obvious but a good idea:
- Email signature blocks: Every employee in your company should have a standard, branded email signature that includes a link to your signup page. (Note: Every employee should have a standard, branded email signature even if it doesn’t include a link to your signup page!)
- Facebook: Include a link to your signup page on your company’s Fan page.
- Direct mail: Sure it’s offline, but there’s no reason you can’t encourage people to go online and subscribe. Try using an incentive, like a discount if they do.
- Trade shows: Yes, we were just mocking companies that collect email addresses en masse at trade shows via business cards, but you can legitimately get people to opt in. You can even eliminate the data entry (and possible errors of) by letting people sign up right there on a computer at your booth. This is another great place for an incentive, something you’ll give them right then and there after they do subscribe.
- Landing pages: Include a link to your signup page on any landing pages used with pay-per-click ads or other offers. Even if they don’t convert once at the landing page, they might still say yes to hearing from you in the future by subscribing to your email marketing or email newsletter.
Even if you only get a handful of email addresses via each different method, over time, those handfuls will add up to big numbers. This is where quantity does matter: The more places and ways you can get people to opt in to your email marketing, the faster your in-house email list will grow with quality names!
And remember in each case that people won’t subscribe just because you offer the option. You still have to sell the benefits of signing up in the first place!
Tags: email best practice, email marketing results, email marketing vendor