If you’re new to marketing or starting your own business this year, one of the best ways to advertise yourself to relevant people is email marketing. In fact, the ROI for email marketing is one of the highest, at a huge $40 for every $1 spent. Providing customers, and potential customers with a regular newsletter, special discounts or exclusive sales is one way to give back to customers and create a small community for your brand.
But how do you build an email list?
There are hundreds of ways to keep customers engaged through email, but getting them to sign up is trickier. We are all bombarded by social media ads and email marketing every day, why would we want to sign up for yet another inbox filler?
When a customer does sign up to your newsletter, it’s because they want to know more. Whether that’s more about your company as a whole, gaining discounts for items they’re interested in, or keeping in the loop with new product launches.
To get more customers interested, and onto your email list, we’ve collated a few of the best ways to build your subscriber list for your online business.
Offer new subscribers a discount
You’ve probably seen hundreds of companies offering a discount for signing up to their newsletter. And, you’ve probably signed up to a fair few for exactly that. Offering new subscribers, a discount on their first order is one way to guarantee a few more purchases, as well as build your email list. Most of us cannot resist a freebie or saving money, so the incentive is very tempting.
Offer Discount at the Checkout for Signing Up
Rather than agitate site visitors with a pop up immediately as they land on your site, place your sign-up form and discount incentive at the checkout. Not only does it provide the customer with a small surprise discount on the order they’re already willing to place, but it gains you a subscriber in a smooth and less abrupt way. 7 out of 10 visitors of online stores make it to the checkout, and then abandon their cart at the last minute. By providing the discount when they’re still deciding on whether to purchase their basket, you can boost sales, reduce abandoned carts and gain a following.
Host A Competition
Host a giveaway or competition which requires entrees to sign up for your newsletter. While some might immediately unsubscribe after the competition ends, a lot will continue to follow your brand and stay updated with your content, products, and sales. Hosting a competition is also a great way to boosting your visibility on social media, and introducing the world to your brand in a fun and exciting way.
Provide Toolkits, Guides or E-Books
By providing specialized information in the form of downloadable guides, toolkits, or E-Books, there’s much more incentive for people to sign up. For example, if you’re an online travel agent, offer a travel phrasebook for specific countries. An online fashion store can provide styling guides or measuring guides. Meanwhile, if you offer niche products for a certain industry, you can show site visitors your expertise in your field with an E-Book. All of this content helps you gain new subscribers, while also helping you gauge what kind of content is interesting to your readers and customers.
Once you’ve got your incentives in place, make sure you are using a great emailing platform that offers subscriber segmentation. That way, when a customer subscribes to your newsletter, they can select the types of email they are interested in. You can segment your following based on product categories, their interest in blogs, discounts or exclusives, etc. This will help you to keep your email list engaged, as you will only be sending emails relevant to their specific interests.
These are just a few of the ways in which you can build your email list in 2021. There are so many creative ways to do it, that it’s always good to check your competitors to see the tips and tricks they’re doing to engage with their community.
