Building Your Business with an Opt-in List

Email Marketing

Email marke ting is one of the most e ffe ctive marketing me thods simply be cause most people
use email. A pe rson without an email address is tantamount to a pe rson without an online
home .

Pe rm issions-base d adve rtising combined with engaging, re le vant conte nt is a ke y succe ss

factor with your targe t audience . ALW AYS ask for pe rmission and be disce rning in your
campaigns. O nly send to people who have registe red inte rest in the email topic.

Your email marke ting proje ct will most like ly conform to the following stages:

 List building:
Avoid spamming by using clean data comprised of email addresses from people
who have voluntarily joined your mailing list.

 Content and design:

Ensure the email is we ll written, visually attractive and contains the ne cessary
‘call to action’

 Sending:
Plan the time to send your campaign so that the re cipients re ce ive your message
at the be st possible moment for them to respond favourably and allow sufficient
time for a follow-up campaigns to reinforce the offe r. You may wish to send two
diffe re nt follow-up campaigns, ie one to those who have re sponded to the offe r,
and the se cond to those who have nt.

 Results analysis:
Sending the email campaign is only part of the story and monitoring the re sults
can be difficult. Use te chnology such as the C lip Magic Email Marke ting se rvice to
manage this stage of the process.

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Building Your Opt-in List

Now we ’ve e stablished the frame work for email marke ting, the first step – and the focus of
this article - is to ge ne rate a ‘pe rmissions-based’ , also k nown as opt-in, list.

Building your opt-in list requires care ful planning, particularly for the uninitiated. Be low are
some tips on how to do it we ll.

Strategic Collection of Data

Web-based form s are the most popular way to create opt-in mailing lists.

It’s important to remembe r that the opt-in form se rves one purpose only – to build your
list.

Implement tactics that encourage people to voluntarily provide the minimum information
ne ce ssary. The reasons are simple, ie:

 Speed:
Most people hate filling in form s. The quicke r and easie r the form is to comple te, the
more like ly it will be submitted.

 Trust:
Typically, this will be your first contact and you have not ye t earned the right/the ir
trust to gathe r more de tailed information.

Usually, an email addresses and pe rhaps the pe rson’s name are sufficie nt. The place
– physical or web page - the from which the form is submitted should be enough for
you to dete rm ine the pe rson’s topic of inte rest.

Once the list is established, the n use your campaigns to gathe r more information and
se ll your products and se rvices.

 Reward:
Re ward the visitor for subm itting the form . Some times a simply worded ‘thank you’

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 message will do. Bette r still, give the visitor some thing more tangible. A discounted
offe r, an informative article or ebook are popular choices. It’s good karma and
providing the gift has value , gives your visitor confide nce to continue the re lationship.

Employ Complementary Strategies

Use email in conjunction with othe r marketing strategies to re inforce your message . Popular
channe ls to le ve rage include :

1. Websites

 Your own:
Add the form on your website and e nsure that links to it are prom inently display.

 Other websites:
Include links to your site on othe r websites such as dire ctories, pre ss release,
social ne twork ing and blog sites to he lp drive traffic to the form on your we bsite.

2. Traditional A dvertising Media

Make use of print adve rtising, brochure s, TV, radio and dire ct mail to ask people to join your
email se rvice .

3. Maximize your sales force.

Have your Customer Se rvice and Salespe ople invite people to join your email list in the
course of the ir conve rsations with custome rs and prospe cts. Te chniques like offe ring account
updates and spe cial programs through email can easily land you those valuable email
addresses.

4. Don't make your point of sale pointless.

Place forms inviting custome rs to join your list near cash registe rs and othe r high-traffic
areas in your busine ss premises. Le t your custome rs k now the y’ll be notified of upcoming
sales and membe rship bene fits to pe rsuade them to provide the ir email addre sses.

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5. Conferences and Trade Shows.

Giveaway offe rs or entries on sweepstake s are great ways to entice voluntee r opt-ins from
passing traffic.

6. Keep it Clean

The integrity of your list is vital. Lists are dynamic as people change email addre sses and
unsubscribe , as we ll as the ne w additions.

Most email marke ting se rvices such as C lip Magic Email Marke ting, use te chnology to
automatically rid your list of bad or bounced email addresses. W hen managing the list
yourself, it’s your responsibility to ensure that the data is clean and that you’re not
spamm ing people who no longe r wish to re ce ive your messages.

Summary

The foundation of any successful email marke ting campaign is the quality of its subscribe rs
and the re le vance of its subje ct matte r.

Apply these tactics to focus on earning the trust of your opt-in list subscribe rs rathe r than
simply collating data for your own bene fit.

Always e nsure that the forms are quick to submit and the list management me thods you
employ are use r-friendly and informative.

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