How to Build Your Email Marketing List

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

This article is courtsey of iContact. We are certain you will get something useful out of it that will help grow your business. Enjoy.

Today’s email is a doozy. It’s a lot to take in, but it’s crucial to the success of your email marketing campaigns. We’re going to talk about how to build your email marketing list. We have ten ways to collect email addresses, and a link to a more in depth article on the importance of growing your list.

The Gold is in the List
As a marketer you need to think like a consumer. Consumers are smart, and they know what they want. If they receive an email from an unknown source, they will usually ignore it or delete it. If, however, the email comes from a trusted company, they are much more likely to take a look.

Building lists of subscribers, prospects, and customers is one of the most important activities your business can undertake. Once built, permission-based email lists can create sales for your company for years to come.

Ten Ways to Collect Email Addresses

Your Website
If nothing else, use your website. If you’re not promoting your email list on your website, you’re not using your website well enough.

Current Email Lists
Using current email lists to build your own email list is an essential part of your growth. If your current recipients see something of value to them, they may think their friends will benefit as well. Allowing them to pass your email along may easily add more to your list.

In-store Sign-up
When checking out or browsing around allow people to sign up for your email list by way of sign-up forms.

Contests
Register participants’ address and announce the winners through your next newsletter list.

Coupons & Discounts
Offer special incentives through email only, and allow subscribers to pass these along to friends.

Advertisements & Direct mail
Never pass up the opportunity to inform readers about your email community. Direct them to your website or have them send an email to you requesting their addition.

Business Cards
On the back of your business card, promote your website and mention any opportunity to receive informative emails or newsletters.

Trade Shows & Networking Events
Offer collateral material that requests individuals to sign-up on their own.

Seminars
Host seminars on your area of expertise and have people sign-up to your mailing list for future seminars, discounted rates, and other announcements.

iContact Community
The iContact Community is a forum through which iContact users post and share blogs and articles related both directly and indirectly to email marketing. You can visit the iContact Community at http://community.icontact.com/.

By participating in the iContact Community, you can increase the exposure of your messages and grow the number of opt-in subscribers on your lists.