Email Marketing - Strategies, Tips and Tricks
The process of list building may best be defined as a worldwide Rolodex. You have information to share, but it’s hard to let people know about it if your ‘Rolodex’ is empty.
List building is the process of gathering email addresses for the purpose of sending information, offers and other marketing information to clients and potential customers.
It might be tempting to gather all the email addresses you have in your email account and place them on a list to receive your information. You might also think that purchasing an email list from an online source might help you build your list, but there is a much greater likelihood that you will be reported as a spammer if the recipients don’t know you and isn’t thrilled to receive email from you.
Building an organic list can take time, but you stand a better chance of actually connecting with a receptive audience.
You may find that list building is best achieved by providing site visitors with information gathering forms. An autoreponder can often manage the automated distribution of the information they seek, but the customer information is gathered and can be used to invite them to participate in redeeming money saving offers from you. Some forms include an ‘already highlighted’ box that indicates the individual wishes to receive future e-offers. The premise behind this is many customers do not look at every field in the form and may not uncheck the box when submitting their information.
No matter the method you use to gather names in your list building process make sure to honor requests to unsubscribe. If you manage the list manually make sure to remove the name quickly or risk a report of spam.
One way to grow your list is to make sure the information you deliver is targeted, above average and something the client will look forward to receiving. The content could be information or it could be a simple sales flyer, but by staying on target you will be more likely to connect with your client.
Don’t abuse your list by sending them a significant volume of email. Carefully plan each mailing and make sure it is strongly related to your core objectives. If you send too much – too often you may be perceived as only slightly better than those incredibly annoying forwards that we all delete from our email files.
For instance I have always said that list building is an important concept in email marketing, but I was asked the question, “How important is list building?”
At first glance it would be easy to say, “It’s really important.” However, that expression simply provides a vague portent of doom if the client fails to build their list in a comprehensive way.
Let me paint a picture for you.
You have developed an online business using products derived from a supplier that your immediate contacts are raving about. As you apply list building techniques more and more email addresses are added to your database.
There may come a time when the supplier of the products you sell goes out of business. If you have developed your entire business on one specific product you may come to believe your business has come to an end or that you need to start a new business from scratch.
If, however, you can develop two or more product lines sold under one business umbrella then something wonderful can happen when a supplier goes the way of the dodo bird.
This is the point where your email list becomes more important than the products you are no longer able to sell.
Why?
If you have built your list organically and the individuals represented by that list have discovered a trust in you then the occasional shift in product lines can often be viewed as a greater service to the customers.
Do you see what has happened? The list building becomes more important to the success of your overall business than the product lines you carry.
At some point the customers develop a trust in you and your ability to provide quality products and service. It is even possible to have an occasional revolving door when it comes to product lines and still hold on to most of your list.
When you are able to establish trust with a large list you gain greater flexibility in product lines and business opportunities because most of the list will remain interested in your business even if they don’t take advantage of every offer you send.
This scenario is impossible to duplicate with rented lists. Admittedly this process can take time to develop, but it holds the greatest promise for long-term email marketing.
When you implement the strategy of list building into your website design you are likely to find that customers can be highly motivated to provide their email addresses if they can gain a comfort level in the information, products or services you offer.
Maximize Affiliation
Many netrepreneurs may become affiliates for complimentary products or services. This can give your site a ‘full-service’ feel that may appeal to many of your potential clients.
The downside is when that potential customer immediately gravitates toward an affiliate link. Your potential client basically used your site as a portal to an off-site business.
You can level the playing field by having the link send the visitor to a ‘squeeze page’ first. This page allows you the best chance to capture their email address by encouraging them to sign up for an ezine you produce or select a free download of an industry related product or information. Once the client submits their email address they are passed on to the affiliate. In this scenario you receive their email address and the potential of residual income if they indeed make a purchase from the business you have listed as an affiliate.
Articles
Informational articles are becoming one of the best marketing tools on the web, but did you know they could also be a consistent source of list building opportunities?
Many articles on the web will provide links to other portions of the website, but if you don’t have a subscribers link to a newsletter or ezine you are missing out on an incredibly powerful list building technique.
A simple “Sign up for our newsletter” link may result in more additions to your database than you would have thought possible.
The reason this is true is if your online information is good the visitor may not want to miss out on the possibility of additional information from your firm. The articles you supply have the ability to instill the trust factor your client needs to consider you a solid alternative for ecommerce.
Signing Bonus
Every time you can provide a signing bonus you will likely encourage the rapid growth of your email distribution list. It’s true, many individuals will sign up if they believe it is in their best interest, but there are so many free offers available many site visitors may be looking for what you will offer them for signing up. You might even provide a list of freebies for signing up or accepting a free membership to your site.
So, you’re building a list, right? And in return for people’s names and addresses, you want to give something away.
OK…
If you can write and you know your topic very well, then you can write a short report, an email series to put into your autoresponder, or even a short ebook. But how do you go about that, if you hate to or can’t write?Well, you can buy Private Label Rights (PLR) articles or ebooks and adapt them to suit the topic of your list. Let’s talk about those for a moment.
Private Label Rights articles and ebooks are popular because they help you to save time. With PLR materials, the writer or owner of the material gives you the “rights” to sell or giveaway pre-written material. You can use it as if your own company or you personally wrote the information and you have the right to adapt the material in any manner you see fit.
Rather than gathering research and writing the material you’d like to give to your list yourself, you can simply take the articles and change some of the words, rearrange paragraphs, and give the articles new titles. This is a good idea. You definitely don’t want to offer the same things going around to the people who are signing up for your list. If they saw the same exact thing before on some other list or another giveaway deal, they’ll feel cheated and won’t trust you. Plus, they’ll probably unsubscribe from your list, to boot. That’s not good. The people on your list need to trust you.
You can buy article “spinning” software, but as far as that goes… just finding synonyms for words and plugging them into the article text won’t cut it, either. People aren’t that stupid, and you certainly never want to insult the intelligence of the people on your list. You want them to like you, too.
Writing articles or short reports isn’t that hard if you know your subject. Come up with a great title, something that people will really take notice of. If you’re on my list, you’ve seen some of my email titles, like: “Crusty Old Norwegian,” or “ADD Superman Bends Time.” Great titles will definitely get people to read your stuff.
Then, tell them something about your topic. Focus on one facet of it, and don’t try to tell the whole story in one article. You’ll fail. Here’s an example:
If I were to write about Internet Marketing, that would be a very broad topic. I could never cover it all in one short article. Right? But what if I narrowed that down to list building? Then, what if I narrowed it even more to how to set up an autoresponder? But even more than that, what if I wrote step-by-step instructions on plugging the autoresponder opt-in box into your web site? You see? Get your topic down to a chewable size and BANG!
If you’re still stumped, hire somebody to write these messages or reports for you. You can find people very reasonably at http://eLance.com or you can hire someone who’s professional and pay more.
The question is how much of an impact do you want to make and how much money do you have to spend?
If you have more time than money, study about writing articles, until you get really, really good at it. Buy a home study course, or an ebook about writing articles and study those. If you really hone in on what it is you’re trying to accomplish, just focus on that one thing… you’ll be an article-writing ninja before you even know it.
And think of how this will impact your relationship with your list. If you send them crappy looking articles, they won’t respect you. Give them something you can be proud of, even if you have to pay for it. For the respect it will give you with your list, the money will be well worth it.
It’s been almost three and a half years since the U. S. CAN-SPAM act went into effect, and though it didn’t help to stem the flow of spam into our inboxes every day, you still have to follow the law.
“I’m just a one-person operation,” you may be thinking. But even so, even if you’re just starting out with list building, you have to remember that your’e still liable. One spam complaint could shut you down or worse. Though you’re probably protected if you use an online autoresponder service, if you’re handling mail on your own, there are some things you need to be aware of.
Here are some important parts of the law:
Those are the general rules. But there are a couple of other things to consider. Never, ever buy lists of email addresses. Harvesting of addresses is also illegal, so don’t do it. Set up a proper list building page that sends your subscribers’ names and email addresses to an autoresponder that automatically confirms subscriptions. This “double opt-in” process is just safer. Nothing in the law says you have to do this, but it just makes things safer.
Always include a link in your email where people can opt out, and show that’s what it’s for. Usually, when you use an online autoresponder service, this is handled for you. Just be sure. And if you’re using your own software, be sure you’re in compliance. If you’re not and you’re accused of spamming, you could receive an $11,000 fine and/or be sent to prison. Is it worth it?
Despite its name, the CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t apply just to bulk email. It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service,” including email that promotes content on commercial websites. The law makes no exception for business-to-business email. That means all email – for example, a message to former customers announcing a new product line – must comply with the law.
Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000, so non-compliance can be costly. But following the law isn’t complicated. Here’s a rundown of CAN-SPAM’s main requirements: