Tips for List Building: Tip #4
Promote the email list everywhere on your site and beyond
Don’t be shy about promoting your email list on and offline.
Online, use the traffic on your website to drive email sign-ups. “Advertise” your email list and its benefits throughout your website by placing small graphic ads that link to the email sign-up page. Where you can’t place graphics, add messages promoting the email list that link to the email opt-in page.
See our blog entry for ideas on Converting Web Visitors to Email List Subscribers.
Your company will have many points of contact where it can promote your email list, but not actually collect the email addresses as we discussed in the last blog. For example, you can’t leap off the back page of a catalogue and take down an email address. But this is a perfect offline opportunity to promote the email and its sign-up url.
You want to be sure the email sign-up url is pretty and short: www.yoursite.com/newsletter or www.yoursite.com/deals are examples. When promoting your email list offline, be sure you emphasize the value of the list to overcome the obstacle signing up presents to your customers (going to their computers, typing in your url, filling out a form, etc.) Often this is accomplished with a special sign-up offer: receive a 20% off coupon or promo code for signing up, for example.
At what points of contact within your organization can you promote signing up to the email list?
1. Promote the email sign-up page url on all of your printed materials—catalogues, brochures, direct mail, etc.
2. Distribute these materials at trade shows, conventions, etc. Or create small business cards for email list itself and distribute these.
3. Include a small “shout out” for email sign up (and the url) in all print ads. Remember to frame this in terms of the value you’re offering.
4. Promote the url in the “hold messaging” on customer service phone lines.
5. Promote the url on product registration cards, contest entry forms, etc.—you should already be collecting an email address on these forms, but promoting the email list might inspire your customers to act immediately and sign up directly.
6. Promote the email opt-in page url on employee signature lines in email correspondence.
7. If you have a direct mailing list, send an invitation to customers for a special offer if they sign up to receive email.
8. Include the url for email opt-in on all transaction and confirmation emails, shipping confirmation emails, invoices (both email and printed), on credit card receipts, packing slips, etc.
9. Include the email newsletter sign-up url in articles and at the bottom of press releases.
10. Include the sign-up url on the email itself, so if your customers don’t use your “send to a friend” feature and merely forward the original email, the “friend” sees the sign-up url and can take action.
Remember that these steps will often reach beyond the eCommerce department and Marketing departments. Research all forms of customer facing communication that every department throughout your organization engages in and determine where you can add a “shout out” about the email list.
Next blog: Tip #5 - Seek opportunities with partners