According to our friends at Marketing Sherpa, 91% of U.S. adults like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with. But many businesses have stopped trying to grow their email list, thinking the medium is passé. If you’re among them, you may want to re-evaluate your position.
Email is not dead
Why does every major social media network require an email address to set up an account? Why do most people still check their email first thing in the morning? Whether it’s on your phone or desktop, think about how often you refresh Gmail throughout the day. Email’s not going away any time soon.
Email vs. social media
Your social newsfeeds are blowing up with posts and tweets by the minute — and you miss or gloss over at least half of them. The reality is, we now receive far less emails than Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram updates.
The same holds true for your prospects. And since everyone’s constantly checking email, a powerful subject line is likely to catch their eye
As emails are opened, more traffic is driven to your website. More people means more clicks. And getting more clicks increases your exposure…and your sales.
Getting started
Those are the whys. Now some hows:
- Create an opt-in form. Make it clear and make it obvious or you’ll be missing out on potential subscribers.
- Add opt-ins to the right places on your website. Put one on the sidebar, one to the top of the page and one on the “about” page. You may even consider having a pop-up or -over on the home page.
- Eliminate sign-up page clutter. This is arguably the #1 conversion killer.
- Offer an incentive. Whether it’s an e-book, a sample or a discount, reward your subscribers.
- Reinvigorate an old list. If you have a stale list that you’re not using to your advantage, create an engaging message encouraging contacts to re- opt-in with a promise to remove those who don’t respond. This increases the odds of your email getting seen and shared.
Get going — start building your email list today and watch prospects convert into returning customers