20 Email Newsletter List Building Ideas
We know that email addresses can pay big dividends for marketers in the long run. That’s why email was one of the first big channels in online marketing, and why it remains a powerful one today. But how do you build this asset? Let’s review some email list building tactics that Priority Integrated Marketing has helped banks, credit unions, hospitals and more to implement with success. These 20 ideas require you to build trust, incentivize and streamline.
Build Trust
- Focus on articles to drive subscribers. Always, always focus on the content. Entice the subscriber with what they will be receiving, and when they will be receiving it.
- Mention the newsletter’s benefits in your other various marketing messages. Did you know that Priority Integrated Marketing has useful marketing tips just like this in our email newsletter, PRIORITIES?
- Include exclusive content from your CEO or other top managers.
- Create a publication microsite archive so your users can preview past content before subscribing.
- Place your privacy policy in a clear and easily accessible location on the opt-in form.
- Provide testimonials describing how your content has helped others. Couple these with the opt-in form.
- Consider a preference center that allows your subscribers to choose how they receive email communications from you.
Incentivize
- Write a free ebook and ask for opt-ins prior to download. Would it be worth spending a few hundred dollars promoting this with a sponsored search pay-per-click campaign?
- Encourage staff to ask customers for opt-ins. Offer prizes for the most valid addresses. Make sure there are enough good prizes to make it worth everyone’s time to compete and make it FUN!
- Give subscribers the tools to tell their friends about your content and reward them for their effort. Make it easy for their friends to become a subscriber. Put a subscribe link in the email.
- Hold live webinars and ask for newsletter opt-in during sign-up.
- We’ve all heard ‘you gotta spend money to make money’. Give away a prize such as a Nintendo Wii, a netbook, or a spa day in exchange for opt-ins. Promote it everywhere.
- Hmm … do I really have to spend money? If you have an existing print newsletter and are looking to move subscribers to email for cost savings, consider positioning the switch as a “go green” effort.
Streamline
- Place your opt-in form on every page (in the footer, header, or sidebar). This is for the impulse opt-ers.
- Less fields the better, unless you have a targeting plan to use the data. A one-field form requiring only email address is great for B2C. For B2B, you might want to get their name, title, or company as well.
- Create a dedicated landing page for your sign-up form. Remove your main navigation or any other distractions. This should be used for any advertised traffic. Don’t expect them to find the form on your homepage.
- Place cards at teller or reception desks. Make it easy enough to complete in 30 seconds.
- Advertise the newsletter in the email signatures of customer-facing employees.
- Build an opt-in form into one of your Facebook page tabs. Drop links to your dedicated landing page via Twitter. Use these channels to provide previews of your newsletter’s content, but don’t give away the farm. Make it clear that exclusive content is found only in the email.
- Advertise in brochures, business cards, posters, ads, and more. What about pre-paid envelopes? As with the incentives, decide how much a valid email address is worth to you and pay for them.
Email newsletter list building is a topic that comes up frequently in conversations with our clients. Hopefully these tips inspire you to re-energize your email program!
