One of the best ways to succeed in digital marketing is to nurture prospects through an email list, progressively providing them with the information they need to address their questions and move closer to making a decision. This is a frustrating prospect for many business owners, however, as the unspoken assumption behind a lot of marketing advice is that the business already has a sizeable email list to work with – which simply isn’t the case for many businesses. Many or even most businesses begin online marketing with a small or non-existent email list, or one that is full of out of date and irrelevant contacts.
Fortunately, there are several quick and easy ways to start growing your email list today, and by applying website and social media-based lead generation tactics this will only develop over time.
1) Make it really easy for people to sign up
Most people are happy to join an email list if they feel it is relevant to them, so give them every opportunity to do so. You’ve probably already got a business website, a blog, and one or more social media accounts. (If not, stop. Let’s deal with this first before you worry about email marketing.) Add a simple email newsletter signup form or CTA button to every single page and blog post, with a straightforward call to action. It doesn’t have to be huge and you don’t have to ask for much information – at this stage you just need a person’s name and email address, and the name of their employer.
2) Incorporate calls to action (CTAs) into everything you do
If you want someone to do something, ask them. Every time you publish content online you’re providing information in some way, and your email list is no different. So, whenever you write a landing page, or a blog article, ask people to sign up for your email list for more of the same, or for more information about such and such. People won’t automatically know you have an email list, so make it clear and explain to people what you need from them to take part.
3) Be transparent about your email list
Businesses are often coy about sending marketing promotions to people, resulting in a less than transparent way of explaining what their email list is about. Be open and proud about it. You’ve got something of value to share, so explain to people what data you need from them and how you will be using it – including being upfront if you plan to send people promotions, personalised discounts, and sales pitches.
4) Give people an incentive to sign up
People generally sign up for email lists that they feel are going to give them something valuable, for free. Start the relationship as you mean to continue by incentivising people to sign up by offering them gated content. What this content is is up to you, but a successful approach is to provide an exclusive e-book, infographics, or access to a video course in exchange for an email address.
Make this content personal to your target personas, and also to the page on your site on which the CTA/signup form appears. So, you might offer a downloadable ‘2022 Products & Special Offers Catalogue’ on your prices or products page (decision stage), an ‘Ultimate Guide To Saving Money On Your Energy Bills’ in your blog (awareness), and a ‘Buyers Guide To Managed IT Services for SMEs’ on your about us page (consideration). Your gated content should address the questions prospects have at the stage of the buyer journey they are likely to visit that part of your website, encouraging them to find out more by signing up to your list.
Sign up for our email newsletter and special offers list
Here is one of those CTAs we’ve spoken about: At JDR we like to keep in touch with customers by email and have a wide range of free downloadable guides, interesting blog posts, and exclusive content to send by email – so get involved by [clicking here]! You can also call us directly and speak with one of our inbound marketing team on 01332 343281.
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