Date: 12/01/2003
Author: Matt Malloy
After you've set up an account with an e-mail marketing provider, the next step is to gather some customer email addresses. Below are some effective methods for acquiring e-mail addresses.
Add an Opt-In Box to Your Site
Adding an opt in box on every page of your Web site can increase sign-ups by 40%
Including an opt-in box on your Web site where visitors can sign up is one of the main ways to grow your list of users. The screen below shows an opt-in box on a page.
Mailing list opt in box on a Web site created with Interland Business Solutions
You should add the opt-in box to your Home page, but also other appropriate places, such as an Upcoming Events area or Contact Us page. One study by Roving Technology® indicated that adding an opt in box to every page on your site increased sign-ups by 40%.
Just placing an opt-in box on your site may not be enough by itself to inspire visitors to sign up. So, be sure to tell them what they're going to get if they subscribe to your mailing list. Will you be sending out a newsletter with helpful information? Special offers or promotions? E-mail news alerts? Once a week? Once a month?
Linking to a sample newsletter or at least offering a brief description of your newsletter contents would be helpful. Generally, people don't like to sign up for something if they don't know exactly what they're going to get.
Collect E-mail Addresses at Customer Contact Points
Ask for an e-mail address whenever you talk to or correspond with a customer.
You should also begin to collect e-mail addresses at every point of customer contact. For example:
- Ask for an e-mail address during every customer service, sales, or support call
- Include an area for e-mail address on bills, invoices, customer surveys, and feedback forms
- Maintain a sign-up sheet including a place for e-mail address at trade shows or events
- Set aside a day or two to call customers and offer them a special promotion that you'll only send via e-mail
- Send out a printed mailing that includes a call to action extending a special offer (such as 10% off coupon) to everyone who sends you an e-mail within the next 48 hours
- Partner with another related local business to set up a joint e-mail mailing. You send an e-mail to your list endorsing your partner's products, and providing an e-mail address to send to for more information, and they send an e-mail to their list endorsing your products and including an address
Get Employees Involved
Make sure employees are aware of the importance of e-mail marketing, and are also involved in asking customers for e-mail addresses.
For many of these strategies to work, it's helpful if you can enlist the help of your employees. Make sure they understand the business benefits of e-mail marketing as well as you do. Every employee should make it a part of their routine to ask each customer with whom they interact if the customer is on the mailing list, and if not, to encourage the customer to sign up.
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