Developing a qualified email list is essential for every business.
“But, I run a referral-based business.”
If you relate to the above sentiment, that’s awesome! We happen to think referral-based businesses are incredible. Heck, RWL Design is a referral-based business. But, a qualified email list is still essential.
Email Keeps You Present, Building Stronger Relationships
Regardless of the type of business you run, developing relationships with your customers is essential. Like your relationships in your personal life, these customer relationships require regular contact to develop and maintain. When used correctly, email offers a non-invasive and cost-effective way to consistently reach out to your customers.
Email Allows You to Personalize Your Message
A qualified email list is a list comprised of individuals who have willingly joined your list with a clear expectation of what you will be sending them and how often it will be sent. By creating a qualified list, you can typically segment your list by distinct groups. This segmentation might include, but isn’t limited to:
What type of information the recipient requested
When the recipient signed up
Where the recipient lives
The recipient’s past purchase history
The age and/or gender of the recipient
Segmenting your list allows you to personalize your message, tailoring it to your recipients’ unique interests and needs. In a recent study by Aberdeen Group revealed personalized messages improved click-through rates by 14% on average and conversion rates by 10% on average.
Even more impressive, is Campaign Monitor’s study which notes marketers have seen a 760% increase in revenue when using segmented campaigns.
Why is segmentation seeing such staggeringly positive results? Let’s look again at your personal life. Do you buy the same birthday card for your best friend as you do for your brother-in-law? Maybe. If your brother-in-law rocks or if you’re being particularly lazy.
However, chances are you buy different cards for each. Because each person is unique. The same principle applies to your customers. Segmenting your email list allows you to treat each customer like a human.
Segmenting your email list allows you to treat customers like humans.Click to Tweet
Email Encourages Your Customers to Promote Your Business
Word-of-Mouth Marketing was pioneered in the 1970s by George Silverman. But is wasn’t until 2005 that the principle really began to take off. Today, word-of-mouth marketing (aka influencer marketing) can be one of the most effective and affordable forms of promotion.
At its most basic, word-of-mouth marketing is getting your audience to sing your praises. These are the best testimonials. They are the genuine statements about why everyone should love your product or service shared by an individual (or lots of individuals) outside your company.
Neil Patel, New York Times best-selling author revealed in a ‘Quick Sprout’ article that his, “email subscribers are 3.9 times more likely to share the content via the social web.”
This means his email subscribers are his best word-of-mouth marketing team. But, only because he has a qualified email list!
You Own Your Email List
Let’s just get this out of the way. You don’t own your Facebook Page. You don’t own your Twitter Profile, Instagram Handle or Pinterest Account. At any given time, access and control over these platforms can be taken from you.
You do own your email list. All the contacts and information you gather on that list is yours. Now, we’re not saying you should go off and sell it. But, investing in your email list allows you to create a contact base on which you can depend.
Recipients Are Far More Likely to See Your Email than Your Social Post
As social media has expanded, your potential reach as an individual and as a business has shrunk. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles. Sorry to break it to you. Most of social media today is a pay-to-play game. And even with paid ads, you’re not guaranteed your desired audience will even see your message.
With email, you’re automatically going to be targeting the individuals you want. (Remember, you’re creating the qualified list.) Furthermore, the better the relationship you’ve established with your audience, the more likely they are to open your email. Meaning, your business gets more reach and more engagement with email marketing.
But…only if you’ve developed a qualified email list!
3 Tips to Create a Qualified Email List
1. Start with Your Existing Customers
Your existing customer base is your best customer base. It’s far easier to sell to someone who has already purchased your product and service than to someone unfamiliar with your business. If you haven’t started collecting customer information at the point of sale, do so now. This list is essential.
2. Put an Opt-In Form on Your Website
The ‘sales funnel’ is rarely a direct path. It often takes customers multiple touches before they finally pull the trigger and make a purchase. By putting an opt-in form on your website, you give your potential customers a low-barrier way to request additional information. Additionally, this helps you remain present and relevant to them moving forward.
All opt-in forms should be double opt-in. Both the European Union (EU) and Canada have strict laws protecting email recipients from being spammed. These laws require all email lists to be double opt-in. We expect the laws in America to soon follow. While the pushback is that the increased barrier lowers the growth rate of an email list, the added step of having a recipient confirm that they requested to sign up helps ensure an interested audience. This makes those on your list of much higher value. Additionally, utilizing this best practice ensures your business is positioned appropriately when the law does change.
3. Offer an Incentive
Often the information within your email newsletter isn’t enough to tempt a visitor to opt-in. But with a little bit of incentive, you’ll often see your list grow. An incentive could include:
A discount on a future purchase
A freebie with their purchase
A free white paper
A free how-to guide
A free e-book
Early access to a sale
Get Help Developing Your Email List
From creating opt-in forms to developing incentives, our creative team can help you strategically grow your qualified email list.
Let’s talk about how email marketing can help your business achieve its goals.
Additional Reading
Should Your Business Invest in Content Marketing?
Want your website to start delivering real results? Content marketing strengthens your existing marketing strategy offering real, long-term results.
How to Respond to Messages on Facebook Messenger
Build stronger, more familiar customer relationships through Facebook Messenger with these 9 tips.
How to Reply to Comments on Facebook Posts
The etiquette of how to respond to Facebook comments isn’t cut and dry, but with a few simple principles you can acknowledge your fans and grow a community.
