If you are new to digital marketing, your first question is “How do I build my email list?”
Let’s explore ways to build a viable, productive email list.
The first question is, “Why use an email list for marketing?”
Email is one of your best marketing tools. Your landing page (see the blog on Creating a Landing Page) must send the emails you are collecting somewhere.
Set up your email provider early on so that when you collect all those emails with your lead magnet, they are in an app with the features you will likely use. Many of them are free or low-cost, depending on the number of contacts and emails you will be using.
Most email services like Mail Chimp, ConvertKit, or Keap (formerly Infusion Soft) have landing page templates, as well.
What I particularly like about Keap is that you can set up an email sequence so the first email goes out and then, depending on the action the person who gets the email takes, the next email automatically goes out.
Let me know if you need help setting this sequence up, and I will provide you with the name of the consultant I use. Just email me through the CONNECT page of the website, TrailBlazersImpact.com.
Now you can start your email campaign. If you are consistent in your communication and continue to provide your audience with what they are looking for, you should be able to retain your followers.
Your email list should be segmented to categorize the list into groups you might want to email separately. The email list should be kept clean. Delete the emails with no response.
Track your email rates such as your click-through rate (CTR) for the percentage of people who clicked at least one link in your email message. To calculate your CTR, divide the total number of people who clicked by the number of delivered emails and multiply that figure by 100. Your average email open rate should be between 15 and 25 percent. Your average CTR should be about 2.5 percent. Your average click-to-open rate should be 20 to 30 percent.
I hope you can see why developing an email list is a marketing must. But how do you do that? Regardless of the business you are in, you should have a solid email list, targeted to people who are interested in your product or service.
Although you can buy or rent an email list, I would not recommend this. The people on those lists will not be “leads” because they have no interest in you. Building an organic email list of your own is the best methodology, but building that kind of list takes time. You do not want anyone and everyone on your list. You want a qualified email list. You want to think about who is most likely to buy or utilize your product or service.
A niche market may be a smaller market, but, if you have targeted correctly, it is a market more likely to buy from you.
The easiest way to build your email list is through your website, with a pop-up form through your email provider. The pop-up form invites people to subscribe to your website and become part of your community. However, you need people visiting your website for this to be effective.
Another method is to offer a survey or a quiz where you collect the email during the question-and-answer process.
You can also offer a free summit on a topic. However, a summit is a whole lot of work! It might be better to start off with a free webinar.
And perhaps the best method is to provide:
- A Lead Magnet
- With a Call to Action
- On a Landing Page
- With the Landing Page, A Thank You Page, and a Confirmation Built into a Funnel
Now here’s the key to it all. You have to get the attention of your Avatar, your ideal customer. Look at the blog on that topic!
In fact, look for the individual blog on how to develop each of these – and then get busy and SELL with your new email list!