2008 Resolution – Grow Your Mailing List
We believe your email marketing objective in 2008 should be – to grow your mailing list.
Do you know how many ‘confirmed opt in’ subscribers are on your mailing list?
Is it less or more subscribers than a month ago, or six months ago? Unless you have key strategies in place to continually grow your mailing lists more than likely your mailing list is shrinking!
While it may not appear to be a huge concern seeing one or two ‘unsubscribes’ per mail out – over time collectively the ‘unsubscribe number becomes harder to replace so we suggest you put strategies in place now to ensure your email marketing database remains a key asset of your business.
Key Techniques for Growing Your Mailing Lists:
- Website home page ‘sign up’ subscribe facility – and thoughout website
- Signature Link in emails
- Subscribe Link in all Mail Out messages
- Lineage in all marketing campaigns
- Run regular subscription promotions
Website Subscribe Facility
A high percentage of website visitors never go beyond your homepage so put the ‘call to action’ on your homepage to capture these visitors on your mailing list. Once they are on your mailing list you can communicate with them (compliantly) on a regular basis with relevant information.
Ensure you have the subscribe facility also on other key web pages throughout your website. Repetition is good! (contact us to discuss your options)
Signature Link in Emails
Ensure you have a hyperlink to your subscription page in your email signature and your signature is attached to your email replies as well as your new messages. An example of a hyperlink subscribe email for our own mailing list is:
The actual URL link to the subscription page is hidden behind the “email marketing tips and news” so it is more attractive and in theory/practice results in more clicks to view the webpage.
All members of your team can be driving your key message and increasing your mailing lists by adding a link in their email signatures e.g. 5 members of your team sending out 50 messages a day = 250 emails with your mailing list subscription link.
Subscribe Link in all Mail Out messages
All mail outs should contain a link to your mailing list subscription page. You may send ‘text only’ or non-template messages occasionally – we suggest you ensure there is a link to your mailing list subscription page so these messages enable new subscriptions.
Lineage in Marketing Campaigns
In your print, tv or radio marketing campaigns put in a few words about your newsletter subscription. E.g . “Visit our website and sign up to our finance tips and latest news”
Run Regular Subscription Promotions
Once or twice a year a promotion to grow your mailing list can drive the numbers upwards. Consider providing a discount or free gift for subscription. I know a business that provides a free e-book to every people subscribing to his newsletter and he now has over 15,000 relevant subscribers.
Five easy steps for you to take immediately to replace the unsubscribed subscribers and grow your mailing list in 2008 and beyond.