How to deliver e-newsletters to qualified recipients
The inherent goal behind a social media campaign is to get more traffic to your site. If your proven strategy has been to write a blog, develop content for Twitter and Facebook, and populate pages on Pinterest or LinkedIn, isn’t it time for an e-newsletter to be part of that campaign, as well? There’s a separate demographic for each platform, and for some of your audience, an e-newsletter will be the most effective way to get their attention.
Although few would argue that fact, there aren’t as many companies that are doing it or doing it well as one might think. There are so many stumbling blocks along the way that it causes companies to scrap the idea altogether. Even something as simple as writing an e-mail subject line can create major frustrations.
So before you get too bogged down with the content that you’ll need to include in your e-newsletter, it might be best to kick off the project by addressing who you’re going to send that e-newsletter to. If you don’t have qualified e-mail addresses from individuals who have given you permission to solicit them via e-mail, the content that you create will fall on deaf ears.
According to the editors at Inc.com, there are a few proven ways to build your distribution list. For brick and mortar locations, they first suggest something as straightforward as placing an e-mail sign-up book by the register. More often than not (60 percent of the time, to be exact), a customer will gladly give their e-mail address to a business that they’re purchasing goods or services from.
Eric Groves, senior vice president of global market development for Constant Contact, an e-mail and online marketing tool provider, provided insight for the Inc.com editors, as did Tamara Gielen, an independent e-mail marketing consultant.
So, here are a few methods for amassing an e-mail list that will work, as compiled by Inc.com:
- Promote your e-newsletter prominently on every page of your website and in each transactional or customer-support e-mail, Gielen says.
- Use paid search to drive prospects to your e-newsletter sign-up page.
- At trade shows, events or meetings, ask your customers and prospects to sign up for your e-newsletters.
- Use your business’s Facebook page to collect contact information for people who want to sign up.
- Identify third-party e-newsletters that target your prospects and customers and investigate how you can work with them to promote your own e-newsletter, Gielen says. “Work with third parties to drive their audience to a page where they can sign up to your e-newsletter either by having them send a dedicated message on your behalf (this is often referred to as ‘list rental’) or you could include a banner in their e-newsletters (often referred to as ‘e-mail advertising’).”
- Give something in return when someone signs up for your e-newsletter, such as a discount, a white paper or a free report, Gielen says.
To garner additional assistance for items such as how to promote your e-newsletter on your website, don’t hesitate to contact the team at NetSphere Strategies. We’d be honored to help with the endeavor.
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