Do you know which channel outperforms all the rest to drive conversions? Good old-fashioned email. The most impressive statistics on email as a marketing tool are well known:
- An ROI of about 4,300%.
- 60% of people say that the special offers they receive are the top reason they subscribe to an email list.
- 80% of people say they receive daily marketing messages alongside their personal emails.
Email Acquisition Strategy
Email is a powerful tool for delivering messages to your targeted audience. It’s a flexible medium that offers a wide range of benefits. Keep your customers up-to-date with deals and news, and track open rates and other vital metrics for your business.
But to send those emails, you need a list of email addresses. Your email marketing list is one of your organization’s most important assets. And it needs constant attention. Every time you send an email, people will unsubscribe – it’s just bound to happen.
To keep your email list full and to grow it consistently (or to start one all together), you need to put an email acquisition strategy in place.
Ways to Capture Emails on Your Website
Growing your business email list is not all that difficult. The key to getting customers on board is offering them something of value.
Start using these strategies today and you’ll soon have a robust list of customers who want to hear from you:
Include a Newsletter Signup.
One of the simplest ways to allow your customers to sign up for your email list is to have newsletter signups throughout your website. The call to action can be as simple as “Want to stay up-to-date with our sales and offers? Join our mailing list”. Include your newsletter signup, at the very least, on your homepage and on your blog posts.
Offer a Discount or Promotion.
Studies show that financial incentives work best for getting people to sign up. The most popular promotions are percentage-off offers, free shipping, free trials, and dollars-off promotions.
Be Smart About Pop-Ups.
The truth is most people don’t like pop-ups, especially ones that appear just as they begin to skim your content. So, do something different. Try using a pop-up at the end of your content, which is when most people decide whether they want to subscribe or not. It can be just as effective as a call to action (CTA). Or try the relatively new technology, exit-intent, that monitors mouse movements of your website visitors and detects when they are likely to leave your website.
Encourage Sharing.
Once people sign up via your website, include social sharing buttons and email-to-a-friend buttons in your marketing emails to them. People love to share what they find useful with friends and family.
Make Offers Easy to Find.
Link to email capturing offers throughout your website. CTAs should be on just about every page – key locations include the homepage, the main page of your blog, and your “About Us” and “Contact Us” pages. Launch a dedicated landing page for each offer – it’s a bit more work, but the payoff can be huge. Customers will gladly hand over their email address in exchange for a white paper, infographic or cheat sheet.
Use Analytics.
Your website is the most straightforward way to grow your email list. Every day it collects and directs incoming visitors. Use your web analytics tools to identify the pages on your site that receive the most traffic and create opt-in opportunities where the most visitors will see them.
Create Contests.
Contests are a great way to grow exposure and engagement for your brand. But they’re also a great way to grow your email list. You can run a simple giveaway where the only thing someone needs to do is fill out a form – including a field for their email address.
Email lists are truly your only consistent direct marketing channel. Steadily build them, nurture them with great care, and the rewards will far outweigh the effort involved.