Why should you build a mailing list as part of your marketing strategy?

 

If you are looking to market your goods and services online then it is important that you have

a mailing list in place but getting one started, and then maintaining it can be difficult so you will need a good starting point. If you can create a good, working mailing list then the impact on your business could be substantial.

 

Make it as easy as possible for people to sign up

 

The first rule of thumb is to make your sign-up forms really easy to find on your website and noticeable on every page that a visitor might click through. Lots of people make the mistake of thinking that they can simply add it on the final page of their site, but by the time the visitor reaches this page – if they reach it at all – chances are they won’t be bothered to. Getting traffic to your site is a challenge in the first place but having your visitors come to your site only to leave again without having signed up for more information is a huge wasted opportunity. You should aim to attract as much attention as possible with your sign-ups so that you create an expansive mailing list from the people who are looking at your site and already interested in what you have to sell.

 

Build up trust between you and your contacts

 

If you are going to build up a good working relationship with your clients then you will need to instill trust. This means making your privacy policy accessible for all. If people are going to sign up to your mailing list then they want to know that you are keeping their information secure so that other people aren’t able to access it.

 

Add incentives to encourage people to sign up

 

Offer incentives to people via your website so that your visitors will be more inclined to sign up. This doesn’t mean a free gift for everyone that joins your mailing list but perhaps a free entry into a prize draw or a discount code that they can use off their next purchase. 

 

Don’t request too much information during the sign up

 

If you are going to encourage your site’s visitors to have confidence in you then keep the amount of information you are requesting from them to a minimum. If you ask for too much people will simply turn away out of suspicion. There is a line to be crossed and it is careful that you only ask for information you are going to use. You can always obtain further information at a later date once the relationship has been established.

 

Maintaining your mailing list

 

Once you have created your mailing list you will need to sustain it to avoid people from opting out. You also need to ensure that your contacts are reading your content otherwise your efforts will have been in vain. Keep your content fresh and interesting and include promotional codes and discounts where possible. Make sure you are providing your mailing list with access to information that others do not have so that there is some worth to receiving your emails. If you can achieve this then you will drive traffic to your site on a continued basis which will ultimately convert to sales.