How to Build An Email Database (5 Tips for Beginners)
Your email list is one of your most valuable internet-based business assets. Yet, making one completely from scratch could seem an impossible task. In the end, it's impossible to create email addresses from the air.
In this article, we'll introduce you to mailing lists, and explain why they're important. We'll then give you five key tips to help you to build an email list for your company. We'll get started!
What an Email List Is (And Why Your Business Needs One)
Most likely, you are aware of the best way to manage your own email address books. When you're running an online business (especially those that require subscriptions or memberships) the emails you send out are of paramount importance.
What's more, you can use your email marketing funnel to perform a myriad of tasks and gather various kinds of data.
DEFINITION:An email marketing funnel is the set of emails sent to an individual to guide them towards the final "destination". The "destination" refers to the action you want the user to complete.
This can be a range of actions like...
- Subscribe to your blog's posting notifications
- Purchase a product
- Take advantage of a discount promotion
- Download the ebook
- Check out a blog post on new features.
- Sign up for a members-only special event
- Answer a survey for customers.
You can see that information you collect as well as the tasks you could accomplish with your email list are quite useful. That's why you want to prioritize creating your own email database and making your email marketing one of the most important elements of your strategy for promotion.
That said, here are five great strategies to help you get started!
How to Make an Email List (5 Tips)
First thing's first. Make sure you determine your audience prior to you start making your lists. If you've not done this yet, take a look at the post below.
1. Select a Reliable Email Marketing Platform
We recommend choosing an email marketing system to create, expand and control your email list. This way, you'll will have one central point of contact for your marketing strategy.
If you sign up for ConvertKit's free service, it's possible to begin collecting sign-ups right away. But if you're certain you'll be over the 300 subscribers limit or you're in search of more advanced options, it's a good idea to check out the company's premium plans.
2. Create a User Friendly Opt-In Formula
An effective opt-in form forms the base of any successful email list. It should be simple but professional-looking. Most importantly, it must be simple for the user to fill out.
The fewer fields that a person has to complete or fill in, the more likely to complete the sign-up process:
We recommend soliciting email addresses for start. If you'd like to take a more personalized approach, you might also request customers' names.
Typically, a good email marketing service will have the ability to build opt-in forms. If you're able to choose of building the forms for your marketing emails there.
3. Put Your Form in a Strategic Place
After you've developed a basic and on-brand registration form You'll need to position it strategically within your membership website. Each person will have their own preference and preferences, but here are three proven and reliable places you can think about...
- Put it in the last of each post
- Place it in your website's header
Pop-ups are extremely effective for generating new leads. Be sure, however, to utilize them with care. If you use them improperly, you risk irritating those who might be members.
Whichever you prefer, we recommend using the opt-in forms across your website. In this way, if someone who is interested in signing up doesn't wish to sign up initially however, they decide to change their mind afterward, they'll be able to access your opt-in page.
4. Create a Unique Landing Page
A landing page is separate from the main content of your website. It typically has one purpose: generating leads.
A typical landing page has a particular calling to action (CTA) that encourages visitors to act. They also request information about the client:
Actually, a high-converting website usually justcontains an opt-in page. The hyper-focused design can be more effective because it reduces distractions for the user. But, keep in mind that this design does not exclude click-through conversations in form.
While you'll want to keep the content minimal there's no reason not to include the logo of your company and any various other distinctive visually appealing components.
Defined: Alt text (also called "alt attributes", "alt tags" (also known as "alt tags", "alt attributes" or "alt descriptions") is the text that's added within an image's HTML code. The principal purpose of this text will be to describe the image to those visually impaired.
5. Give away coupons, freebies as well as Content Upgrades
If you're looking to elevate your email lists to the next level, you might consider incentivizing the users to join. There are a variety of ways to do this.
Keep in mind that it's the thinking that counts, and your proposal doesn't have to be extravagant. It's important to be able to offer something of value.
As an example, you can provide a little gift such as a coupon, discount for example, or even a content upgrade:
Conclusion
Making an email database from scratch might seem like an unattainable task. But, any successful company will need a bank of email addresses in order to propel the marketing funnel. It's good to know that expanding your address book isn't quite as difficult as it could sound.
We'll review quickly our five tips on how to build an email database:
- Place your form strategically.
- Create a unique landing page.
- Give away freebies or content updates.
Have you got any concerns regarding building an email list? Tell us via the comment section in the bottom of this post!
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