How to Build A Mailing List

Have you come across 'Email Marketing' in advice articles and wanted to try it but don't know where to start? Well, if you're a small business looking for ways to increase sales then building a business mailing list is a great place to begin. We can even save you some time on research and impart some advice to help you on your way!

With 91% of UK consumers checking their emails every day and 66% making purchases directly from these marketing emails, learning how to build an email list is an invaluable tool to attract customers and get sales. If you neglect your business email list then you are missing out on efficiently and effectively promoting your products. Emails are also a great way to connect with customers on a larger scale, building and reinforcing a positive brand image.

With a solid business mailing list on your side, you've got a direct link to your no.1's, offering customers discounts, subscriptions, and brand news in one concise area.

So let's have a look at what an email list is, what it can do for your business and how you can build one today!

What is an email list?

Let's start at the beginning. A business email list is a collection of contacts that brands use to promote products and services. Mailing lists enable brands space to tell their story and can be built through a number of tactics.

Email marketing lists are one of the oldest tricks in the book and can effectively increase revenue, website visits, and provide a great communication channel between your brand and your customers.

Keep in mind that the UK has strong laws to protect consumers from companies misusing their personal data. Always make sure your customers have consented to receiving marketing emails and all emails sent include an 'opt out' link.

How can an email list increase business?

Not every customer who sees your email will buy from you, at least not on every email. However it does increase your brand recognition with your customers, each time they see your brand name and products you are solidifying your brand in their mind. Then, when they do have need of your services or products (hopefully) your brand will pop into their minds!

Email marketing has been shown to be 40x more effective than Facebook or Twitter marketing!

Whatever you choose to write to your customers about, your email marketing should create a call-to-action, which is to entice the reader to do something like: "Click to read more...", "Sign up for more offers!" or "Buy now!"

With a little preparation and work email list marketing can:

• Increase website traffic
• Increase brand awareness
• Generate interest in new products
• Advertise sales and discounts
• Promote new blog posts or brand news
• Send custom offers for targeted customers
• Update customers via an email newsletter

At Interparcel we love staying connected to our customers - we value our subscribers time and use our weekly emails to keep customers in the loop, making sure they are aware of any updates and offers relating to our services. Subscribing to hear from us can mean you hear about any new services, content, and giveaways first!

Taking the time to learn how to build an email list is invaluable and can be a fantastic tool for small businesses to grow, now we understand why it's important let's get into some ways you can start collecting addresses today and build your own list.

Create a website pop-up

Pop-up forms are a classic way for customers to provide contact information quickly and easily. They're easy to implement and proven to work.

On occasion, businesses will provide an incentive for customers to share their emails, such as a discount offer or free shipping. Offering customers '10% off on their next purchase' by signing up to your newsletter can ensure you effectively collect emails for your list!

By teaming up with a helper such as Mailchimp you can create website pop-ups that are shown to improve the growth of your list by 50.8%. They can help you create pop-up forms that are,

• Designed to be consistent with your branding
• Can be timed to your needs
• Implemented via a code that is inserted into your websites HTML
• Published in just one click!

Research has shown that setting your pop-up form to appear immediately or within 5 seconds of a consumer visiting your website is most effective in securing emails, so give this a try!

Create exclusive discounts and host giveaways

If you've either, just had an influx of new emails or want to grab the attention of the old-timers, creating exclusive discounts will do the trick. Everyone loves opening an email to find a special discount on their next purchase, it makes them feel special! So by doing this, you're encouraging customers to visit your website and purchase again.

Another great idea is to host giveaways and advertise these via email. This can work cyclically; advertise the giveaway via email to your already subscribed customers, and spread the word that to enter you've got to submit your email! This way you can continue growing your email marketing list whilst promoting your giveaway.

Using email to inform customers of exclusive discounts and giveaways creates:

• Excitement around your brand
• A better chance for customers to try your products
• A sense of community
• An opportunity to hold onto these emails for marketing potential

You can't be coy in this business, get their details down!

Add a sign-up at checkout

It's practically impossible to checkout online without entering your email address these days. This is an old but very effective trick when building a business email list to send abandoned cart reminders, purchase confirmations, and shipping updates.

But businesses can make this area even more useful. By creating an option for customers to 'sign up to hear from you' they can decide whether to opt in to your newsletter or marketing emails. To convince them to do so you've got to get the message right. If customers think they're going to receive spam from you they'll opt-out at lightning speed!

Just make sure to stay on the right side of the law by giving a clear option for customers to 'opt out' if they really aren't interested in receiving emails. They can always opt in later!

Try emphasising what they will gain from opting-in:

• 'Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter, to keep up with brand insights and the latest in 'your field'
• 'Sign up to receive exclusive discounts and be the first to hear about our monthly giveaways to win!'
• 'Enter your email to receive discounted or free shipping on your next order and be the first to know when our upcoming sale begins!'

You've got to give to take!

Use 'gated content'

Have you ever been so invested in an article, so gripped by what you're reading, and suddenly the page goes blurry and says 'Sign up to read more!' No, you're eyesight is fine, this is called 'gated content'. It creates an incentive for customers to provide their emails so they can continue reading.

This tactic is great for businesses that provide online content via their website or blogs to build an email list. By strategically placing these gates you can collect emails from certain topics or subjects to structure future email marketing campaigns.

Here are some effective areas where you could use gated content:

• Blog posts that include informative content e.g. how to's, or brand insights
• Videos on your brand website, the viewer must enter email to continue watching
• Non-essential content that isn't needed for customers to purchase but intriguing enough for them to sign up!

You've got to reel them in!

Utilise social media

Social media is without a doubt a vital marketing resource, many brands using Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are able to successfully convert followers to customers with a few simple tricks. Social media can also be a helpful resource to build a mailing list and with a larger audience primed to collect discounts or deals, the odds are in your favour!

Try:

• Ask followers to share your giveaways on Facebook, showing the instructions to enter an email address to win
• Post links to your sign up webpage on Instagram and advertise the frequent discounts they'll receive
• Link blog posts/articles on Twitter and use the gated content method to increase your email list

Stay socialable and you'll most definitely grow your email marketing list fast!

Building a business mailing list of previous and potential customers can exponentially benefit your marketing efforts. Sometimes it's the oldest trick that works the best, so neglecting your email list can be a major detriment to your small business.

By forging a great relationship between your business and your customers via email can improve brand persona, build awareness, and give you a space to tell your story!

Always remember to get your customers permission before sending them marketing emails, there really is no point in emailing customers who aren't interested and it can lead to fines in the UK if you don't get consent. By focusing on customers who are interested in your brand you will get a better result leading to more sales and more brand interest.