So you have an opt-in list. That’s great! As you continue to build a mailing list, you will be communicating with your clients and prospects regularly...
So you have an opt-in list. That’s great! As you continue to build a mailing list,
you will be communicating with your clients and prospects regularly to send them offers and updates on just about anything and everything – your product or service, your company, your new blog, new head of marketing, and so on.
That all sounds really exciting and I’m sure you can’t wait to plan your email marketing strategy, but here’s something you should keep in mind about the emails you send to your opt-in list and the opt-in pages you use to capture more prospective clients.
Don’t bombard prospects with email offers.
First of all, you have to make a distinction between your broadcast emails and your pre-loaded newsletters. Broadcasts notifying your opt-in list of a product launch, new item in stock, seasonal special or whatever you are wanting to sell should be separate from your pre-loaded newsletters which basically contains ALL your updates and current offers.
You may ask, why is this so? Well, this is because you wouldn’t want to bombard your opt-in prospects with so many offers. If you’re currently doing this and they’re not opting out, then your prospects may actually find value in your emails or your product or service is simply good. If this is the case, continue to broadcast to them until they actually buy your product or service.
Remember, however, that effective email marketing is all about value and relationships. Send regular email communications to your opt-in email lists, but try to keep email offers to a minimum. Send them one offer at a time, at regular intervals. It’s the value of these offers that matter, not the volume of emails you send.
Create compelling opt-in pages.
What gets people to subscribe to your email list? Let’s talk about opt-in pages, the main purpose of which is to convince people to opt-in to your list.
You will find a lot of opt-in pages around the Internet. Some are appealing, some are not. Some have great content, some are just crap. Your goal should be to get people to subscribe to your e-mail list or participate actively in your knowledge exchange network. This way, they can they can then end up on your e-mail contact list.
Why not do a little research? Keep track of all the opt-in pages that you find in the Internet by bookmarking them. You can also save them in your favorites folder, with notes on why you liked these pages. Keeping track of your emotions and reasons why you liked the different opt-in pages that you have read or seen will give you a good idea about what other people will be thinking when they’re your opt-in pages.
Building targeted mailing lists has a lot to do with the overall look, content and feel of your opt-in page. Recall those opt-in pages you liked. What did they make you feel? Why do you think were you compelled to opt-in? Take note of your answers and keep them in mind the next time you create opt-in pages for your own mailing lists.
