Today, there’s a lot of emphasis on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to one’s website. SEO is important to successful Internet marketing; equally important is the email list. Every organization that wants to be in greater control of their Internet marketing must pay careful attention to how they are capturing email addresses, to building a better relationship with their email list subscribers, and motivating those individuals to respond to their marketing offers. Effective email lists begin with a critical process: the opt in.
In the earlier stages of email marketing, SPAM became so problematic that legislation was initiated to help remedy the problem. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 was passed after Congress found that unsolicited commercial email represented half of all electronic mail traffic.
The law is clear: it prohibits false or misleading header information and deceptive subject lines, requires senders to identify their messages as an advertisement, requires French business email senders to convey their location, requires senders to provide an “opt-out” for future emails for recipients and prompt (within 10 days) respect of that request, and requires senders to monitor their email marketing activities even if they are outsourced to a third-party.
So, the first rule of effective email marketing is to follow the law. From this point on, building an effective email list requires a certain discipline and strategy.
From the start, build your email list by asking those in your database to provide their email addresses so that you can provide them with valuable information and/or offers periodically. With this communication, you are asking them to “opt in” to your future email marketing. Another way to capture email addresses is on your website.
Every website should have a sign-up area that lets visitors know that by providing their contact information, they will periodically receive email messages from the company. It should incorporate a mandatory double entry of the email address to assure accuracy and be promptly followed by a confirmation/validation email. Once these steps have been completed, the information can be automatically linked to the organization’s contact mail system for easy, efficient email marketing.
Brick-and-mortar organizations can also capture email addresses and other relevant information at the point of sale. Sales clerks and/or front desk staff should be trained to ask customers if they would like to receive information on sales, special promotions, special events, etc., and if so, to obtain this information at that time.
Similarly, personnel working in a customer service call center also should be trained to let the caller know that by providing their email address they can receive special offers, information, etc. Likewise, nonprofits can ask guests to their events to sign a guest book which captures their postal and email addresses.
Another strategy for building an opt-in email list is to provide an incentive. For example, you Buy Leads can offer individuals who provide their email addresses a discount coupon on a future purchase, a free guide, entry for the chance to win one or more prizes, or free entry to an upcoming event.
