An email marketing database is a crucial business resource, but it must be continually maintained and updated to be effective. If your email list is decaying, these five list building strategies will help you gain new contacts.
1. Gated Content Offers
Blog posts are great for attracting new visitors to your website, but they don’t automatically collect contact information for a follow-up.
Try attaching an offer to download premium content to your blog. In exchange for an eBook or whitepaper, you can ask visitors for their contact information.
Keep the premium content related to the blog post to draw more clicks.
When creating the form, remember that the amount of personal information you can ask from a request subscriber should correspond to the offer’s value.
2. Online Contests
Contests are a popular way to promote a brand, but they serve another purpose, too. They are effective for list building, too.
If you are giving way a quality prize, ask entrants for their contact details. Use multiple platforms for promotion. You can place calls-to-action (CTAs) on a website, a blog, social media or an email.
Encouraging social sharing of your contest increases its reach even further. For example, the New York Lizards’ #FreebieFriday giveaways ask for entrants to tag three friends on Twitter.
3. Leverage your Website for List Building
If you have successfully attracted a new visitor to your website, make the most of that opportunity. Don’t let your visitors vanish without a way to follow-up with them. Calls-to-action on a website and blog posts are a great strategy for collecting contact information from new business leads.
Tips for website CTAs:
- Make the CTA buttons easy to find
- Keep a clean consistent look and feel to maintain credibility
- Let visitors know what to expect from your offer
- Sell the benefits rather than the features
4. Upside-down Homepage
Another way to increase your contact list is to create an upside-down homepage layout for your website. The idea behind this strategy is that if a CTA is the first thing a reader sees, they are more likely to click on it.
With features like a “pilot story” and upside-down navigation, this type of web design has been known to increase email subscribers as much as 35 percent.
5. Collect Email Addresses at Off-line Events, too
Although businesses today focus on leveraging their digital marketing efforts to increase their contact database, the power of off-line solicitation should not be forgotten altogether.
In-person events, like conferences, charity benefits and sporting events, are still a great place to gain new contacts. After each event, import all your new contacts, and then say hello with a warm welcome email!
Each new contact is just the beginning of another fruitful business relationship!
