I was just catching up with a few of my customers today on how they've been doing in their online marketing venture. From the ground, it seems that everyone's keen and is fully aware of the benefits of email marketing. However, the greatest stumbling block always seems to be:
My client is keen to get on with email marketing. But they don't have a database of subscribers.
At Blink Campaign, we frown upon bought or rented lists. Not only is it unethical and intrusive, it could get us into a lot of trouble with ISPs around the world. Not to mention cause all our customers great inconvenience.
So how can I grow my list legally?
We always start with the website. Either you are most likely collecting the email addresses of site visitors on your webpages, or need to do something to that tune. Not to get into anything too technical, your client's website should have a simple means for users to leave their email address to join your client's mailing list. Don't forget to remind the users the benefits of them signing up.
You'll be glad to know that Blink Campaign will also be releasing a simple API soon to allow you to copy and paste the code into your client's website, thus allowing new signups to be directly updated into your client's Blink Campaign master list.
Besides your client's website, there are multiple ways to collect email addresses offline at every possible point of customer contact:
- Request for people to sign your guestbook at corporate functions and events (product launches, showcases, etc)
- Ask for an email address whenever there is a customer service or support call
- Leave a field for email address in invoices, brochures, customer surveys and feedback forms
- Put a fishbowl for business cards at retail outlets, booths and other trade fares and events.
Lastly, ask your client to have a "Join Our Mailing List" call-to-action type button in their email signature. The mechanics of this can be as simple as a mailto with something like "Sign me up" in the subject line.
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