Most of online business owners are under impression that email marketing is not persuasive and useful.
Reality Check: Email marketing is still active and continues to blow the doors off to other digital marketing channels.
The question boggling your minds will be, “How is that possible with spams unceasingly overtaking our inboxes and email filters more effectively screening email blasts?
The efficiency of email has taken a fall however; experts say that a well-maintained email marketing program can rise above these hurdles and provide an ROI that is unmatched by any other digital-marketing efforts.
One of the premier consultancies worldwide, McKinsey & Company boldly states that, “Email Marketing remains an effective method to acquire customers; roughly 40 times of Facebook and Twitter combined.”
The apparent reason is, 91% of consumers check their email daily. Also, the rate at which emails prompt purchases, is nearly three times that of Social Media. Plus, the average order value is also higher by 17%.
The Campaign Monitor concurs, “Even with the boom of advanced technology, marketers keep returning to email. By 2025, email marketing will again be a preferred channel which will generate $38 in ROI for each $1 spent.”
A successful email marketing program requires more than just volume; a high-quality email list where recipients often engage with businesses promoted through emails; and for companies good at email, people love receiving such emails.
It is surprising to see the lack of emphasis by Small-Business owners over email list building. Given the devastating success of email than other marketing channels, it is awful to notice email list building at the bottom of their to-do-list.
Thereafter; while the email list building is critical for your success; the manner in which emails are requested, actually builds a strong list of prospects.
Here are some useful tips to develop a solid email list and dramatically increase your email subscriptions:
Avoid Collecting Too Much Of information.
People are increasingly cautious to provide a lot of information online, all because of an increase in the number of media reports describing online information breaches. Limiting the information collected may encourage visitors to opt in.
An Email Opt-In Box that restricts the information only to email address, can be more palatable to hesitant visitors. It is anyways more beneficial if you can collect the subscriber’s first name to personalize email campaigns; collecting only email address is also better to avoid the risk of terrifying the visitor.
Design Special Promotions And Offer Freebies.
Commonly, every successful email subscription campaign makes good use of special offers. There are times when a visitor to your site may not feel comfortable while giving up their email address unless the price is right.
The Financial Gain is not necessarily required; and some form of incentive may beautifully do the job. You can try offering some eBooks, white paper videos or any other content that could be valuable to visitors.
The most important thing is to realize the content that you will be offering to your site’s target audience and if that is really considered valuable by your audience.
Keep the Email Opt-In Box As Prominent As Possible.
An apt way to appeal new email subscribers is through placement of conspicuous email opt-in boxes strategically located throughout every page. The bigger the number of opt-in opportunities, the greater the likelihood of a convinced visitor to subscribe.
You can smartly place opt-in boxes at 3 locations: top of the page, sidebar and the bottom of the page; these locations ensures that visitors are always reminded to opt-in. Just keep it simple and make your content the focus of the page.
There are techniques that websites can use to keep email subscription on top of mind without being too exasperating. The golden rule is to offer the opt-in as often as possible without overwhelming, irritating or distracting the visitor.
Show Them The Social Proof.
Nothing works better than Social Proofs to boost email subscriptions. With Social Proofs, your subscribers beget more subscribers. The idea is to make them say, “If they loved this, I might also love it! So, let’s try this!”
Some Bar Owners create Social Proof by keeping people in line; “If the line is long, it must be a cool place to hang out.” In the same way, websites can make use of social proof to encourage more people to opt-in.
You can establish a Social Proof by revealing the existing number of your subscribers, posting some nice testimonials, displaying an inspiring visitor count or some other statistic to exhibit that people find your site valuable.
The Bottom Line:
The most significant step to grow an email list is to make an easy and painless process. Placing noticeable email opt-in boxes helps the readers figure out how to subscribe and doesn’t interrupt as they are designed within the webpage.
While the suggested places for opt-in boxes are fairly typical and straightforward, the way in which these boxes are presented can vary from static boxes to dynamically floating boxes.
Website owners should see immediate results after implementing above tips. Use of such simple techniques can convert a bigger number of visitors, providing better marketing opportunities and enriched productivity.
