One of the most daunting tasks for small businesses getting started with email marketing is often tied to creating and growing a contact list After all, getting started with email marketing is about a lot more than just creating and sending marketing emails.
It’s about a fundamental shift in the way a business approaches its marketing. It’s about taking control of your message and delivering it to an audience of people who can make a measurable impact on your business’ bottom line.
By creating and growing an email contact list, you’ll be able to take control of your message and communicate with your audience on your own terms. You’ll be giving the people who are actually interested in attending your events, buying your products, or signing up for services the ability to opt-in to receive information that’s relevant to them.
And because you know the information is getting delivered to a place these customers are going everyday — the inbox — you know your message is reaching your target audience.
That’s what growing your contact list can do for your small business. And that’s the best case for why small businesses should consider email marketing.
Why it’s important to keep growing your contact list
As your contact list grows, so too does the likelihood of your target audience receiving your message. You’re expanding to reach more people who can help your business grow by becoming repeat customers and spreading the word about your business.
Continuing to actively grow your contact list allows you to keep an ongoing cycle of customers, clients, and prospects opting in to receive information from you, which means more and more opportunities to be there when they need you and more chances to grow your business from the inbox and beyond.
A simple strategy for growing your list
Not sure where to start when growing your list? Consider this simple strategy.
Growing your list really breaks down to two things: covering your touch points and remembering to ask.
You want to make it easy for people to join your list and the best way to do that is by making your list available at all the places people are interacting with your business. Whether it’s on your website, Facebook Page, or blog; at your store, restaurant, or office; or at your events—covering your touch points will guarantee your audience will grow and won’t require much heavy lifting from you or your staff.
You also need to make asking people to share their email address, part of your regular routine. Most of the people who walk through your door, call your business, or connect with you on sites like Facebook or Twitter will be happy to hear more about your business—all you need to do is ask!
To encourage them even further, you can provide an additional incentive for signing up or simply tell that what type of content they’ll receive after their information is added to your list.
By taking this simple approach, you’ll be on your way to growing your contact list and opening your business up to new opportunities in the process.
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Gina Watkins is a leading expert on e-marketing for small business – and has a real passion for helping businesses to succeed. Her ongoing series of dynamic lectures are filled with real-world examples, humor and results-driven wisdom garnered from more than two decades of sales, business development and marketing experience. In addition to owning her own business, she is an award-winning direct marketer, has been featured on WUSA Channel 9’s Mind Over Money show, Dr. Gayle Carson’s Women In Business radio show, Morgan State’s Briefcase Radio program, and in numerous other media. In her role as Constant Contact Regional Development Director, she’s presented to more than ten thousand seminar attendees about the keys to success with easy, affordable, highly effective technology tools that grow trusted business relationships.