Build Your Subscriber Lists - Some Web Hosting Accounts Provide Email Marketing

Online mailing lists and membership lists don't remain static. They need to attract new subscribers regularly just to keep pace with the number of people who drop off the lists because they got busy with other things, lost interest, forgot to update their email addresses, or became inactive for other reasons. If subscriber lists don't grow, they shrink. Some web hosting accounts provide email marketing tools.

Aside from the need to keep subscriber lists from shrinking, one goal of most businesses is to grow. We have plenty of competition online. How we promote our businesses helps separate those who succeed from those who fade into memory.

Tailor your presentation to your audience

Your target audience may be investors, pet owners, sport enthusiasts, budget travelers, or professionals within the same field. Whatever their shared background or interests are, make sure that your website, your newsletter template, your content, and your tone create an image that represents their background and interests. The colors, the images, and other details convey the level of seriousness or playfulness you want and can make your audience feel at home — or not.

Offer content for non-subscribers

Whether your content is free or paid, include content at your site that non-subscribers can access, such as sample newsletter issues. People are more likely to sign up if they see some of what they'd get if they did sign up.

If you update the non-subscriber content regularly, people will have reasons to return to your site as non-subscribers, which will increase the chances of their eventually becoming subscribers.

Offer incentives for signing up

Even if all of the content is available to non-subscribers, offer benefits to subscribers to encourage them to sign up. Possible benefits to offer:

• A free product or service that you sell
• A product sample
• A time-limited discount
• A free newsletter issue (if subscribers pay for your newsletter)
• An e-book about a topic relevant to your audience

A drawback with offering freebies is that some people will sign up just to get the free or discounted product or service. When the freebie is targeted specifically for your audience, though, the offer is more likely to attract people who will want to remain on your subscription list. And if you brand product giveaways with your company name, your giveaways serve more than one purpose.

Also promote the benefits of being on the mailing list. People are more inclined to sign up if they see benefits that they wouldn't get just by visiting your site, such as receiving sales announcements in their in-boxes.

Target your subscribers at optimal times

You may publish a monthly newsletter, but why contact your subcribers only when you mail that newsletter? Of course you don't want to email them too often or they'll see you as a spammer or at least a nuisance. But consider sending them an email at these times:

• To welcome them, direct them to relevant information, and perhaps send them a special offer right after they sign up with you
• To inform them about upcoming sales, other special offers, or events
• To remind them about the above (if there's a time gap since the previous email), perhaps with more information
• After they've placed an order
• After they've signed up for an event, to provide more information
• After they've used a service or product or attended an event, to invite them to provide feedback at your site

Engage your subscribers

It's the age of Web 2.0, and people online expect to be able to interact at websites. If suitable for what you offer, provide opportunities for them to interact:

• A forum for discussion
• Places to post reviews and comment on other people's reviews
• Product rating opportunities
• A Testimonials page
• A blog with entries open for comments
• Links to bookmark pages (see below this article for examples)

Segment your customers according to spending habits

People who spend a lot of money at your site will probably be happy to hear from you more often if you have something to offer them. Why not reward them for their spending habits? Offer them the opportunity to be in a preferred group with benefits, for example:

• Free shipping
• Additional discounts when they spend more than a specified amount per month (or other time period)
• Other offers specific to your brand offered only to this group

When you focus on those who are most interested in your products and services, customer segmentation can help you greatly increase your sales revenue.

Ask your subscribers what they want

People like to be asked their opinions, and who better to ask than the people who use your products or services? Create occasional surveys and invite your subscribers to take them. Inform all of your subscribers about your survey or just your preferred group if you have one. Offer an incentive to take the survey, such as a discount or a prize draw, and you'll get more responses.

Related articles

See also these blog articles for related information:

• Improving Mailing List Opt-In Rates
• How Behavioral Targeting Can Work for You
• Behavioral Segmentation and Targeting: Engaging Recent and Returning Site Visitors
• Web 2.0 for Webmasters
• How to Research Customer Satisfaction