Whether you are in business or running your own blog, having an email list shows your prospective customer how much of a loyal following you have.
Obviously, the bigger and more targetted the email list, the better. The people who have chosen to join your email list will be more inclined to open and read your email. Thanks to smartphones, it is now become a somewhat socially accepted habit to check our emails and social media accounts from the the moment we wake up. Even though email marketing is very effective, the question that is always on most people’s mind is how do we get a customer’s email address?
Content Marketing
You can build your email list through consistently delivering high quality content that really benefits your target market. The two most common types of content marketing methods are online streaming videos (i.e. YouTube) and blogging.
When deciding on the topic of content that you would like to deliver to your target market, you really need to understand your target market’s needs. Find out what they are searching for on Google – content marketing can go in line with SEO as well.
But the main objective of your content marketing campaign is to get your reader/viewer hooked on your content. And one of the best ways to do this is to write content which is in demand. Once you have your readers hooked, your readers will definitely be looking forward to your next piece of content. This is when you should ask your readers to sign-up to your newsletter (email list) so they can get the latest updates.
E-receipts
By giving your customers the option of getting their receipt sent to their email address, you have not only prevented your customer from misplacing their receipts, you have also gained their email address at the same time. It’s a win-win.
This email capturing system is now being incorporated in many online retail stores.
Giving Something For Free
Your customers love the word “free”. So if you have something to offer for free, whether that is a free ebook, stationary, or even food, then you can give your free item to your customer in exchange for their email.
It is a tried and tested method, but it works.
Creating a Membership Scheme
Depending on the nature of your business, you can create a membership scheme for your customers. Encouraging your customers to become member guarantees their email address and also makes them feel they are part of an exclusive club.
Some membership schemes offer either free gifts as part of a welcome pack for joining the membership or provide exclusive access to certain facilities. But as previously mentioned, it really depends on the nature of your business.
Hold Competitions
Holding competitions are a great interactive way of gaining your customers’ email address. It is crucial though that you put extra effort in when it comes to design of your competition. You need to make your competition appeal to your target market.
Once you know what type of game will really interest your customer, you can then design your competition to meet their requirements.