Opt-in email marketing is about getting visitors that come to your website or blog, to freely subscribe to your email list.
Why is opt-in email marketing so important?
Your website or blog visitors that opt in to your email list are targeted visitors. These are the people most interested in you and what you have to offer. There’s no easier group of people to market to.
These targeted visitors on your email list gives you the chance to:
- Bring them back to your site over and over again.
- Develop a trusting relationship with them.
- Encourage questions and feedback.
- Make more sales
All of these things go a long way in building a loyal following which will ultimately increase your sales.
Here’s how to build your opt in email marketing list and then how to effectively communicate with your list.
- Encourage sign-up with a free offer
Most people are receptive to signing up if you can sweeten the pie by offering something that is free but valuable in return.
This could mean giving away a free e-book, a free sample of your product or anything that will encourage sign-up.
Here are 6 easy steps to writing an ebook that you can use as a free guide or charge for.
- Don’t purchase email lists, and don’t SPAM.
Sending email to unsolicited email addresses is SPAM, and that’s unprofessional. It’s a lot tougher to get people to trust you and ultimately purchase from you if you are spamming them.
People often complain and say “…but my list is small, don’t I need a bigger list?” No, you don’t! You need a QUALITY list. It is far better to have 10 interested, enthusiastic and receptive members than 50 email addresses who were purchased or randomly sought after and have little interest. Your time and energy is better spent on those who are eager and receptive.
- Prove to your readers they can trust you
Before people sign up for anything they like to know they are on a trusted website. That means they want assurance you won’t sell or give away their name and email address. You can do this by providing detailed contact information on your site along with an updated privacy notice. Include a link to your privacy notice within your opt-in form.
My personal experience with obtaining sign-ups on a site without a privacy notice verses having a clearly posted notice, was a lot less.
- Clearly Outline What Your Subscribers will be Getting
Will it be an ezine, newsletter, tips, coupons, new product or all of the above?
Will they hear from you weekly, bi-weekly, monthly?
I like to also point them to archived newsletters, this way they have a clear picture of what you’re all about.
- Use an Industry Standard Autoresponder
A quality email autoresponder will make sure your emails actually get sent first of all, but it will also help assure your emails abide by the CAN-SPAM act.
It will also save you time by automating a lot of your email marketing efforts. I much prefer to automate my email tasks for things like sending thank you emails when someone places an order or subscribes to my list. Automatically send out my free gift offer at sign up or automatically send follow up emails.
Using an industry standard email autoresponder like Aweber, for example, creates web forms, automates email responses and customizes messages. You can also program when you wish your emails to go out or send follow up emails to be delivered once a day for a week or once a week for a month, however you wish to set it up.
-Increase your email Open Rates
It’s not enough to simply send an email. You want your subscribers to actually read it, so to help increase open rates
For example, craft catchy email subject lines that also clearly state the point of the email.
The body of your email must provide interesting and relevant copy related to your subject matter.
Keep your paragraphs short and to the point. Graphics add a nice touch but research has found that graphics have little impact if the content isn’t relative, factual and interesting. And finally make sure you include your call to action.
-When to Send Your Emails
Timing plays a key part in email delivery. Business to Business emails do better when sent Tuesday through Thursday just after 9:00am or after lunch, around 1:30pm. Avoid sending them after 4:00pm or on the weekends. Business to consumer emails are best delivered Tuesday through Thursday from 5pm to 8pm or between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.
It’s generally best to avoid sending emails out on holidays.
-Don’t Neglect Your Email List!
If someone signs up for your ezine, newsletter or tips & information, keep in regular contact with them. Long pauses between mailings put you at risk of losing subscribers. You can send manually send emails as you wish or use your email autoresponder to automatically deliver emails at the time subscribers sign up. You can also have follow-up emails delivered at delivery times of your choice. It’s all done automatically.
People read a lot online and subscribe to many web sites, if you lose contact for long periods of time they could forget who you are and why they signed up. So keep in touch, provide useful information, encourage feedback and treat your email subscribers like gold.
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