Building a list of qualified leads is an essential part of marketing. This list is your pipeline to future sales.
Opt-in e-mail form with free report, public relations, social media, webinars, and direct mail are five ways you can increase your website visitors so you can build your email list.
Opt-in Email Form Is Vital
Your email-opt-in form is the most important part of your website to grow your email list. Your goal should be to capture the email addresses of every website visitor. You’ll need to have an email opt-in form in a prominent place at or near the top of your home page. Just as important is to keep your form simple so your visitor can fill it out, according to a report in Inc. Just ask for their name and email address. The more information you ask, the less likely they will complete the form. After they become a loyal follower, you can survey them for more information.
You’ll also need to make an irresistible offer for your visitor to opt in. One way to do this is by giving away a free report on a topic of high demand. The key is to make your offer stand out on the page. Remember once your visitor leaves your site the only way you can continue the relationship is by having his email address.
Public Relations
Promoting your business through public relations is perhaps the most effective way to bring mass numbers of leads to your website. The better your story is, the greater the number of leads who may visit your website. A good story can stir up interest among journalists in various publications and geographic regions. Journalists may write about your story soon after you publish your press release, or they may write about it months after you distributed your press release.
You should also create an online newsroom where you can post your press releases. This creates a double benefit for you. The first benefit is that the information in your online newsroom can help a journalist quickly learn more about your company and write a story about it. The second benefit is the content you develop in your online newsroom can link with other content and drive up your search engine rankings. These benefits in turn lead to more website visitors.
Social Media
Social media is a fast way to grow your email list. That’s because all it takes is a few visitors to share your site with thousands of their fans and followers. The key is to add share buttons near your opt-in email form. This encourages your website visitors who opt-in to your email to share their excitement with their friends, families and colleagues.
You should also include an opt-in form on your Facebook page, according to a report in Social Media Today. It’s easy to do, especially when you use services by Woobox, Lujure, ShortStack, or WildFire. You can create a Facebook custom app thumbnail that opens up into a simple form. This form can increase the number of people who become part of your email list.
Another way to use social media to increase your email list is by sending tweets or posts to your network promoting the free report. If the topic is hot and in high demand, many of your fans and followers will click on the link to your web page to opt-in to your email and receive the free report.
Webinars
Webinars are an incredible way to build your email list and grow it fast. The main reason is you have a live audience who is present because they have an interest in what you have to say. You are now in a powerful position to encourage them to opt-in to your email.
You can provide your audience with all sorts of incentives. These can include a free gift, a coupon toward a special offer or a reward. When people register for your webinar, they also can opt-in to your email.
Adobe was able to achieve a 500% increase in conversion to sales by using webinars, according to case study Marketing Sherpa published in May, 2013. Part of its strategy included email follow-up to the webinar. The strategy helped to increase its opt-in email list, which was used to send out the follow-up communication.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is a viable marketing tactic. Either letters or postcards can help you generate visitors to your website who opt-in to your email. An effective strategy is to promote a free report, gift or coupon in the direct mail piece and drive them to the website to receive it. As part of the process the recipient must opt-in to your email list.
Postcards are a more cost effective method to achieve this than letters. First off, the postage is much less costly. Second, everyone will see your postcard, whereas some people may not open the envelope to the letter. Your audience will see the bold message on the postcard as soon as they receive it. The key is to create the right message for your audience.
Summary
Building your email list is the fastest way to generate sales, not just for today but also for your future. You need to start by having a prominently placed opt-in form on your website. Once you have one, then you can increase your email list by attracting visitors to your website through public relations, social media, webinars and direct mail. The more you dedicate your company to these steps, the more successful you can become.
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