subject: How to Use List Building and Email Marketing As a Marketing Method [print this page] How to Use List Building and Email Marketing As a Marketing Method
Your website is a fantastic marketing tool. It works for you when you're asleep, it never takes a sick day, and it's always sharing exactly the information you want it to share, with the people you want to share it with.
There's just one small problem - if your visitors choose to leave your site, and never return, you probably won't ever have the chance to turn them into customers. That's where list building comes in.
What Is List Building?
Opt in list building is an online marketing method that allows you to capture your visitors information, so that you can contact them over and over again, with information, special offers and marketing material.
It's entirely voluntary, which means that it does not violate any spam laws, and if it's done correctly, it can give you a pool of potential clients that you can contact whenever you want to, at the touch of a button.
How Does List Building Work?
The first step in creating a list is giving people an incentive. That incentive is usually in the form of a free report, e-book or offer. You will need to create a product or download with a high perceived value, that your visitors want to download.
Once that's done, you will need to manage the downloading or distribution of that product, and capture your visitors' information. There are many services out there that offer this type of functionality, but if you are just getting started,MailChimp has a great free service that allows you to send thousands of emails every month.
Once your visitors have opted in, you can use an autoresponder service, like MailChimp, to deliver their free content. You can also send them newsletters, special offers and other information, whenever you choose to, as long as they choose to remain on your list.
Why Does List Building Work?
If you know anything about sales and marketing, you know that it takes anything between five and ten 'contacts' between you and your client, before they make a decision to buy from you. The trouble is that most people who are idly browsing the internet will stumble onto a site, and even if they find it interesting, forget about it quickly.
If you use list building to capture your visitors' information, you can make sure that doesn't happen, by gently reminding them of your existence from time to time. If you send them useful, interesting information, you'll start to build a relationship with them, and if, and when, they finally do make a buying decision, you'll be at the top of their short list!
Every small business owner or online entrepreneur can use list building and email marketing to boost their sales. It doesn't need to be complicated, hard to do, or costly. You can create a great free offer quickly and easily, and you can use it to gain signups to your list. From there, you market to a captive audience, and you have the upper hand!
