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A bedrock principle of e-mail marketing is to send messages only to people who have opted in.

Internet Marketing

Grow a strong and profitable e-mail list

Be proactive, respectful and consistent, and positive results will follow

By John Boudreau

E-mail marketing is more than 20 years old. In "Internet time," that makes it roughly as old as the telegraph. Each year brings new ways to nurture customers, but they are rarely as effective as e-mail.

E-mail is tried and true. That's why 94% of marketers plan to increase or sustain their budgets in the channel, according to the MarketingSherpa 2013 E-mail Marketing Benchmark Report.

The power of e-mail marketing is unquestionable, but only if you give your program a sound foundation. That foundation is your e-mail list. Below, we explain how to grow your list to make it big, healthy, and profitable.

E-mail list growth tactics

Let's start with how to grow your list. Later we will describe how to make your list strong. For now, here are ways to add subscribers:

Invite new customers. One of the best ways to get more subscribers is to ask people who are in the process of becoming a customer. Whether you ask them on the phone or online is up to you, but make it a point to ask.

Web site form. Your Web site should have at least one clear, obvious way to sign up for your e-mails. One of the best tactics is to post a small sign-up form on the top right of your homepage. Do you have an active blog? Good. Put it there, too.

In-office signup. If your customers drop by the office, put a sign-up form in your lobby. Make it attractive (don't just set out a legal pad) and put it where people will see it while they wait. This is not the most efficient path to building a list, but every name counts.

Partnerships. Check your professional contacts and local chamber of commerce to see if they have an active e-mail program. Then, ask to get your name and sign-up link featured in one of their e-mails.

Offer free content. Everyone struggles to keep their e-mail content rich and fresh, so offer to help out. This same method can be used to get your link in other people's Webinars, blogs, or live events. Just about anything that has a good audience has a constant need for content.

Social log-in. You want to make signing up for your e-mails as easy as possible because every unit of difficulty increases the likelihood that the person will give up and not bother. In other words, a confusing or difficult sign-up process can kill your conversion rate.

Social log-in is a newer way to make sign up simple. With the click of a button on your Web site, and another click to confirm, people can sign up for your e-mails through their accounts with Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. They're best used as an optional way of signing up, not the sole way.

Bigger is not always better

The natural instinct of every marketer is to grab as many names as possible. You might be inclined to buy lists, sign up people without asking them, or continue to send e-mails to people who ask you to stop. After all, e-mail is cheap. Why not promote yourself to as many people as possible, right? In the 1990s, this instinct made sense. Now, it makes about as much sense as carrying a lunchbox-size cell phone.

Today, everyone who sends e-mails has a reputation. That reputation is monitored by the companies that control e-mail in the United States, such as Google, AOL, and Microsoft. They're often called "ISPs"—Internet Service Providers. Every time a person marks one of your e-mails as spam, the ISPs put a smudge on your reputation. Collect too many smudges and your reputation is tarnished. Then the ISPs begin to deliver your e-mails to the spam folder instead of the inbox, burying them—and your results.

Not what you intended, is it?

The key to avoiding this situation is to send e-mails only to people who sign up. People who have not signed up do not want them. They will mark them as spam, and they will poison your program. This is why a bedrock principle of e-mail marketing is to send messages only to people who have opted in. Another is to allow people to opt-out. A smaller, happier list of subscribers can be a gold mine. A huge, irritated list of subscribers is a waste.

Set subscribers' expectations

Another key to building a strong list of e-mail subscribers is how you ask them to sign up. Your goal is to present your program as an offer. In that offer, you want to clearly express what people will receive when they sign up. That way, people can decide one of two things. They can say, "That sounds great. I'll sign up and be an engaged subscriber." Or they can say, "This is not for me. I won't sign up and become dead weight."

This sets the expectations of your new subscribers. So whether you ask people to sign up electronically or on a piece of paper, make sure they understand the following points:

• What will you send? People need to see value in providing an e-mail address. They need to get something in exchange. Whether it comes in the form of helpful advice, first notice on your promotions, or something else, tell people exactly what they're signing up to receive.

• Why do I want it? You have to persuade these people. Let's say your program promises to send helpful tips and advice. Clearly state how this advice will improve people's lives. For example: "Sign up for our helpful tips on how to lower your insurance premium by as much as 60%."

• How often will you send it? No one likes to sign up for a weekly e-mail only to realize it's actually sent daily. Tell people how often you will e-mail them so they aren't unpleasantly surprised.

• What is your privacy policy? Data breaches and privacy threats are constant themes in the news. Many people want to know what you will do with their information and how you will protect it—so tell them. Link to your privacy policy from any form that asks people to sign up for your e-mails.

The information you provide people on a sign-up form creates a commitment. Once they sign up, your job as a marketer is to honor that commitment. Fail to do so, and you'll have a lackluster list of complainers. Do it and you'll have a strong and healthy group of people who want to hear from you.

The author

John Boudreau, CEO and co-founder of Astonish, works closely with local insurance agencies across the country to help them increase their share of the digital landscape through technology, marketing, and training solutions. Astonish has ranked on the Inc. 500/5000 list of fastest growing private companies in the U.S. for the past two years and recently ranked among the top five fastest growing private companies in the insurance industry.

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