The power of your LIST
It’s no secret that Team Red Barn is Pro Email Marketing. The bang for your ROI buck is huge compared to other advertising and customer engagement methods. It is all about the POWER of your LIST. The more targeted, the more engaged, the higher that ROI will be.
The biggest question I often get is “But Cindy, how do I get a list to email to?”
You build it – over time.
First let’s talk guidelines.
Email rules here in the US are not as stringent as they are in the EU – as long as you follow the guidelines of the FTC CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business and ONLY email to people in the US you will be fine. Note – GDPR rules and regulations are insanely stringent and carry large fines. So if you work globally – make sure you are GDPR Compliant.
In the US, you CAN add people to your email list without having them OPT IN as long as you give them a clear OPT OUT option and comply with that request within the CAN SPAM guidelines. There are also rules around advertisements, etc.
Note if you add people without them opting in you WILL by default have lower engagement rates, higher spam rates, and higher opt-out rates. We only suggest this if it is a very targeted audience such as an association you belong to or are associated with and you are offering some type of educational content to them. If you get high spam rates your email provider WILL turn you off and even black list you. So beware.
The best way to build your list is organically. Here’s how we do it:
- Make is CRAZY EASY – is the rule and have opportunities everywhere for them to subscribe.
- ASK. Every time I do a speaking engagement, training, etc – I ask people to sign up for my weekly email – I tell them the value they will get and of course they can opt out if they don’t like it. I entice them as well – by giving them something OR making a donation to a local charity for each sign up. Works every time.
- LEAD MAGNETS on your Website – valuable educational and/or entertaining intel that they need to give you their name and email address in order to get your content.
- In your EMAIL SIGNATURE – have a hyperlink to your sign up form.
- ON YOUR WEBSITE – have sign up forms in a variety of places.
- Share lead magnets on SOCIAL MEDIA – capture email addresses that way.
It doesn’t end there – you need to actually use the emails you’ve collected to bring in the ROI. Weekly nurturing emails and email automation based on segmented lists is what we do here at Red Barn and it’s how we help other companies tell their story in a low cost conversational and converting way!