How To Make Email Marketing Work For You
One of the strongest tools in an Internet marketer’s arsenal is email – and with good reason. Getting a big list of targeted prospects together is a tremendous asset to have. Yet, many Internet marketers stumble when looking to put together their lists because they don’t know the right way to get started. Just how does someone start getting people to opt-in?
The first thing to keep in mind is that people are getting more and more used to marketers asking them to fill in their name and email address. Therefore, it’s simply not enough to just put up your opt-in form and hope for the best. You really do need to “sell” the opt-in, and one of the top ways to do it is with a giveaway or ethical “bribe”. Put together a free downloadable report around your niche topic and offer it for free to everyone that fills in their name and email address. This is a good way to convince them to take some time and fill out your opt-in form.
Your giveaway doesn’t need to be a report. It can be a video, an audio interview with someone respected in your industry, or maybe even exclusive access to some protected part of your website. Whatever it is, the key is to ensure that your giveaway brings value to the user. This does two things:
- The user will start to form trust with you, which means that promotions and recommendations are more likely to be accepted.
- If the content is good enough, there’s a good chance that the user will help you spread the word by telling their friends about it.
In many cases, this giveaway is really a first impression of sorts, and as we are all aware, first impressions are very important. So, make sure that your giveaway is quality and offers true value to your subscribers.
The second point may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many people don’t do this. Be sure that your opt-in box is in a highly visible place above the fold. Above the fold means the part of the screen that is visible before you have to scroll downwards. What we’ve seen is that visitors are more likely to notice your subscription box if they do not have to scroll down to see it. To make your opt-in box more visible, try a shade that easy to spot on your website. You can also try to add arrows or other graphics to draw attention to the subscription box. Of course, be sure to show the visitor your fabulous giveaway for signing up.
Finally, in your opt-in box, always remember to summarize or point to your privacy policy. SPAM (or junk email) is a big problem, and many people are turned off from email marketing in fear of having their email addresses sold or distributed. In order to get people to opt-in, you need to be able to convince them that you are worthy of trust and that you will not share their email without express permission. By doing so, your opt-in rate will noticeably increase, so take the time to ease the minds of your visitors.
As long as email exists, email marketing is not going away. By putting these techniques to use, you too can start building a targeted list of subscribers that are responsive to your own promotions.
Email marketing works like gangbusters if you can create a list targeted around a particular niche. Master niche marketer Mark Dulisse has launched a new course called IM Niche Formula. A struggling single father of three young children, Mark was able to create a massive income online with niche marketing and web 2.0 tactics. Head over to http://imnicheformulabonus.org for a detailed IM Niche Formula review and discover a massive IM Niche Formula bonus package!
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