20 Tips On How To Get Email Addresses For Email Marketing
Email marketing campaigns are essential for all e-commerce entrepreneurs. You need to send out newsletters, special offers, discounts. In order to do so you need a list of your recipients’ email addresses. How can you get it?
Buying / renting an email list is always a bad idea
If you want to waste your money, buy a list of email addresses. It never works well. People on these lists don’t actually know you, and your open rates and reputation will be seriously harmed. Moreover, reputable email marketing vendors (Soundest, GetResponse or Mailchimp just to name a few) won’t let you send emails to lists you’ve bought, and if so, in the best case scenario, all your newsletters and so called cold emails would end up in the spam box. Even though you may provide your recipients with helpful content and valuable offers, in their eyes you will always be just an annoying bug.
Now that you know why buying or renting an email list is never a good idea, there’s no reason we can’t immediately get down to the nitty-gritty of creating your own list. How to get email addresses for your email marketing from your customers voluntarily? What are the best practices in terms of consistently growing an email list? Let’s get to some basic tips and some advanced (and a little bit unorthodox) techniques!
How to get a list of email addresses for your email marketing campaigns: 20 clever tips!
1. A “Sign in for a newsletter” box
The easiest way of how to get something is by asking for it. Create a simple box on your website where a can customer fill in their details and email address in order to get your newsletters in their mailbox on a regular basis. E.g.: “Sign up for the newsletter and be the first to know about all new releases!”
2. Pop-ups
Capture email addresses with a simple little window that pops up to catch your customer’s attention. “GET 15% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER! Fill in your email address and we’ll send you an exclusive voucher.” This can be done very easily with a plug-in on your website such as OptinMonster.
3. Pop-unders
Similarly to pop-ups, pop-unders open a new browser window to attract customers for something extra. On the bright side, pop-unders are not so invasive as they are hidden under the active window, thus not interrupting a customer immediately.
4. Interstitials
For those unfamiliar with the term, interstitial are ads that appear while a page is downloading. It can bear a catchy message: “Access our concealed vault of the 30 best DIY tips & hacks. Enter your email and unlock the secrets…” Just make it irresistible!
5. Exit-intent technology
If a customer tends to leave your online store without purchasing, rush in with a special offer they cannot refuse. “Make a purchase in the next 30 minutes and get a package of 5 fine wine samples for free!” Don’t let them go so easily, at least ask them for their feedback.
6. Contests
Be creative! For example, if you sell books, make a contest with something like: “Are you an expert on Harry Potter? Let’s see. Answer all these 10 tricky questions, send us a list with your answers via email and get a 50% discount on the newest instalment! No muggles allowed!” You can use other types of interaction, such as polls or surveys.
7. Smart email notifications
Who doesn’t love window shopping?! People often click on one of your products but never actually purchase. Create (yet another) box for smart email notifications, a so-called watchdog. Then you can let your window-shoppers know that the product they’ve been circling around is finally for sale!
8. A “Recommend to a friend” box
Make your customers enter their friends details, promote your brand through sharing it with friends and capture yet another email address. “Introduce your friend and earn rewards! $10 for you and 15% off for them!”
9. An affiliate program for customers.
As an affiliate, your customer can make commissions on products sold through links on your website while bringing new people to your store. The process is quite simple. They’ll join in your program, spread the word, and get rewarded for each customer they bring you (either with discounts, points or something similar). People will appreciate it as it’s nice to have a few extra bucks roll in, and you’ll add another valuable contact to your list.
10. “Questions about a product?” section
Put a button on your site, saying: “Do you have any questions regarding a product? Is there something specific you want more information about? Ask our pros!” You’ll get valuable feedback and acquire another email address!
11. A “Contact us” page
You probably already have a contact page on your website with your online store email address and maybe even your phone number. This page should definitely include a contact form as well so that your customer can reach you. Then you can save their contact info for later. Be sure to ask them here if they would like to opt in to your newsletter.
12. Online chat
Apart from the contact form mentioned above, you can use online chat to guide customers, help them, provide support etc. After clicking on the chat button, prompt a customer to fill in their contacts. Use this opportunity to build your email list!
13. A loyalty program
Probably the easiest and the most direct way. If you can attract someone to your store and make them fall in love with it so much that they become a returning customer, why not offer them to become a member of your loyalty program? In order to do so it’s of course necessary to sign in with their email address.
14. A “Don’t miss a thing” box
You can appeal to your audience with great content. If you write really useful articles and blog posts, create a simple box similar to the “Sign up for a newsletter” one, where a customer fills in their email address so that you can send them an email notification every time you post something new.
15. A discussion below your articles and blog posts
While we’re on the subject of great content, make sure you allow your audience to comment on your posts, discuss with others and share their opinions. And naturally, when submitting a comment, ask for their email address!
16. A “Sign in” box to download an eBook
Let your customers and audience download exclusive stuff from your website in return for their email address. Win-win situation. Apart from eBooks you can offer other things, of course, such as instruction manuals, white-papers, case studies etc.
17. A webinar
Oh yes, a webinar. Create something special, be seen online, chat with your customers, show them you’re the expert in your field and you care about them. Make them register for the webinar with their contact information, of course. The same goes with other online events or presentations.
18. CTA buttons on Facebook
Nowadays, it’s possible to use cool call-to-action buttons on Facebook. You can choose from these five actions: Shop Now, Learn More, Sign Up, Book Now or Download. In order to grow your email list the “Sign Up” button should be your default!
19. Birthday present
Show your customers you care about them and take your relationship really seriously. Let them know you’re happy to have them. “Send us your birthday by email and we’ll send you a special discount or a little gift!”
20. A gift from customer care
Take advantage of a direct interaction with a customer (i.e. during a phone call or a shop assistant at a cashier’s desk) in order to get their contact info. “Listen, I have a special discount for you — $10 off your next purchase! What email address do you want me to send it to?”
It is not necessary to explain the necessity of email marketing. To sum things up, don’t buy (or even rent) a list of email addresses. Make sure you get it out of your customers voluntarily. Above all, don’t be too pushy, it might look cheap and desperate.
Send only things your recipients signed up for and always allow them an option to unsubscribe from your email list. Do it right. Good luck!
