It's a truism in Internet marketing: the money is in the list.
What does this really mean? The basis of this marketing principle is that people become increasingly likely to buy from you the more they hear from you. You may have heard the following related truisms:
1. There are three ways to make more money: get more customers, get your customers to buy more often, and get your customers to make bigger purchases.
2. It takes "seven touches" to turn a prospect into a customer.
3. Know me, like me, trust me, buy from me.
They all agree: your best customers will be those you have the best relationship with. List building is the way you create this profitable relationship.
What is a list?
Your list is all the people who've given you permission to send them things.
How do you find people for your list?
There are several methods, with a range of prices attached to them; the more of them you do, the faster you'll build your list. Pay-per-click ads (like AdWords) can be costly, so you may want to start with less expensive or free strategies like syndicated articles, press releases, and YouTube. All share the goal of driving traffic to your website.
How do you get them on your list?
Your website visitors will opt in--put their name and e-mail address in the boxes and click the submission button. A professional copywriter will know the tricks of the trade that convince people to give you their contact information. Enticements include a free e-book, report, white paper, or chapter of your book; an informational message they can listen to or download; a free sample of your product or service.
What do you send to the people on your list?
The best e-mail marketing campaign consists of soft-sell messages. You want to give people real, valuable information-that's where the "know me, like me, trust me" comes in. It may take several messages, but eventually they realize you're an expert in your field, and when they're ready to pay an expert for your type of product or service, they'll come to you.
How do you keep from being a spammer?
You definitely don't want to try to keep your own list and send the messages manually. Not only is this a lot of work; you'll eventually get labeled a spammer and blocked from most people's e-mail systems. You need an automated messaging system. Yes, it's a cost. But it's not only a good investment--it's really a basic necessity.
When do people get the messages?
Your list members will get your messages in the order you specify, at the interval you specify. Now, let's say Jack opts in the first day your opt-in box is live, and Jane opts in six months later. Jack will get each and every followup message six months before Jane does. In most cases, this works fine; however, if you have timely information such as a new product or a sale, you'll need to inform everyone about it at once. This is where you do a broadcast instead of a regular followup message. You choose the day and time you want it to go out, and everyone on your list gets it at the same time.
How often?
How often you should mail to your list is a matter of widely varying opinion. At one extreme is daily or even more than once a day. At the other extreme would be, say, once a month or less. Although it does depend somewhat on the nature of your product or service, from twice a week to twice a month is a "safe" average frequency. If you have a seasonal item, you'll want to concentrate your messages around the peak buying season for your item.
How long?
How long your messages should be also "depends"--on your audience, the frequency of your messages, the price of your item, and other factors. The range is approximately 200-300 words (or fewer) on the low end, to 600-700 words (or more) on the high end. A copywriter is the person best equipped to make this judgment. And how long should you continue to send them messages? Seven to fifteen is a typical fixed-length e-mail series, although in some cases you may wish to continue mailing to them indefinitely.
Going viral
"Viral" is a powerful concept in Internet marketing-it's like word-of-mouth on steroids. Some automated messaging systems don't allow a "tell a friend" feature as part of your opt-in, however, because of its association with spam. Still, you can encourage people to send others to your website in other ways. For example, any informational product you give away for free, you can encourage your readers to share with others, which sends new people to your website.
Conclusion
A followup message or a broadcast can promote a featured item, or it can simply lead people back to your website. In any case, your goal is to keep in touch with your list so that you're always top-of-mind.
There's definitely a learning curve, so if you'd rather focus on your primary job function, find a professional copywriter to handle this important part of your marketing campaign. But don't neglect it-because the money really is in the list.
Lisa J. Lehr is a freelance copywriter specializing in direct response and marketing collateral, with a special interest in the health, pets, specialty foods, and inspirational/motivational/self-help niches.
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