How to Build and Manage a Mailing List
One of the things that you can do to get people to come back to your website after they
visit or after they purchase something from you, is to get them to sign up for your mailing
list. That way, you can remind them every once in a while, about your products or services,
and they may come back and buy something else from you, or simply read your blog or
articles if that’s whatyour goal is.
Here are some tips to help you manage a mailing list to be most effective.
First, make it as simple as possible for them to sign up for the mailing list.
Ideally all they should have to do is enter their email address. You may want to get
more information from them but simpler is better. Obviously, if they are buying something
from you they may have to provide more information. However, websites that require
registration before purchase see poor results. So, if you can collect their email address
on their way to purchase something, but not require registration, and if you can collect
their email address on your front page even if they don’t buy something, you’ll have the
perfect mailing list setup.
You want to give them a good reason to sign up for your mailing list as well. Obviously,
if you tell them that they are signing up to be reminded to come back and buy something
later, not very many people are going to sign up. But, if you offer them something valuable
that they’ll get by providing you with their email address, something that they would never
get ordinarily, then you’ll have much greater success using them to sign up.
Finally, only send out emails to your mailing list when you have something valuable to
offer them. If you start sending them emails all the time and they get sick of seeing your
name in their inbox, they’re going to hit the unsubscribe button and they will no longer be
on your mailing list. Make sure that you have something substantial that you’re emailing
them about, such as a major discount or promotion – or even a contest that you’re running
– so that when your email does arrive they know that it’s going to be something good and
they’ll read it and possibly even follow through with a visit to your website or a purchase.
