The digital giants like Google and Facebook want to keep their audience in their hip pockets. Using SEO is not the same as it was 15 years ago. Google and the social media sites want to keep visitors on their platforms. You need to own your tribe of folks (while using Google and social media to beef up your audience).
An owned audience consists of customers who are reachable through platforms that you manage. Examples of owned media include newsletters and SMS marketing lists. Having control over your audience platform means you have full authority over how you engage with them.
A newsletter is the best way of keeping things in your control. A newsletter isn’t just for getting a sale. It can also be a good place for getting referrals or developing partnerships.
Since starting my business 24 years ago, I’ve preached about newsletters being a great way to keep your company at the forefront of people’s minds. Don’t assume they’ll naturally think of you when they need a piece of custom furniture or a bunch of lumber.
That’s why I think email newsletters are so central to your marketing success. This article assumes you are not doing an email newsletter at this point. If you are, then super. You’ll learn some things from what I’m talking about.
Gather All Your Contacts
Build your email list from your contacts. I assume you have a contact list in some fashion.
Gather your email contacts into one document. Export your databases from the following places and merge them into a single document for you to clean up later. Don’t try to do too much editing at the Gathering Stage:
- Contacts (Google, Outlook, Apple, etc.)
- QuickBooks (or other invoicing or quoting systems you use)
- CRM
- Any other list you might have
There may be some email in your inbox that you don’t have as a contact. This will take some extra work. Go through all your emails in your In-Box, Sent box, and Trash to see if there’s anyone you can add. Every name you add to the list might be a sale or referral. This includes adding people you sent a proposal to that ended up going with someone else. They may give you another shot if you have interesting, pertinent info in your newsletter.
Don’t be too conservative about who you’re adding to your list. I like to add friends and family. This allows them to know what’s going on with my business and they might refer you to their friends (or even buy from you).
Here’s one more thing: When you send out an email through a good email service provider (like MailChimp), there will always be an option for that person to unsubscribe from your newsletter automatically. And they will. Don’t take it personally. If they do, then they aren’t your audience.
So, having a good database to send info to regularly is a super valuable asset to your business. Now it’s time to grow it in a way that’s reasonable for a person who’s creating furniture or cutting lumber.
How to Continue to Grow Your List
Once you’ve developed a good list you can continue to grow it. What follows are several tactics to add new folks to your list.
When trying to get people to sign up for your newsletter, clearly explain they’ll be receiving exclusive content, early access to information, or special offers. Highlight what kind of content they can expect and how often it will be sent.
Website Sign-Up Forms
- Embedded Forms: Place sign-up forms in strategic locations on your website, such as the homepage, blog, and footer.
- Pop-Ups: Use pop-ups or slide-ins to capture visitors’ attention. Ensure these are not too intrusive to avoid annoying users. Don’t have it on every page!
- Landing Pages: Create dedicated landing pages for your newsletter with compelling reasons to subscribe. You can use this page for linking from your email signature and social media posts.
Email Signatures
Include a sign-up link in your email signature to encourage your contacts to subscribe.
Social Media
- Promote Sign-Ups: Share links to your sign-up form on your social media profiles and posts.
- Facebook Sign-Up: Use the sign-up button feature on your Facebook page.
Professional Networks
- LinkedIn: Reach out to your LinkedIn connections, especially those you have professional relationships with and invite them to subscribe. If you’re part of a networking group, when you receive a business card, ask the person if you can add them to your newsletter list.
- Social media groups: I’m on different groups on Facebook. This would be a good place to add a link to your signup page if your group allows it. It’s great if you are the admin of the Facebook group.
Leverage Your Personal Social Media
Share your newsletter sign-up link on your personal social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram (you’d have to do the link in your bio on Instagram). Explain why you think your followers would benefit from subscribing.
Offline Methods
- Events: Collect email addresses at your booth.
- Open house: Have an open house at your office and invite your contacts to it. Ask them to sign up for your newsletter while they’re there.
Customer Transactions
- E-commerce: Add an opt-in option during the checkout process.
- Invoicing: Include a link to subscribe in your invoices or receipts.
That’s about it for gathering and growing your newsletter list. There is also the work of writing, designing, and sending your newsletter. I’ll get to that in subsequent blog posts. Get in touch with me if you want help. This is what I do.
Photo by Radek Grzybowski on Unsplash
