Learning new techniques to promote your business can be difficult, especially since so many of them involve new and innovative technologies. The days of putting an advertisement in the paper are over — most companies are reaching their audience online, namely through emails.
Mailing lists may seem like a nuisance to some, but they’re actually a very powerful tool to reach potential new clients or hold the attention of current customers. So whether your company is on the cutting edge of marketing techniques or you’re new to the game, consider adding a mailing list to your strategy. Here are five tips on how to start using targeted mailing lists:
Review the statistics of mailing lists
Before delving into unknown waters, do some research on the success of mailing lists to see if it’s the right fit for you. For instance, email marketing generates $38 for every $1 spent on a campaign.
Some other fun facts about the power of email marketing include the fact that 98 percent of business-to-business (B2B) companies use email to spread marketing content, there are an estimated 5.6 billion active emails to tap into, and 40 percent of B2B marketers believe email marketing is “most critical” to their content marketing success.
Understand your audience and focus on them
A key part of creating a mailing list is finding your target audience and then focusing on them. Don’t ever assume that people will want to follow your list; you need to find and target your audience as well as ideal clients or customers.
Once you’ve acknowledged who your target audience is and who else you may want to focus your energy on, create strategies to garner their attention. Knowing the basics about them is helpful, but knowing more detailed information about them — like their shopping habits — will help you construct foolproof strategies that’ll get them onto your mailing list.
Consider the types of email mailing lists
Next, you’ll want to consider which types of email mailing lists to send out. You may be asking, “Aren’t all emails the same?” Not in marketing: the different types of email mailing lists you can send out will determine what kind of response and interaction with the customer you’ll receive.
There are response lists, compiled lists, newsletters, announcements, and discussions. Each is tailored to produce different outcomes. For example, a compiled list consists of gathered links and information from various sources, even from outside of the company. But announcements focus entirely on in-house made content and would discuss the company or industry only.
Create worthwhile content
Although some mailing lists allow for adding links from outside sources, providing your own content is the best way to drive traffic to your website and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Invest in talented writers who can create content around subjects that your targeted audience would want to read about.
This is why studying up on your audience is so important for this entire process. It shapes the types of lists and the content you create. For example, if you’re running a mailing list centered on mechanical engineering design, don’t write articles about designing a dream home. Your audience of mechanical engineers will want to read up on innovation in their industry, not something off-topic.
Connect to social media
Lastly, in using your mailing lists strategically, you’ll want to hyperlink employee signatures to your mailing list sign-up page and make sure your social media handles are present in each iteration of your email blast. Creating multiple avenues for customers to find all of your online platforms is important for growing your audience.