We live in a time of digital marketing and online shopping, and when it comes to brick-and-mortar businesses, a strong customer email list cannot be overlooked. Email marketing is the most effective medium by which brands can reach out to their customers directly as well as deliver affordable solutions to sell products, announce news, and build loyalty. However, for established retailers, making the shift to digital marketing and focus on expanding their email list can be a daunting task. This post will show you some great methods that brick and mortars can use to develop a strong email list that will help keep their customers coming back.
How Much Does An Email List Cost?
To start with, you need to know why it’s important for brick-and-mortar companies to establish an email list.
Instant Connection: Email directly connects to the inbox of your customers, where you can share offers, announcements and customized messages.
Cost Effective Marketing: Email marketing offers a greater ROI than traditional advertising techniques. The best practices enable companies to reach consumers without spending heavily on advertising.
Customer loyalty: Subsequent emails, newsletters, and updates can build customer loyalty, make customers return, and build brand awareness.
Targeted Campaigns: Email marketing lets businesses segment their audience and deliver targeted messages to certain groups, increasing clicks and conversions.
How to Create a Customer Mailing List.
1. Create an Enticing Sign-Up Opportunity
The best place to start when creating an email list is by offering a free sign-up for your customers. You can do this, at least in some ways:
Print Sign-Up Sheets: Print sign-up sheets at the cash register or other key areas of your store. You want them to be easily visible.
Sign Up Forms: If you have a website, make it accessible to visitors through digital sign up forms. Consider pop-up forms or placing an email sign-up section on your homepage.
QR Codes: Use QR codes associated with a sign-up form that you can attach to your window displays, receipts, or advertising materials. This means that customers can sign up simply from their phones.
2. Offer Incentives
Offering incentives is a great way to encourage sign-ups. Consider the following ideas:
Coupons and Promotions: Giving a coupon for next purchase or a special coupon for joining is a great way to encourage customers to sign up for your email.
Unique Content: Develop unique content (for example guides, tips or early sales or new product emails that can only be accessed through email signup).
Loyalty Programs: Use your email list as part of a loyalty program, where you award members points or discounts depending on what they’re spending.
3. Promoting Sign-Ups via Social Media.
You can use your social media profiles to increase your email list. How to get the most out of them:
Share Sign-Up Links: Consistently update your social media pages about your email list and highlight the benefits of joining, be it exclusive offers, news or content.
Contests or Giveaways: Create social media competitions or giveaways that require users to sign up to your email list to take part. You can use this strategy to build your email list and boost social media traffic in the process.
Promote Testimonials: Use customer testimonials and success stories illustrating how your emails are useful to get followers to sign up.
4. Train Your Staff
Your workers are instrumental in driving the email sign-up campaign. Provide training and resources that allow them to:
Tell them the Advantages: Make sure they can clearly convey to customers what they’ll get out of subscribing at checkout or across different storefronts.
Emails Professionally – Allow your team to ask for email addresses respectfully and organically without coercing customers.
5. Host In-Store Events
Events in-store are a great way to accumulate emails and create community relationships. Consider hosting:
Classes or Seminars: Conduct educational classes that are specific to your field. Guests can sign up by email to be kept informed about updates and events.
Sales Events: Hold exclusive sales events to email customers and allow them to have access to special offers or early bird pricing on new products. This is making it seem more urgent and more compelling to join.
Product launches: Launch products by holding an event that is registered via email. This not only collects email addresses but increases the interest in your products.
6. Utilize Email Verification Tools
If you want a valid email list, you need to make sure that the emails you collect are valid. Use email verification software to screen out unintentional addresses. This ensures that you have a list of active customers who really are interested in what you are selling, which can help improve the efficiency of your email marketing efforts.
7. Create Compelling Email Content
Once you have an email list, try and write valuable content that will keep your readers engaged. Here are some content ideas:
Newsletters: Promote store updates, new products, and sales in a weekly or monthly newsletter. Make sure the content is informative and visually compelling.
Personalization: Use customer information to customize emails, including suggesting products that you have already purchased or sending birthday emails with special offers.
Resonance: Encourage subscribers to submit feedback or take surveys to provide marketing insight and build community.
Conclusion:
Growing your customer email list is a critical part of any brick-and-mortar company that wants to survive in the digital economy. Businesses can cultivate a relationship with their customers by creating attractive sign-ups, providing valuable incentives, using social media, training employees, holding events and sending quality emails. Ultimately, a healthy email list both brings sales and builds loyalty, which makes companies successful in the offline and online worlds.
