Creating, Maintaining, and Using Email Lists

Staying in touch with existing customers is the best way to make sure that they remain customers. And continually getting your message across to prospective customers will increase your chances of converting them into actual customers. Email marketing is one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to communicate with a large number of customers and prospects at one time. Building and maintaining an accurate database of email recipients will help you reach your target audience to achieve your goals.

Here are some of the things you can do with a proprietary mailing list:

• Expand your marketing campaign: You can reach new customers in a more targeted manner with email marketing.
• Network: Your email recipients can forward your message on to their friends, those friends can forward it to others, and so on.
• Keep relationships current: Your current customers won’t feel like you’ve forgotten them because they receive correspondence from you.
• Increase repeat traffic to your web site: Additional emails will remind people about your site, and they’ll click through for a visit.
• Promote your brand in the marketplace: Email can keep your company’s image fresh in your customers’ minds.
• Generate sales and increase profits: You can include promotional and “buy” links in the email that your recipients can click on to make a purchase.

How to Build Your Email Database
To start compiling an email database, view every interaction with customers and potential customers as an opportunity to gather email addresses.

1. Capture email addresses from your home page by prominently placing a sign-up form which will ask users to enter an email address.
2. If someone makes an online purchase, include a check box on the order form to get them on your mailing list.
3. If you have an offline store or business location, ask visitors and customers if they'd like to get on your email list.
4. Include your email subscription information on all of your offline materials, including print advertising and direct mail.
5. Ask for email addresses during customer service calls.
6. When attending tradeshows or events, have an email sign-up form available.

Building Quality Lists
To ensure that your email list contains well-targeted, permission-based, and valid addresses:

1. Only use an opt-in method - not opt-out. Your database should only include email addresses of those that have explicitly expressed that they would like to receive email from you – either by checking a box themselves or entering in their email address.
2. Give people something in return for their contact information, like discounts, advice, or other important information. Promotions like contests and sweepstakes may get people to sign up in the short term, but they won’t turn into sales in the long run.
3. Get the information you need, but don’t be pushy. Asking for too much information may turn away the people you’re trying to interest. Try to get more information than just their name and email address, but not too much more.
4. Establish your purpose. Let people know when they sign up what they’ll be getting from your emails.

How to Manage Your Email Database
There are three main ways to manage your database. Knowing the benefits and limitations of each before you start will help your efforts in the long run.

1. Use your own email program. This may seem appealing because you most likely have an email program on your desktop that you are comfortable working with, and it will not cost you anything to get started. However, managing your list from a desktop program is tricky. For example, it’s hard to keep track of which users registered for your e-newsletter and which requested more information or had specific questions. Additionally, most free email programs don’t have the ability to quickly personalize messages by automatically inserting the recipient’s first name in the message itself. And your email program won’t track results or automatically update your list when a new user signs up or an existing user updates his email address or unsubscribes.



2. Use mail list software. Mail list management software lets you draft, send, and personalize messages quickly and easily. Most of these programs allow you to sync the software with your web site so that when a user signs up online the address is automatically added to your list. Such software also will verify new addresses, automatically update subscribes and unsubscribes, and schedule emails to be sent at the times you specify.
   
   Most email software programs have tracking capabilities — each one is unique so research your options before choosing a program. Unlike using your own email account, you will have to invest in the software — but you can probably recoup the cost in saved time. You can either purchase software (anywhere from $99 to $2,500 depending on the services you require) or work with an Application Service Provider (ASP). ASPs create the software and charge a monthly fee. The major advantage of an ASP is that, as they become available, you’ll be able to access new features without purchasing a new software program.



3. Outsource your list . You may decide to leave list management to a third party. List management companies provide similar services to those of an ASP or software package and charge a monthly maintenance fee. When working with an email list management company, make sure your contract clearly states that you retain ownership of the email addresses in your list.

If you take the time and follow the advice above, you can build an effective list of email addresses that you can tailor your email marketing campaigns around. Having a quality email list will help ensure that your email marketing efforts are reaching the right people, which improves your chances of increasing sales and brand recognition -- the goals of any marketing effort.

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