Building an email list is one of the most important aspects within an e-commerce business. The reason why I emphasize the importance of an email list is the impact it will have on the future of your business. Read Why Your Internet Business Needs An Email List? as well. Your email list will comprise of subscribers that are segmented in the following:

1. Browsing and want free information
2. Have purchased from you and is a customer of your business
3. A loyal customer who regularly buys and refers your business to others.

Your goal is to move all your subscribers into the 3rd segment – which are customers who buy and refer business to others. But firstly, how do you get people to subscribe to your email list?

8 Ways To Increase Targeted Subscribers To Your Email List

Let me show you some simple way you can achieve this:

1. Have your email subscription box above the form, which will increase your exposure. I have been to many websites and seen them place them at the footer or somewhere that is not obvious.
2. Use video to show people what they can receive when they subscribe.
3. Less required fields = more subscribers. The less fields you ask for is directly related to the number of people that will actually sign up. All you need is to ask for is their first name and email address. When you have these two fields you can trigger an auto-responder email at any time asking for more information.
4. Offer promotions to refer people to your email list. This can be as simple as “Get a coupon when you refer a friend”.
5. Run contests. This can be a simple giveaway “Everyone on our email list is eligible to win our monthly prizes”. I ran a contest a few months ago and got over 80 subscribers in one hour. It works if the right promotion is offered.
6. Automatically add them to the email list during the checkout process. These are your most valuable customers and you need to keep in touch with them.
7. Add a sign up box at the product review or a blog comment page. Consider how many comments or product reviews you have on your site. If you had a simple check box in the form you could allow your visitors to subscribe while leaving a product review, blog comment or even filling out your contact form.
8. Use Social Media to build your list. Setup a tab or a link on your Facebook page asking for fans to subscribe to your email newsletter. If they like you enough to be a fan, they are likely to sign up for your email list if presented with the opportunity. If you are using Twitter, setup a specific Twitter landing page that thanks the users for clicking on the profile link and asks them to sign up for the email list. Most Twitter users will visit your site using the Twitter profile link, so setup a special page for these Twitter users and greet them accordingly.

Put yourself in a customer’s shoes and make sure you are offering the easiest way for them to get information. By capturing more targeted leads onto your email list, the more chances you have in creating more sales.

How Do I Maintain An Email List?

Once you have taken action on all 8 steps and successfully implemented these, you will start to see an increased amount of subscribers to your email list. The challenge that most business owners face is how to maintain and keep this list active. What you should be doing is sending valuable FREE information to these subscribers on a regular basis. At least on a minimum level of a monthly routine. If possible I would send an email weekly, that way you can build a relationship with your subscribers much faster and also they will get to know and trust you.

What if you don’t have time to schedule and send out an email to them weekly? Then I would suggest putting some time aside and have a few emails written upfront for a few weeks. Once you have these emails structured and flowing from each week, set up an auto responder and schedule them to be sent out weekly for you. That way you are still keeping in contact with your subscribers. I have recommended Aweber in the past for all email opt-ins and auto responders, and it is a great service that will deliver 99% of all your emails. Most top Internet marketers rely solely on their email list and it is a necessity if you want your e-commerce business to succeed.

Seriously, Build Your Email List!

If you want create a strong and profitable e-commerce business, building a quality email list is the first thing you need to focus on and having a doubt-opt is a must. Don’t be afraid to try these strategies as it will be the businesses who have loyal subscribers that will outsmart all the competition. Take action and build relationships with your subscribers today!

Tyrone Shum
Building Quality Email Lists