Building Lists
For more information read Listrak’s white paper Increase ROI with List Management Tactics
Do |
Ask for permission before adding subscribers to your list. |
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Build your own lists and collect data at every customer touch-point, both online and offline. |
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Keep the opt-in process quick and simple – only collect the profiling attributes that are most important to your business. |
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Let your subscribers know you won’t sell their information to a third party – post your privacy policy online. |
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Allow visitors to opt-in to your email lists from every page of your web site, not just your home page. |
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Provide sample emails so your subscribers know what to expect and the benefits they’ll receive. |
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Offer subscribers choices – such as text only or HTML versions of your message or allow them to choose their own frequency. |
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Confirm the email addresses of your new subscribers by sending a welcome message or using the double opt-in subscription method. |
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Include a coupon or special incentive in your welcome message as these messages have the highest open and click-through rates. |
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Be sure the welcome message has the right branding in place and that it contains a link to your privacy policy, an unsubscribe link, and other CAN-SPAM requirements. |
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Ask new subscribers to add you to their list of safe senders on the sign-up thank you page. |
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Make the subscription process memorable so subscribers remember signing up for your emails. |
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Remove invalid email addresses from your lists immediately. |
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If renting a list, de-dupe the list by running it against your in-house list and remove any subscribers who have previously opted-out of your mailings. |
Don’t |
Purchase lists – unsolicited messages have the highest complaint rates and could ruin your reputations. |
Don’t |
Pre-check the opt-in box to add subscribers to your list automatically. |
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Track the source of your new subscribers so you know where they are coming from and how they are hearing about your business. |
Caution |
Use sweepstakes, contest, or free offers to build your list as some recipients will only be interested in the offer, not in receiving messages from your company on an on-going basis. |
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If using a sweepstakes to capture subscribers, include an unchecked checkbox participants can select to join your mailing lists. |
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Focus on the quality of your subscribers, not the quantity. |
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Understand the value of each email address. |
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Encourage your subscribers to send your emails to their friends using a Forward-to-a-Friend (FTAF) link in all of your messages. |
Don’t |
Automatically add the FTAF recipients to your lists – instead, include an easy way to subscribe to your email lists in the forwarded versions of the email. |
Do |
Ask Listrak’s email marketing experts to create and help you implement a successful list acquisition strategy. |
