Your email list is one of the most important assets your business owns. It’s important to continuously strive to grow and nurture your email list. With the right strategies your email campaigns can lead to the easiest revenue you’ll ever make.
So where do you start? With a few easy steps and some time and effort, you can grow your email list by the thousands and make a lot of money while you’re at it.
Tips For Growing Your Email List
As a retail store owner, if you’re not already collecting customer data when they buy products from you at the cash register, start there first.
Having a way to collect customer data at the time of purchase, through your point of sale for example, is an easy way to have customers provide their information. Typically it’s easier to get them to give you their information if they get something in return i.e. loyalty points, a discount, opportunities for discounts in the future, etc. But even if they had a great experience in your store, that could be enough. Just ask!
Beyond your cash register, one of the best ways to grow your email list is through a lead magnet or lead generator. We talked about lead magnets in this blog. A lead magnet is some sort of download that you offer freely to potential customers to gather their information. You should create something that is irresistible to your customer that addresses a problem they have and how you can provide a solution. House this digital asset on your website and provide it in exchange for their contact information. You can display this in a pop-up ad or feature it on your home page. Make sure it’s very visible.
What Do You Do Once You Have An Email List?
Just like any living thing, nurturing it is vital for growth. Your email list is no different. It’s important to nurture your email list every single week to continue to provide value to your customers and remind them that you exist.
What does that look like on a practical level? It means producing consistent content that your list wants to see. Email marketing experts recommend producing one piece of content every week that will resonate with your list. This could be a new blog, video, podcast, checklist, or something along those lines.
That sounds overwhelming to many people. You might be scratching your head about what you’d talk about every week. But it’s a lot easier than you think. After all, when you work in retail you’re getting asked dozens of questions daily.
One thing you can do is keep a list of common questions you get asked by customers. Take one of those questions each week and address them in a blog.
You could join different Facebook groups in your areas that your potential customers are in to see what sort of questions they are asking so you can address those in your content.
When producing content, think in terms of debunking myths, providing tips, lessons, secrets, and so on. Those types of content really resonate with customers.
Whatever you do, be consistent and figure out what matters to your audience. And as you continue to provide them content, don’t be afraid to ask them to make purchases. As you nurture your relationship with your customer, trust will build, and they will respond with their dollars and cents!
But What About Social Media? Isn’t That More Important Than Email?
While social media marketing is important, it is not king. Email marketing is king. You own your email list. You don’t own your social media accounts. There is a wise saying that says, “Don’t build your business on rented land” and this is so true of social media.
Use your social media platforms to build your email list but don’t use it as your only audience. Algorithms change constantly so you can’t count on them to reach your audience. So, you should use social media to drive people to your lead magnet to capture their email so you always know you can reach them.
One Last Thing To Remember
The size of your email list is not as important as the quality of your email list. That’s why creating a lead magnet is so crucial. With a lead magnet, you’ve already proven that the customer downloading it is at least curious about you and your business. Same with capturing emails at your cash register. Those customers have already entered into a relationship with you. It’s better to have 1,000 highly qualified leads as opposed to 10,000 emails that aren’t really engaged with your business. So don’t be discouraged if your list is small at first. Build your list with qualified leads and nurture those into great customers.
Don’t Wait. Start Building Your Email List Today!
This incredible asset is right at your fingertips. Don’t wait. Start building and nurturing your email list today. It’s worth every bit of time and effort you will put into it.
