Online marketing is a work in progress. New methods are developed every day, more people and businesses are marketing online and the competition gets tougher and smarter. As a result, you may notice that marketing techniques that work great when first implemented start to lose their luster over time. One of the methods I've seen change over time is opt-in list marketing.
Years ago, webmasters didn't worry about capturing visitors information... it didn't even occur to them. Since there wasn't stiff competition, having a website was enough to gain the trust of your visitors. Then smart marketers started capturing visitor's names and email addresses to have the chance to put their marketing message in from of them over and again. Very smart indeed.
But now most website owners have an opt-in form and subscribers are having their inboxes stuffed full with emails. Getting the attention of your subscribers is harder than ever. Combine that with reduced delivery rates and SPAM filters and opt-in list marketing is not what it used to be.
You might have come to the conclusion you should forget about list marketing all together. After all, isn't building a list and a relationship with your subscribers a waste of time?
Absolutely NOT!
Here a 4 Essentials Of List Building In Today's Market...
Put Your Web Form In The Best Spot On Your Website
The top left portion of your website is the most valuable. This is where your visitors look first. So this is an excellent place to put you opt-in form. Building a list should be your top priority, so give the web form the respect it deserves.
Offer Valuable, Free Information For Signing Up
You are trying to get your visitor to go from someone "looking" for information, to someone "asking" for information. You should be providing good info on your website from the beginning. But reserve the best, biggest concern of your target market for your opt-in list. Give them a great reason to join your list.
Don't Bombard Your List With Offers
As mentioned earlier, your visitor is changing from a person looking for information to a person asking YOU for information. They trust you to provide the solution to their problems. Often, the solution involves recommending an affiliate product or one of your own... and that's fine. But don't immediately turn around and start recommending every possible product under the sun. Pick the best and recommend the best or you'll lose your credibility.
Treat Your List Like You Would Like To Be Treated
Often we speak of lists marketing in terms of numbers, or using words like prospects, subscribers or leads. It is easy to forget that there are real people that represent those numbers on your list. They are just like you and me. So, treat them like you would like to be treated. You undoubtedly have joined lists before and know what you like and what you don't like. Make sure to contact your list in the way you would like to be contacted.
As you can see, list marketing is harder in today's Internet market. But list marketing is even more important for your online business success than ever. The lazy list marketers who don't take into account the 4 essentials of list building will soon see an unsubscribed notice. That's good news for you, who are going to be doing your list marketing the right way.
