How Can I Grow My Email List Using My Website?

Collecting data for email marketing can make for a great way to regularly communicate with your target audience with the view of converting them into paying customers.

However, for many small businesses the process of collecting data can prove to be a challenging one. We’ve looked at how you can go about collecting data for your email marketing and also provided a few pointers on how to ensure it remains GDPR compliant.

Offering valuable resources in exchange for emails

Offering free material in exchange for email addresses can make for an effective way to build your email list. Not only will you see your audience appreciate the free content, but it’ll also grant your brand a degree of credibility, especially if it’s relatively young. The content you offer can come in a wide range of forms, from e-books, to webinars, to white paper downloads. Irrespective of what you opt for, ensure it’ll add value to your customers, otherwise the download will most likely put them off your business. Keep the content in line with what you do, whether you choose to provide “top tips” or publish industry related research. You can go as far as creating a ‘downloads’ or ‘resource’ section on your website where you can house all of the content you create.

Make greater use of lead magnets

A lead magnet can help prompt your website visitors to actually download the type of content mentioned above through persuasive copy and eye-catching imagery. While having a ‘download’ or ‘resource’ section on your website is fine, it may well be missed by many visitors, which is where lead magnets come into their own. There are various parameters that can be set for when a lead magnet appears. For example, it can appear after the visitor has been on your site for a certain period of time, or when they have scrolled through a certain percentage of a page, or even when they appear to be leaving your website.

Segment your email campaigns

Categorising your email content can help visitors to pick and choose which emails they’d like to receive. This added degree of choice is likely to encourage email sign-ups since the end user will be receiving content that’s most suited and relevant to them. For example, a clothing retailer might allow users the choice of signing up to newsletter focusing on either men’s or women’s clothing. In essence, a more targeted approach should also yield better results from your email marketing efforts.

Make email signup easy

Another way of growing your email list is by making the process of signing up straight forward. The last thing people want is to fill out an endless amount of information, especially if it’s personal. So instead of taking a whole host of unnecessary data, stick with their name and email. This will make signing up nice and easy for them and you can then nurture your relationship through your email marketing efforts.

Improve the quality of your email content

This might sound obvious but many businesses can get caught up performing marketing without paying enough attention to actually optimising it. For example, you may have developed ideas for content and ran with them but they may now have stagnated. So ask yourself, could your emails do with being refreshed to provide more value to your subscribers? Offering better content will make it easier to sell the sign-up process on your website.

Ensuring it’s all GDPR compliant

While all the above is great, it’s important that the manner in which you obtain personal information such as email addresses is now GDPR complaint. To summarise what this means for your email marketing –

• Opt-in shouldn’t be linked to other terms and conditions unless it’s completely necessary for the given service.
• Opt-in should be intentional, clearly evident and avoid ambiguity – meaning pre-ticked opt-in forms should no longer be used.
• You should offer a granular option to consent, allowing users to opt-in to exactly which type of content and the channels they wish to receive it from.
• It should also be made perfectly clear what the individual is signing up for without any technical jargon.
• You should clearly outline who will have access to their data and how it will be used, this is especially important for those who might be sharing it with third parties.
• Finally, the recipient should be able to opt out with ease and have the right to be forgotten, requiring you to delete their information from your data in a secure manner.

Learn how to ensure your B2C email marketing is GDPR compliant here.

Final words

If you have traffic going to your website then capturing email data shouldn’t be too hard since half the job is complete. Follow the tips above and you’ll be well on your way to building your email list which will be GDPR compliant. You will however have to create high quality content that visitors will be willing to exchange their email addresses for. Focus on getting your content right first, and through this you can grow your email list and begin nurturing relationships with your customers.