Grow Your Email Marketing List Using These Tips

A quality email marketing list is essential for any business in the B2B space. However, compiling a list is a complicated, time consuming process. Because of this, many MSP companies will compile a list all at once, and then continue to use that same list for all of their future marketing needs. This mistake can negatively impact your marketing efforts.

Ensure That Your List Is Well Vetted and Up-To-Date

According to research, email marketing databases naturally degrade by 2.1% per month. This natural degradation occurs when a contact leaves that company, a company changes email hosts, or when the company itself is no longer operating. That 2.1% may not sound like a lot, but this adds up to a total of 22.5% annually, and doesn’t even include those who make the choice to opt-out of receiving further emails.

To avoid the negative effects of this degradation, businesses must ensure that their email marketing list is continuously vetted. Failing to do so will result in lower than expected ROI and open/click rates, making it hard to measure the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. In addition, you should be working on adding new prospects and clients to your email marketing list every month.

Include Lead Generation Content on Your Website

Having a content-rich, up-to-date website is essential when trying to draw in potential prospects. Adding content to your website helps improve your search engine rankings. This is especially valuable when 71% of B2B researchers begin with a generic Google search, and a majority of B2B purchasers are at least 70% of the way through the buying process before even contacting a company.

To generate new leads for your email marketing list, focus on Lead Generation Content, or ‘lead-gen’. This can be done through blogs, forms, and free downloadable content such as whitepapers, guides, brochures, check-lists, cheat sheets, and more.

• Blogs: Composing blogs is a great way to improve your email marketing list if you do so on a regular basis. Not only does this improve your search engine ranking, but it helps you establish yourself as a local subject matter expert. Including a call-to-action that encourages readers to reach out to you as well as a way for readers to subscribe to your blog encourages individuals to provide their contact information.

• Forms: Forms can be embedded into your website so that people can enter their contact information to learn more about a particular product or service. Ensure that each of your forms includes a required email field so that they can be added to all relevant marketing lists.

• Free Downloads: It’s common for businesses in the B2B space to include free downloadable content on their website. This content could be used to grow your email marketing list: if an individual is interested in reading that content, you can require them to provide their email if they want to download it. This can be used for guides, brochures, check-lists, cheat sheets, and any other material you believe that prospects will find relevant.

Utilize the Power of Social Media

Social media is one of the most important marketing channels to a B2B buyer during the vendor selection process. According to a survey of senior-level decision makers, 83% said that they use social media in their decision making; of that 83%, over 90% said that what they saw on social media influenced their purchase decision. By knowing this, you can leverage social media to your advantage.

When new lead-gen content is posted on your website, be sure to promote it on your social media channels. Also, be knowledgeable about the options you have on each platform. For example, Facebook allows you to add a ‘call-to-action’ button to a business page.

Don’t SPAM

Emailing a potential suspect you have never had contact with is a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. This piece of legislature requires that any commercial message sent must be relationship-based. This means that the person must have opted-in to receiving emails, typically either by opting-in to your email list by choice or by contacting you inquiring about a service you offer.

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We offer many different services that can help you grow your email marketing list, including lead lists, Social Media as a Service, blog writing, and content marketing in general. Contact us today to learn more.