Growing your database

Your GraphicMail account is set up, you’ve got the hang of the system and you’ve designed or chosen sophisticated, stylish or funky newsletters…but what’s the point in sending them if no one reads them?

The purpose of email marketing lies in reaching as many potential clients or customers as possible and maintaining existing client relationships; the key to fulfilling this purpose is a vast mailing list of interested contacts who have opted in to your newsletter. Now is as good a time as any to ensure you have an exemplary database of newsletter readers – and, if not, to give yours a make-over.

Here’s how to get them hooked:

Why does someone need to know the brand of dog food I use?  Long, tedious subscription forms requiring seemingly irrelevant personal information can scare off potential subscribers.  Keep your sign-up process short, to the point and applicable. If you don’t have a subscription form, or you’ve just realized yours needs a revamp, take a look at GraphicMail’s customizable subscription form.

Make sure you segment your list to ensure your emails reach relevant clients or customers - your great uncle probably does not want to hear about the opening of the latest trendy club, but might prefer the scoop on pensioners’ specials at a reputable restaurant.  To learn how to use the GraphicMail system to effectively target they right people on your list, check out our targeted list management. Once they’re reading, spoil them!  Offer anything from discounts to competitions, insider info and more. Your subscribers will always be curious to see what goodies await them next…

Become a collector – of contact details.  Don’t sit and wait for them to click on the subscribe button on your website (you do have one of those, don’t you?), add links to sign-up options to all your potential contact points:  from your newsletters to your email signatures, your cash registers to your guest books, your events and sms/text messages.  Most importantly, don’t forget the friend of a friend of a friend route, ask your friends to share your details.  Social media remains the most efficient networking tool, place subscription links on your Facebook and Twitter pages to maximize your popularity. 

Then comes the hard part:  Maintaining your list so all your good efforts don’t go to waste.  Keep an eye out for those subscribers who gave you incorrect information resulting in your enticing newsletter bouncing, the ones who just don’t bother opening your emails and those who gave you the flick by unsubscribing.  Delete them. Then make sure everyone still on your list updates their details on a regular basis, you don’t want a change of email address going unnoticed.

Done?  Get ready for higher delivery rates, new and more dedicated followers, improved client relationships and a greater return on investment.

Now put your new and improved list to the test.