Collecting and storing emails – from both customers and prospects – should be a top priority for your business. Offering specialized content — alert notifications, a buyer’s club with incentives or a newsletter subscription — is a great way to help build your email list. It positions you as a thought leader and authority in your industry, offers something of value to the readers and it can show your personality as a business, which in turn connects your audience to you. Be sure, however, that you avoid a few common pitfalls:
1. Missing or poorly-placed opt-in forms
If you want new email subscribers from your newsletter, you have to give them a place to sign up. The first big mistake is having no opt-in or call to action (CTA) at all. The question then becomes, where do you put it? Try using a pop up, or a prominently-placed feature box instead
of burying the CTA in a sidebar.
2. No incentive to join
People value privacy and are unlikely to just hand over personal contact information such as an email address. You’ll have to establish trust and offer them something they value as much or more than their privacy. For example, do you have a free ebook or white paper readers could download in return for their email address? Could they be entered in a drawing or giveaway? You’ll have to present your opt-in as a value proposition to readers, so be sure there’s an incentive on the table.
3. Too many questions
You want people to join your email list. Why would you ask for home address and approximate annual income? All you really need is the email address, but you could ask for first and last name or a zip code without overdoing it. Don’t create a daunting questionnaire when you’re after onepiece of information. Data Axle USA’s data append services can help you take basic information and fill in the rest of the picture.
4. Not linking to your landing page
If the ultimate goal of your specialized content is to drive new business, you’ll want readers to be able to get to your website. Ideally, you should create a special landing page for each piece of specialized content. This page will quickly establish trust and authority before highlighting current premiums or offers. It should not be overloaded with other content, such as “About Us” or “Contact Us” information. At the very least, link your content to your home page so readers can easily get additional information they might need from you.
5. Having a poorly-designed website
Finally, if you’re driving traffic to your website, make sure you have a neatly-designed site, with enticing colors, and as few ads as possible. Clean and simple is key. All of your pages should have cohesive style and color, and your specialized content should be within that theme too.
Offering specialized content is a wonderful way to connect with your audience and grow your business. Don’t let these common mistakes get you down. Let Data Axle USA help. Our online display advertising and email marketing teams have the perfect solutions for your business to help you promote your specialized content and target effectively.
