Are You Collecting Emails?

Depending on what kind of business you own/operate, you probably keep records of your customers' mailing addresses and phone numbers. But are you collecting email addresses? Email Marketing is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to keep your business in your customer's mind. It can get them back in the store if you have a bricks and mortar. It can open dialogue and increase exposure. It can even earn more customers through viral marketing, which, for the most part, is free exposure. Today's world is full of technology just waiting for a savvy business owner to pounce on.
Spam regulations are becoming a lot more strict in recent years, so the key is to collect emails the legal way. Here are some easy tips for building a large opt-in list:
1. When collecting the snail mail and phone numbers for your customer, ask for their email as part of your documentation. Let them know that you do send out newsletters from time to time and ask if they would like to receive them. If they say no, make a note of it! Whatever you do, don't send them any marketing emails, just correspondence.
2. Make sure your website has an opt-in form for visitors to complete. Make sure every page of your site has a link to this page. "Contact Us" or "Sign Up for Monthly Newsletters" are usually a good way to go. Have that page open up in a separate window so that they can keep shopping after they have completed it.
3. For your current customers: You can use an Append Service to locate customers' email addresses using their phone number and/or address. A word of caution: This option is expensive and often unreliable. Depending on the number of customers in your database, it may be cheaper to call them and do a follow up, asking for an email at that time.
Build your email marketing into your business culture and it will become second nature for you to automatically ask for the address. The more often you communicate on a regular basis with your customers, the likelihood of them returning to your business increases. More on email marketing in weeks to follow.