This blog has recently discussed the potential for affiliate marketers to achieve a high return on investment from email campaigns. In fact, the typical ROI achieved through emails is higher than any other digital channel. However, to optimize success, you need to grow a large and high-quality contact list.
The following is an overview of key strategies and tips to help affiliate marketers grow a well-qualified email marketing list.
You need a software program that allows you to capture, store, and utilize rich contact profiles by filtering and targeting segmented customers with relevant messages. As you look for the right solution, there are several factors to consider, including the breadth of marketing activities you plan to undertake, scalability, quality, and price.
Salesforce is the leading provider of cloud-based CRM and email marketing. If you want a much broader solution for getting to know your prospects and customers, and targeting them with an array of email and other campaigns, this type of program makes sense. You can get a base subscription for around $40 per month. MailChimp is a free online platform that allows basic collection of prospect email profile data and delivery of campaigns. You may also want an automated marketing tool, such as Marketo or Hubspot, which allows you to build campaigns that target people based on their online activities. Fees are similar to what you would pay for Salesforce.
You need to alert visitors to the opportunity to subscribe to email content if you expect them to do so. A dedicated subscription page and a sidebar placement are common for making the form readily accessible. You could also place a form at the bottom of particular blog posts, along with a call-to-action to get intrigued readers to subscribe.
The most attention-getting, though sometimes intrusive, approach is to have a pop-up with your subscription. You could set your pop-up subscription offer to appear after a visitor spends time on at least one or two pages.
Just as you have to “sell” products and services, you have to sell the benefits of a subscription to get people to take this action. Let them know the types of content they can expect, the value it provides them, and the timing of delivery. People are most likely to subscribe if they believe the emails will offer useful and relevant content and the pace of delivery is reasonable.
You could also acquire email contacts to grow your list quickly. However, not all providers are equal. Look for reputable email contact providers that offer deep, rich, targeted profiles. You want to attract people who fit your targeted profiles, or who have indicated some interest in solutions you offer. Reputable providers should also promote the fact that they validate and verify addresses so your messages actually get through to the intended recipients.
These are some of the key strategies to help affiliate marketers grow their email marketing list both on-site and off-site. Apply these techniques to attract a healthy flow of quality contacts for your business!