| Five Ways to Collect Email Addresses | | | | Buy a listthis option offers the most risk to your |
| | | | email reputation; plenty of time and care must be |
| Conducting effective email marketing imperatively | | | | used in researching the list broker. There are many |
| means having a clean and manageable list of email | | | | email harvesters who collect addresses and sell them |
| addresses. Home grown email lists collected over time | | | | on the cheap to spammers, these lists must be |
| are by far the best and most productive option. | | | | avoided at all cost. Look for a targeted list that highly |
| When first entering the email marketing space | | | | qualifies their leads, confirms addresses inclusion, and |
| however, it may be desirable to supplement a new | | | | uses a clear statement on what the person |
| inactive list with additional addresses. Here are five | | | | subscribing can expect. |
| ways of acquiring email addresses. | | | | When shopping for a list, it is best to find one that is |
| Ask for customer addresseswhether customers walk | | | | closely related to the industry niche your business |
| into your store or visit you online, make it a practice | | | | covers. Once you buy a list, you can use it however |
| to ask for their email addresses. Include email address | | | | you deem fit for your email marketing campaigns. |
| fields in web pages where other customer data is | | | | Rent a listlike the purchased list, a third party collects |
| collected. In fact, supplying an email address should | | | | rented lists. Rented lists are typically only available for |
| be the de-facto requirement necessary for your | | | | a specified, one-off campaign agreed to by you and |
| customers to conduct business with you online. | | | | the list broker. Again, it is imperative to go with a |
| At your brick and mortar business, put a signup | | | | reputable list broker when using a rented list. They |
| sheet on the counter where customers can get | | | | will have email addresses seeded throughout the list |
| discounts, special offers and new product | | | | to ensure that the address is not being sent anything |
| announcements when they leave their email | | | | outside the agreed email campaign. |
| addresses with you. | | | | It is possible to invite people on a rented list to sign |
| Create a customer newsletterone of the best ways | | | | up for future email marketing correspondence, thus |
| to collect addresses is to put out an informative | | | | turning a rented list into an in-house list. |
| newsletter that offers value to your subscribers on a | | | | In all cases, a clear email policy with a description of |
| regular basis. Customers who come to your website | | | | how the email address may or may not be used is |
| are looking for information in your area of expertise. | | | | vital. Conforming to the federal CAN-SPAM Act is |
| Sending informative industry updates or the scoop on | | | | imperative, and this includes honoring unsubscribe |
| the latest technology is a popular way to accumulate | | | | requests within 10 days and making sure a physical |
| addresses. | | | | address is present in the outbound messages. |
| If the quality of the newsletter content has value, | | | | While not required by the CAN-SPAM law, the best |
| the email has a good chance of being passed around | | | | way to accumulate quality email addresses is to |
| to other individuals who otherwise may have never | | | | confirm their inclusion to the list. When someone signs |
| heard of you. A good email newsletter has a high | | | | up initially, a confirmation email is sent to the |
| viral marketing component to it, increasing its ability | | | | subscriber, who must then take additional action to |
| to attract new visitors and thus new subscribers. | | | | confirm that they really want the information offered. |
| Append existing addresses | | | | This helps prevent people from being maliciously |
| A good way to build an email list is to append the | | | | signed up for emails they never intended. |
| email address to other customer information collected | | | | With your opt-in list in place, it is time to start using |
| in the past. Commonly, a brick and mortar business | | | | the information gathered to take advantage of the |
| that moves online already has a list of customer | | | | high return on investment email marketing delivers. |
| names and addresses, but may not have their email | | | | Keep the email list clean of failed emails, honor |
| addresses. There are companies that perform email | | | | unsubscribes requests as soon as they come in, and |
| append services where they will attempt to find a | | | | the benefits of email marketing will be realized in no |
| known email address to associate with the other | | | | time at all. |
| information already gathered. | | | | |