As a small business owner, you may not realize how important it is to build your email list. In between running your business, serving customers, managing employees and everything else owning your own business entails, building an email list may not be at the top of your priority list.
It is common for small business owners to neglect more long-term investments and projects in order to focus on immediate needs and demands of their day -to -day, but taking time to understand the importance of structures or practices that contribute to the long term growth of your business is critical if you want to keep growing over time.
So, why is building and maintaining an email list important for businesses?
In short: It is an easy and cost effective way to cultivate a long-term relationship with customers that contributes to repeat customers and referrals.
If you’re familiar with it, Lusha is one of sales software that helps you reach your ideal customers quickly and efficiently. If you need an alternative, investing in email services like Klean Leads could be so much use to you as potential lead or customer.
Over time, this reduces the amount of time and money you need to spend on marketing and advertising. This means that more of your profits are going into your pockets or can be reinvested into other aspects of the business. This is an enviable place for a business to be in. Many businesses spend years trying to get to the place where most of their work comes from referrals from past happy clients or repeat customers.
Now, keep in mind, some businesses lend themselves more to repeat business than others, but having a solid reputation and a constant stream of referrals is possible for any small business.
Ideas for Building Your Email List
Believe it or not, you can build your email list without adding a bunch of extra effort to what you are already doing. Depending on how creative you want to get or what goals you set for yoru list, the methods for growing your list range from simple to elaborate community-wide efforts.
Use a CRM to Kickstart Your List Building
Source: cio.com
One of the simplest ways to build a list is to incorporate it into your current estimates/quotes process. If you don’t already use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, I highly recommend that you start right away. This can help you keep all of your customer data in a centralized location, as well as stay on top of following up with customers at various stages of the investment cycle.
You can set up your CRM to collect whatever type of data you feel is important to track. Entering customer information, including email can make growing your list simple. Many businesses start out building their list in this way. It makes sense because it is seamlessly integrated into processes that are already in place and are an essential part of your business.
Give Visitors a Guide or a Resource
Source: crazyegg.com
You no doubt have plenty of visitors to your website that maybe are not ready to ask for a quote or move forward with calling. A great way to be able to stay in touch with them or to keep your business in mind when they are ready to move forward is to create a lead magnet.
A lead magnet is any resource or thing that you offer to people in exchange for their email address. At a loss for what to provide as a lead magnet?
You may consider providing a PDF with the most frequently asked questions you receive from customers about your service or process. Still not really sure how to do this? I suggest writing down every question customers ask you over the course of a month. You likely can already predict which ones they will be. Then, you can either outsource the design of your PDF to a graphic designer or find someone on a site like Fiverr.com that offers the talents of thousands of freelancers to fit just about any budget or you can do it on your own by using a site like Canva.
Either way, it is easy and fast to get it done. Once you have your PDF, you will just need to add a form on your website and a link on your social media accounts for visitors to enter the email to receive this free resource.
The best part about it is, once you create it and set it up, it just runs on autopilot. People who visit your site for months and years to come will be able to sign up to receive the free resource. Best part is, you already know they are interested in the services you provide so you can send them deals, specials, offers and helpful information.
Host a Community Event or Contest
Source: nextiva.com
I have seen many companies come up with creative ways to get their name out there in the community so that they generate interest in their services and develop more brand recognition in the cities and neighborhoods they serve. If you hit the right tone, it can be an explosive way to build your email list and increase your reach.
Here are some great examples I’ve seen of this technique being utilized. A local roofing company holds a special give-away contest where the community gets to nominate a deserving veteran to have their roof repaired or replaced for free. Each year, there is a lot of press surrounding this give-away and the publicity they garner from this is priceless. Not only this, but they get the names of people who are in need of roofing services that they can follow up with as well to offer a special promotional price on their services. It’s highly effective.
This strategy can work with a variety of types of businesses and it’s a stellar way of giving back to the community as well. If you’re serious about making an impact in your city, this can be a great way to accomplish this while benefiting your bottom line as well.
Another great strategy is holding a contest or giveaway. People in the community can answer trivia questions to enter or simply enter their information for a chance to win an entry-level product or service you provide. Again, the aim is to get people on your email list that are interested in the types of services you provide.
There are plenty of apps that make contests, coupons, and giveaways easy and fun to manage so you’ll not need advanced technical skills or a lot of time to manage everything.
The team over at https://www.oahuconcretecontractors.com contributed to this article.
