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Mailing lists are databases of current customers that regularly receive updates and special offers from your online business.
Mailing lists can also be comprised of potential consumers who have expressed interest in your form of business via personal referrals, another website or other channels. They may not have made a purchase through your online business but they are still part of a core group that you should consider your target market.
Regardless of the type of consumer, they should all be 'represented' in mailing lists because this is how you get to keep in touch with them... regularly.
5 Sources for Building Mailing Lists
There are a number of avenues you can take in obtaining mailing lists that will be appropriate for your business. One suggestion is to utilize the mailing lists of trade associations.
By becoming partners with a group that is affiliated and interested in your line of business, you can be sure that the members of these associations will be more inclined to make a purchase from your company.
Although not all trade associations will allow you to tap into their member lists for your mailing lists, you can also advertise through the regular correspondence they have with all their members or during conferences or seminars. You can offer special discounts or offers to the members of these trade associations to further boost interest in your online business. And once they reply to you, you get their contacts for your own mailing lists.
Another way to obtain mailing lists is through a list broker. A list broker can help advise you on the kind of mailing lists that will be most effective in driving more profits for your business. For a small fee, a list broker can assist you in building your mailing lists and driving more traffic to your online business.
If you would like to advertise to a more localized customer base, then you can ask community newspapers and homeowner associations for some help. Your mailing lists can be tied up with theirs so that you can reach customers within an immediate vicinity.
You can also sign up with a number of Internet directories where your company can be advertised or you can be given access to a customer database that has frequented related websites.
And last, but not the least, source contact information from your own website! Launch a newsletter, online course or simply ask for visitors' contact information in return for news and special future promotions about your business. If they like your online business and its products and services, visitors will have no problems parting with their email addresses.
Action Steps to Building Mailing Lists
- Start with the basics. Create a list of current contacts and improve on the information you have about them. For instance, if you have their email address, get in touch and ask them to fill out a short(!) online form where they can indicate their full name, birth date and any other information that will be useful for your particular business.
- Move on to getting more contacts for your mailing list by checking our local trade associations, signing up with Internet directories, putting up an online form on your site so visitors can opt-in to your mailing list, and others.
Important Points to Building Mailing Lists
- Mailing lists foster customer loyalty. Remember that consumers have a very short attention span. If you do not keep in touch, they will move on to the next company.
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