[This is a guest contribution by Zachary Zawarski of Zadling]
I don’t subcribe to many e-mail newsletters, but if I do choose to opt into your e-mail list, you better make sure that you’re doing one thing: providing me with value.
We all know that e-mail marketing is a great way to produce sales for your website, but many business owners make the mistake of using mailing lists purely to push their products and services. That is the wrong way to conduct e-mail marketing.
Establish Trust
The best way to gain customers is to establish trust. e-Mail marketing should be about building relationships. Ask the reader to contribute to your blog or follow you on Twitter and make sure that you communicate with them consistently. You’ll also want to make sure that you are providing the readers of your newsletter with tips and resources that help solve their needs. By doing this, you will be viewed as an expert in your field. Once you gain the status of an expert, you have gained your customer’s trust, and then they will be willing to purchase your products and services.
What’s In It For Me?
To encourage your website’s visitors to sign up for your newsletter, you’re going to have to engage in a little bribery. All people really want to know is “what’s in it for me?” Present an offer: “Subscribe to my e-mail newsletter and you’ll receive my free eBook on [insert area of expertise].” Then once you have the customer as a subscriber, don’t forget to keep supplying them with valuable information. Once you have their trust, they will become your customers.
