4 Steps to Building an Email List for Your Ecommerce Business

In one of our previous posts we reviewed the top 5 email marketing services for small businesses. However, before you can really use any email marketing service, you need to have a mailing list. In this post, we’re going to give you tips on how to build an email list for your ecommerce business.

STEP 1 – Add an email sign up form to your website.

This is the easiest way to quickly get started building your email list. Choose an appropriate position on each webpage for the email sign up form. Nowadays, it’s fairly common to put it in the footer, sidebar, or top right corner of the website.

Make sure you’re asking for minimal information from your visitors. The less information you ask for, the more sign ups you will typically receive. Additionally, you have to tell the visitor exactly what’s in it for them. For example, “Sign up for savings. Get Walmart values delivered to your inbox.” Finally, make it clear that you will respect their email address by adding some type of privacy policy link or statement under the submission form.

STEP 2 – Create a landing page.

Next, you should create a landing page. The goal of this landing page is to get quality visitors to submit their email address. The landing page should have a clearly defined offer and a clean, visible sign up form. Take a look at this landing page as an example.

STEP 3 – Send quality traffic to your landing page.

Once you have your beautiful landing page, you can set up ad campaigns to drive quality traffic to that page. Start with any paid venues you currently have, but also consider trying out some new channels. Facebook ads are extremely affordable and effective right now. You could even dabble in reddit ads and target subreddits that your audience is interested in.

You can also link to landing pages from blog posts and news articles. Create a graphic specifically designed for Pinterest that links to your landing page and see if that works for you. You have plenty of options here, just think about where your target audience spends time and what your main goal is to determine where you should be promoting your landing page.

STEP 4 – Offer discounts and specials in exchange for an email address.

One of the most effective ways to build an email list is to offer discounts and specials in exchange for an email address. Make sure the discount is large enough that the subscriber feels they are actually getting real value, but not too large where it will negatively impact your bottom line. Here is an example of a good discount email sign up offer.

Also, feel free to experiment with different marketing ideas to see what works best for your business. Running Facebook contests and giveaways works great for some companies. Email pop-up forms on websites can also work well. Just be cautious with pop-ups and make sure that they are working properly and effectively. The last thing you want to do is create a poor user experience that drives away potential customers.

Now you’re ready to start building an email list for your business or continuing to grow it.