Strategies for Building Your Opt-In Lists

Ever wonder how the top marketers are able to build huge opt-in lists? They use techniques that leverage all touch points with prospects and customers. There are literally hundred of techniques you can use. Before you put a plan together, remember that you must remain within the bounds of CAN-SPAM legislation.

Follow these techniques for building your opt-in and marketing lists:

1. Offer a free newsletter. When you give individuals something of value in exchange for an email address, you'd be surprised at the subscription rate. Offering a free newsletter that provides valuable information can generate a large number of opt-ins.

2. Require registration. Many sites offer white papers or access to valuable reports but only in exchange for a registration. When offerig something of value in exchange for information, ask individuals for their email address prior to download. This is also a great opportunity to ask these individuals to "opt-in" for additional information or notifications.

3. During the registration process. Do you ask individuals to register on your site when buying a product or prior to accessing particular features of your website? When individuals register and offer an email address you are technically allowed to email them at least once. However, by adding additional opt-in fields, individuals may choose to sign up to receive additional information from you or your website for specific information.

4. Co-Registration. Do you have something of value to share with other websites? Perhaps you can provide your web tool to other websites who could benefit, requesting users to sign up prior to using the tool. When they do, you can share these opt-ins with partner websites.

5. Transactional Emails. After an individual has bought a product from you, use transactional emails to determine which of your customers are ready for marketing messages for other products or services provided by you or another vendor. By asking for this information on a transactional email, you are more likely to increase response rate and ask if users would like to hear about specific products from vendors or partners.

These are just a few ideas you can use to improve your opt-ins and/or build a more targeted email list. If you have other ideas, share them by leaving a comment to this post.

Spur List Growth by Revamping Your Opt-in Process

In the world of email marketing, gathering opt-ins is critical to the success of your efforts. One of the most effective ways to build a solid prospect list is through a clear opt-in email marketing strategy.

There are four permission levels associated with email marketing that range from loose to rock solid. Depending upon your goals and the amount of risk you're willing to take when it comes to deliverability and blacklisting, the following are your options:

• Opt-out. In the opt-out level of permission, recipients will receive messages unless they actively decline. Examples of opt-out messages include unsolicited email that contains a functioning opt-out link or pre-checked boxes on an order page or preference center that customers must uncheck in order not to receive email marketing messages. The opt-out level of permission assumes approval is granted unless explicit action is taken on the part of the recipient to decline. Although legal under the U.S. CAN-SPAM provisions and commonly used by some companies, it is not considered a best practice among legitimate email marketers. Still, according to MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007, 35 percent of BtoB marketers and 21 percent of BtoC email marketers use an opt-out permission process in their email marketing program.
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• Single Opt-in. Interested parties must actually check a box or click on a link to sign up to receive emails. As the most basic level of permission-based email, the single opt-in is also the most popular. Nearly four out of 10 BtoC email marketers use the single opt-in option and 20 percent of BtoB marketers do, according to MarketingSherpa.
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• Confirmed Opt-in. In a confirmed opt-in, you not only receive permission, you also follow up with an email message that confirms the person has opted-in. The confirmed opt-in allows you to get explicit permission from a recipient and immediately test your new relationship, creating a good brand impression. Confirmed opt-ins also allow you to verify that the email address you have is valid before it can damage your deliverability. Although this is a best practice, Silverpop has found marketers are lax in implementing such a program. In Silverpop's "2005 Retail Email Marketing Study," only 43 percent of online retailers sent a registration confirmation message.
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• Double Opt-in. A double opt-in takes the confirmed opt-in one step further by making the recipient confirm and then reaffirm that they did indeed want to receive emails from you. Only after they take this action is the double opt-in considered complete, and only then will your recipient begin to receive information. Less than 7 percent of marketers use double opt-in, according to MarketingSherpa.
  

When evaluating the opt-in process, most marketers need only make a few simple changes to revitalize their list growth efforts. If you're not currently sending confirmation emails, for example, this is a terrific place to start to improve list growth. Additionally, consider these elements of a strong permission-based email marketing program:

• Clearly ask for permission--don't bury the call to action off the home page.
• Provide a good reason for prospects to give you their email addresses by offering relevant topics, programs, messages, etc.
• Give customers choices in content or frequency when possible. A one-size-fits-all mentality fails to achieve the full potential of email marketing.
• Help improve deliverability by sending confirmation messages following registration and requesting addition to recipients’ address books.
  

Based on the level of permission appropriate for your unique business needs, you can implement the right opt-in process to create a list of recipients that are truly interested in your company’s products or services.

Source: SilverPop