Email List Building Is a Lot Like Making Friends at School

Going back to school can be a challenge. Winning new friends and ascending the ranks of the “cool kids” doesn’t happen overnight, no matter what the movies might have you believe.

Email marketing is no different. Before you can influence an industry, you have to establish yourself as an authority — and that means building a solid list of contacts who know and trust your expertise. But how do you do it?

Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. With the right email list-building practices, however, you can move to the head of the class with relative speed.

Know Your Contacts

Going back to school means reconnecting with old friends and meeting new people. But the success of your social life each year depends on how well you get to know your classmates. To really connect, you have to know who they are, what they do and what they like to talk about.

This same logic applies to email marketing. If you don’t know your contacts, how can you provide them valuable content?

This is why purchasing email lists doesn’t work. You’re bursting into a room full of strangers; nobody knows who you are! Worse still, you’re speaking French in a Spanish class! You can’t create a targeted message when you don’t know your audience.

Plus, purchased contacts didn’t ask to hear from you, so they’re much more likely to report you as spam. Get enough of those complaints, and you could land yourself in detention.

Only it’s worse because it’s your business that suffers!

Instead of trying to force your way into the classroom, or the inbox, take the time to get to know your audience organically. Let them opt in to the conversation so you know they actually want to talk to you. Get their correct contact information and learn about their needs and interests. The more you know the better!

Make a Good Impression

Knowing your classmates will only get you so far up the social ladder. They also have to like you!

Bonus Content: Grab a copy of our 2016 Email Marketing Roadmap.

Get It Now

So how can you be more likable in terms of email marketing? Back in school, one of the first things you did was make yourself presentable. This same idea can be applied to your email campaigns.

First, clean up your templates. Think about the colors you’re using. Are they brand consistent? Are your logos and images in line with your website and easily recognizable?

Now think about your demeanor. In class, you tried to get along with your friends. You have to do the same with your contacts. For example, 86 percent of emails in the first quarter of 2016 were opened on a mobile device. If your emails aren’t mobile friendly, you’re not doing your best to get along.

And don’t forget your content. If it’s not relevant to your audience, they won’t want to hear from you. Playing the part of the wallflower at the school dance won’t cut it. You have to show some personality!

Personalize Your Message

When you know and understand your classmates, it’s much easier to engage in meaningful conversations.

Of course, with email marketing, you’re dealing with a mass audience. Not every contact is the same, so you have to find a way to break your database down into smaller groups. This is called list segmentation.

How you segment your list depends on your business goals, but you have a wide variety of metrics right at your fingertips — demographics, job titles, purchase dates and more. All of this information can be used to build targeted buyer personas.

If you’re not sure how to personalize your email campaigns, here are 5 tips to get you started.

Keep Your Data Clean

Nothing will kill a killer email campaign faster than dirty data. If you have bad email addresses in the mix, you’re going to tank your email deliverability rate. And since bounce rates will increase, you’ll put your sender reputation at risk.

Keep in mind that your database is the foundation on which your email, social media and advertising campaigns are built. Whether you’re talking about duplicate contacts or missing information, you’re flushing marketing dollars down the drain when you work with dirty data.

Wrap-up

Remember, data cleaning isn’t a one-time thing. You didn’t go back-to-school shopping once; you went every year! And every year you caught up with friends to find out what was popular. So make data cleaning a part of your routine and never stop talking to your contacts! If you want to build a long-term relationship, you have to stay on top of what’s trending and tweak your communications accordingly.

And if you can’t keep up with it due to time constraints, help is just a click away. We can automate your email marketing campaigns and help you stay at the top of your social ladder.