There’s been a lot of debate recently about the future of email: is it pushing forward stronger than ever or on the verge of extinction, about to be overrun by all-inclusive social networks?
As an e-marketing specialist, I find it hard to imagine the internet without email. No matter what you use email for, I believe that we, as online content consumers, will always need our inboxes to aggregate, create, organize, and search the hundreds of online data points we create daily as we navigate the web. Email is the only private online location where users can store and create content with very few limitations or restrictions. Where else can you manage your social networks, businesses, bills, family, friends, banks, job searches, and more in one location?
At ListEngage, we help our clients with email and social media marketing daily, so we see the benefits and drawbacks of each: email is a great relationship building tool but not a great prospect acquisition channel, while social media, if used intelligently, is ideal for prospect acquisition and qualification but lacks the “direct contact” that opt-in email does.
I’ve been really impressed with a company called Groupon lately, that seems to be using email and social media as a dynamic 1-2 punch for spreading their daily deals and messages. Click here to read more about the union of email and social media, and how Groupon is delivering a winning e-marketing TKO.
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A poem for My Love on Valentine’s Day:
Shall I compare thee to a great email list-growth strategy?
You bet!
The two of you “art” fairly similar, I must say.
Our love and my list both started out small, like the darling buds of May.
Then over time, as our love organically grew,
So did my lists-in quality and quantity too!
Like a good little prospect, I subscribed to your love,
And just like the email capture on my website, it fit like a glove.
So on the horizon, what do I see?
Well, more chances to grow us all social-ly,
We can take dance classes, or have dinner with friends,
While my lists will use Twitter as a means to an ends.
Remember my love, thy eternal beauty doth brightly gleam.
And like my list growth strategies, the ROI on your love is Supreme.
Ok, so maybe you’d get backhanded if you actually delivered this sonnet to your True Love this Valentine’s Day– but after you read ”Why Growing Great Lists is just like Growing Great Love” you might actually agree that the two share some pretty stark similarities. Could it be that growing any good relationship–whether it’s two people “feeling sparks fly” for the first time or a web visitor signing up for a newsletter for the first time-always begins with a few simple steps?
Growing Great Lists is just like Growing Great Love – Top 5 Rules for Both
Rule #1 Let it happen naturally:
Love and lists both grow best naturally: sure, you never meant to meet Mr./Mrs. Right at the deli counter but it happened far more naturally than your failed attempts to pick up your soulmate with pick up lines like, “Excuse me, but I happened to have lost my phone number, can I borrow yours?”. Provide the ambience and the correct ingredients whether it’s a physical setting or your internet presence and let it happen naturally.
Rule #2 Define the relationship. Get permission:
Sometimes the best way to get what you want is to be honest, whether it’s a kiss or an email address. Be straightforward, let them know what to expect and leave “an (opt) out” in case they’re not interested. And before you “make the first move” make sure you’ve got their approval (opt-in)!
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