Marketing Commentary from interlinkONE
Marketing. Web-to-Print. Warehouse Management.
10 Ways to Build Your List of Newsletter Subscribers
Posted by 
on Thursday, May 19, 2011 
at 6:57 AM 
in 
Yes, content rules. And timing is everything. Oh, and it can make a big difference if you target ME specificially. But in the end, those things are only possible if you have a good great database.
If you are looking for ways to build your marketing database, a very practical goal is to increase the amount of people that are subscribed to your newsletter. How can you do this?
Here are 10 ideas that may help!
- Your Corporate Website: This is where the effort should absolutely start. When people visit your corporate website, there should be a clear call-to-action to encourage them to sign up for your newsletter. In many cases, there should be a link or form built into every page within your site. However, you could also look for ways to incorporate that encouragement into your web content (for example — would you like more tips such as the ones found in this blog post? Sign up for interlinkONE’s Free Newsletter here >>)
- On Lead Generation Forms: Marketers spend a lot of time, energy, and money getting people to visit their lead generation forms. When people take the time to fill them out and ask for more information, include “Sign me for your newsletter” as an option on the form as well.
- At Trade Shows: Simply scanning a person’s badge at your booth does not exactly give you permission to add them to your newsletter subscription list. However, you should actively seek to build up your database at the show. This may mean encouraging sales reps to ask people to sign up when they swing by… Or, you could have a QR Code in your booth that directs people to a mobile-optimized sign-up page.
- Facebook: It truly is easier than ever to create custom tabs on your company’s Facebook page. By putting a custom tab that encourages people to sign up for your eNewsletter, you’ll be able to start developing a multi-channel conversation with folks that are interested in your company.
- Phone Reps: Make it easy for employees that talk on the phone to sign someone up for your newsletter via your CRM solution. Sure, they will need to ask the person on the other line for their permission. But when they do receive it, make sure that they can easily update their preferences in seconds.
- Email Signatures: Guess who might truly want to receive your eNewsletter? Yep, the people that are already communicating with you via email! Perhaps these are prospects, media/PR folks, former customers, or other associates. Increase exposure to your newsletter by highlighting it within your email signature.
- In the Waiting Room: Do you have an area of your office where people might spend some time waiting for a meeting or appointment? Use the power of print to make them aware of your newsletter. Perhaps this is done via a sign on a wall, or via a table-tent piece in the middle of the room.
- Encourage Current Subscribers to Share: Do not assume that just because someone loves your newsletter that they will automatically tell others about it. Add social and email sharing tools to your newsletter that make it easy for people to spread the word about it.
- Mention it During Webinars and Presentations: As marketers, we are all willing to pay for the opportunities to have a captive audience. During those times, we must fully take advantage of the exposure opportunities that are available to us. Did you just deliver one heck of an informative webinar or presentation? Encourage people to learn more by signing up for your company’s newsletter.
- Via a Tattoo on Your Face: Okay, did I get your attention with that idea? I hope so… Here’s what I mean — don’t be afraid to think outside of the box when it comes to dreaming of ways to grow your list! Do not shy away from things such as Foursquare, QR Codes, Twitter… Do not discount all ideas that involve giveaways, contests, or some other sort of gimmick. Rather, creativity may be your best friend when it comes to finding ways to dramatically growing your list.
Tags Ignite Your Growth Heading to Windsor, CT
I am excited to share the news that I’ll be participating in another stop on HP’s Ignite Your Growth tour.
On Thursday, May 19th, I’ll be speaking on the subject of “Using Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Business” in Windsor, CT. This event is being held at the Integrity Graphics building.
Registration information can be found on HP’s website.
If you’ll be in the area, I hope to see you there!
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Facebook Tip from our Friends at Grow Socially
We’d like to send a special shout-out to our friends at Grow Socially for hooking us up with a social media tip recently.
Many of the popular social networks are not shy about frequently adding features to their sites. This can be a good thing on most occasions! Many of these features make it easier for users to create and share content with friends, employees, prospects, customers, and others.
However, it can be challenging to keep up with all of the new features. Even if you subscribe to their official blogs or browse social networking news sites, the chances are quite high that you might miss a feature or two.
Well, Grow Socially recently gave me the heads-up on a Facebook setting for personal pages that I did not know about. It has been around for a little while; but I had no idea that content was being hidden from me. Yes, the setting controls the posts that will show up in your Most Recent News feed.
Here is how you can check your settings and adjust them accordingly:
- Login to Facebook and head to your Personal page.
- On the homepage, click the “Most Recent” title on the right of the “News Feed”
- Then, click the drop-down arrow beside the “Most Recent” link and select “Edit Options”
- Click on “Show Posts From”
- Adjust your settings accordingly. For me, I selected the “All Of Your Friends and Pages” option
Calling All Service Providers – Make Social Media Work for You!
If you’re in the business of printing, mailing, or fufilling marketing materials for other businesses, you absolutely need to be utilizing the power of social media to promote your company and build your business. The Internet doesn’t replace print media, no matter what anyone says. It doesn’t operate independently of print, it doesn’t function in a different business world than print. In fact, Internet businesses have a huge need for printed materials- brochures, flyers, invoice materials, packaging materials and dozens of other hard copy paper materials with text and images printed on them. Where do Internet entrepreneurs look for business partners? On the Internet, of course- and they are using social media to find them.
So… it’s time to do an inventory of your social media presence. Can people find you on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube? If not, here is a brief overview each of those channels.
Facebook is the big daddy of the social media sites. This platform allows you to create a profile or even a fan page. The difference between the two may actually seem quite negligible to the average use, but they make a difference to you as a business owner. The Facebook Fan page allows you to have a professional business page where you can announce information, promote special deals or provide other information about your business. You can target your posts so they are broadcast to all of your fans or just to those in specific demographics, such as location or language. Pages don’t utilize the inbox like personal profiles do, so you cannot send or receive individual messages. Only the administrator or owner of a business can create a Page, but you can assign other administrators to help you maintain and manage the page. You invite people to become fans of your page and build your following when those fans invite their own fans and friends.
Twitter is another big player in the social medial game. Twitter plays a little differently than Facebook by limiting each post to a maximum of 140 characters. While it may seem like the restriction could impede communication, the truth is many people love the challenge of saying what they need to say in a short, concise message and find it a time saver! Twitter is a great way to share links, posts to blogs and short messages with your customer base. One of the key features to remember with Twitter- and all social media platforms- is that you need to make sure you are actually being social and not just promoting your products. If all you do is hard sell, you will lose your followers or at best, simply be ignored.
YouTube
You Tube is another popular social media outlet. On You Tube, you post video for people to watch and share- they even share it on other social media networks like Facebook and Twitter! By utilizing video, you can show your products and demonstrate unique ideas, let your customers see the person behind the name, and let people see your facility, equipment, staff or anything else that makes you stand out from your competition.
P.S. If you are looking for more information on how service providers can use social media to grow their business, I devoted quite a few pages on the topic in my book Business Transformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry.
Building Your Social Reputation
I wanted to take a quick moment to share this graphic with you:
There are hundreds of millions of people on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and more
However, there certainly are quite a few holdouts too. I’ve recently had the chance to spend some time with people that know they need to be on social media, but just don’t know where to start.
During those discussions, I’ve used this picture to explain how some people can get started.
Here’s the bottom line: If you are going to get involved in social media, you must be willing to commit! Be determined to create content that helps to expose YOU to the world. Be determined to share helpful content, to participate in conversations, and to engage prospects and customers through multiple channels.
If you can follow-through on those efforts, your social reputation will certainly grow and prove to be beneficial.
