Email Communications – Gaining a Subscriber List

May 29th, 2009 // 11:27 am @ Fox

A few weeks ago I posted a blog titled SPAM – Australian business and the law. I have had phone calls since then asking questions on how to obtain a mailing list.

If you wish to email a newsletter, specials and promotions, or other marketing material to a list then the best list to have is your own customers. Start collecting subscribers as soon as possible even if you are not ready to start emailing until some time in the future. By the time you are ready to send, you should have a list where the subscribers have consented to receiving your email.

For online subscriptions you will need to add an area to your website where the user can sign up:

• A text box where the subscriber enters their email address
• A checkbox with some wording such as ‘Please send me newsletters and special offers’. The checkbox must not be pre-ticked. The action of the ticking of a checkbox must be a manual process that the subscriber performs.
• A Submit button which saves the subscriber to a database maintained either by you or a third party.

Best practice dictates that an automated email is sent to the subscriber asking them to click on a link to confirm that they wish to receive the communications. There are times when a person signs up a friend so the request to confirm is a safeguard to ensure that the recipient does wish to receive the communication. It is also recommended to offer a link to your Privacy Policy so the subscriber can read your process and practices regarding protecting their private information. Of course you must let the subscriber know how they can unsubscribe from the mailing list at any time.

It is a good idea to place this subscription area on your website where it is easily seen such as the homepage, or a side column common to each page. Also add the subscribe option to any membership forms on your website. This is a good opportunity to gain a subscriber as they are already filling out a form and interested in your product or service.

You can gain subscribers offline as well. If you have a printed membership form or an offline newsletter, you can add the subscription complete with un-ticked checkbox to the form. There are a number of ways you can gain subscribers, but just be careful that you are clear about what they are subscribing to.

What if you are a new business, without a mailing list and want to email a target audience to let them know about your product or service?

You can buy a legitimate mailing list from a broker using a Pay Per Lead model. These companies will gain consent from a targeted consumer segment for your specific website to send information to them. Often the subscription is on a survey site.

There is no need to preach that you should never buy a mailing list from any other source.

Category : Email Communication & blog