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7 Benefits of Opt-In Email Marketing
Attracting customers’ attention in today’s busy world becomes harder by the day. But what if, instead of chasing customers, they welcome you in their inbox?
With opt-in email marketing, you get permission to land in the customer’s inbox and share the right message at the right time with the right people.
Relying on social media algorithms can often feel like fighting with the windmills. Instead, you should focus on building an email marketing list that can be a true gold mine.
Digital-native companies continue to double down on email marketing as it’s one of the most effective marketing assets in their toolbox.
What is opt-in email marketing?
Opt-in email marketing is a permission-based collection of email addresses of potential customers willing to exchange their information for a certain incentive.
By filling in an opt-in form to receive a discount, lead magnet, or another incentive, your recipients agree to receive emails, newsletters, or other forms of digital communication from you.
Due to strict laws regarding data protection, companies often employ double opt-in for growing their email list. A double opt-in means that after filling in an opt-in form, each new subscriber will receive an email with a confirmation link as verification that they want to be added to the email list.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Why signup forms obtain quality contacts
There are numerous ways to grow your email list in today’s digital-first world, but using signup forms is one of the most effective. Instead of collecting random email addresses with signup forms, you’re collecting quality signups.
Opt-in email lists are much more common after anti-spam laws in the 2000s took a hard stance against unsolicited email marketing. Today, it’s a best practice for marketers to have subscribers opt-in, that is, to give permission for companies to communicate via email.
The question is: How come signup forms are so critical to getting quality contacts?
Well, first, only interested subscribers sign up.
When someone fills out an email signup form, you know they are interested in your product or service. There’s a lot of value in that. This isn’t some random contact with little to no interest in what you do; it’s a subscriber who sought you out.
And signup forms are familiar to subscribers.
Subscribers see signup forms as a no-hassle way to interact with a business they care about. Because it’s familiar, subscribers don’t see it as intrusive and actually seek out signup forms to sign up with brands they like and want to hear from.
Benefits of opt-in email marketing
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach your audience, as there are 3.9 billion active email users. Getting a green light to send people email updates can bring significant benefits to your business. Let’s look at a few.
1. Encourage new business
Keeping fresh, ready-to-buy customers coming in the door is the key to growth for every business. By continually adding to your email list, you’re constantly cultivating new relationships. This ongoing outreach is vital because you never know which new customer will become a loyal one down the road.
2. Build personal relationships
Today’s companies are constantly trying to cut through the noise to reach their audience. Unfortunately, many businesses underestimate the power of personalization. Data shows that personalization increases open rates by 26%. Moreover, targeted email sends pay off. In fact, marketers have found a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns. With email platforms like Campaign Monitor, you can use data you have about your subscribers to send personalized messages to the right subscriber at the right time.
Gusto Italian is committed to delivering a premium dining experience. When you sign up to their mailing list, you add personal information such as name, date of birth, and even your preferred Gusto restaurant. With this information, Gusto can create a personalized experience for their subscribers.
Source: Gusto Italian
3. Promote visits to your site
You can promote visits to a variety of sites through email marketing. You can direct subscribers to your homepage, to a specific blog article, a promotional landing page—the options are endless. Anytime you can motivate subscribers to interact with your brand on the digital front is a solid investment.
The more you grow your list with quality subscribers, the more visitors you can direct to the sites and pages of your choice.
The Swiss performance running shoes and clothing retailer On is revolutionizing the running shoe space with new technologies. They use email marketing with product recommendations to remind and encourage the audience to visit their online store.
Source: On
4. Send cost-effective campaigns
Email marketing is one of marketers’ favorite tools. That’s no surprise, as it’s among the most cost-effective channels — for every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in ROI. Unlike traditional campaigns, building an opt-in email marketing list allows companies to reach the right audience at the right time at a very low cost. Besides, email marketing campaigns can be prepared in a short period, compared to traditional campaigns such as direct or print that take much more time for preparation and execution.
5. Create your own communication channel
One of the biggest advantages of having an opt-in email list is the fact that you own that resource, and it can serve as a significant pillar for future success. No matter how many followers you have on social media, in the end, the algorithm determines how many people will see your content. Building an email list means taking control over your communication channels. The most successful companies will tell you that their email list is one of their most significant assets. The sooner you build your opt-in email list, the better results you can expect later on.
6. Collect feedback from your audience
The only way to improve your performance is by asking for feedback and listening to your audience. Email can be a great way to check your customers’ pulse and adjust your strategy based on the responses you get.
Customer satisfaction surveys will give you all the answers you need to improve your customer experience. Creating different email lists based on different buyer personas allows companies to tailor the questions they send to specific audiences.
The fashion retailer Rebecca Minkoff uses email marketing to send surveys to its subscribers to measure customer satisfaction and rewards participants with a coupon code for 20% off full-price items.
Source: Rebecca Minkoff
7. Future-proof your business
Looking at social media platforms is like gazing into the night sky — there are so many out there. In the past decade, we witnessed an influx of social media sites, and yet, email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach your potential customers.
With opt-in email marketing, you can create and grow your list of subscribers, which can be your most powerful weapon in the future. There’s fierce competition brewing in the digital space, so having a solid email list can be the ace up your sleeve.
Grow your list with Campaign Monitor
Growing your email list has never been easier. With Campaign Monitor, you can choose to create a signup form for your website or let us host the form for you. From there, you decide exactly which fields you want to capture (e.g., name, email, location, gender, etc.), and it seamlessly integrates into your brand’s style. Any email addresses entered into the signup form are automatically added to your selected email list in Campaign Monitor.
The best part: you can create a signup form with no coding experience.
Wrap up
Intrusive and invasive marketing turns off consumers. Instead of relying on aggressive tactics that can easily backfire, you should focus on permission-based marketing.
With opt-in email marketing, you reach out to people that want to hear from you. Building a channel that allows you to communicate with a broader audience through hyper-targeted email marketing campaigns that deliver additional ROI is the key to business growth.
Ready to start building your email marketing list today? Don’t worry, we have your back! Learn how to create a seamless experience with custom email signup forms.
