5 Reasons To Start Building Your Email List Now.

I still get resistance when I recommend salespeople and entrepreneurs build an email list. I hear all the alternatives from texting, social media, CRM and contact lists. All are simply excuses for taking the lazy way out of doing the work necessary to GROW YOUR BUSINESS. Hopefully, you will find the motivation to get started after reading through the 5 reasons to start building our email list now.

1. Build an Email List and Own Your Marketing

There are tons of ways to market your business online, with paid advertising in the search engines and on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are just two of the most popular. But there’s a problem with these types of marketing, and it’s one that you won’t face when you decide to build an email list instead. That problem is the fact that when advertising on search engines and social media, the business owner doesn’t own those platforms.

When you don’t own the platform you’re marketing on, you may not always have access to it. And you certainly have limited control over it. Those other platforms will tell you what you can write, what you can advertise, and how you can do it. And, if they were to shut down tomorrow, there would be very little recourse a business owner would have. In fact, they don’t even have to shut down in order to take away your control. They just need to change their privacy or user settings. That could be enough to drastically hamper your marketing efforts.

But that’s not how it is with email marketing. While you may not own your own server with your own email service on it (although many business owners do), there’s a much better chance that it’s going to be there the next time you log on that a simple website. And email services, for the most part, aren’t interested in what you’re emailing your customers. So you can heavily promote your company, send multiple emails within a week (although be careful, you don’t want to get marked as spam by customers, either), and know that every time you open up your email, it’s going to be ready to perform for you. Which means that you can be there to give your customers what they’re looking for.

2. When You Have Permission, You Have Power

You’ve likely heard people complain about how much advertising is directed to them every day. Whether it’s in your personal life or in your business, people don’t like to be surrounded by marketing all the time. That’s not to say they don’t like to hear about deals and promotions, just that they don’t want to be listening to it all the time. And unfortunately, when they go online, there’s no escape from it. It’s everywhere. But when you choose to use email marketing, you remove that obstacle and get an audience that’s much more willing to listen to your message.

This is because customers need to opt-in to email marketing. They need to sign up for it on your website, or they need to sign up for it while they are in the store. By doing so, they’re giving you permission to send them emails and marketing material. They’re telling you that they absolutely want to hear what you have to say, and they want to know what’s going on in your business. They’re giving you permission. And that’s powerful.

Why does that permission hold so much power? Because unlike those ads the customer scrolls past in the search engines and social media platforms, they’re going to open that email. And they’re going to read it! They’ll simply be open to it, unlike all that other advertising they choose to ignore.

That’s great news for business owners that are never sure whether or not their marketing message is getting through. With email marketing, that message is definitely hitting home and when it does, they’ll feel good about it. And there’s a good chance that your bottom line is going to improve because of it.

3. Make it Easy for All Customers

No matter who your target market is, there’s a good chance that some of them will be very tech-savvy, and others will not be. Those who are tech-savvy will be able to do just about anything you ask them to online, such as sign up for the RSS feed and use it. Others though, that aren’t as good using online tech won’t know what an RSS feed is or how to use it.

But email is one of the basic services people can use online, and it’s been around for a very long time. Most customers know how to use it, and you can use that to your advantage for your business just by incorporating email marketing as part of your marketing plan.

When you build up your email list and start using email marketing, you actually make it easier for your customers to receive and read your message. And when something is easy for them, they’re going to be much more likely to use it than something they actually have to learn about before they can use it. The chances are, if they have to do the latter, they’re not going to do it at all. But anyone and everyone can use their email account and open an email.

Even customers that are tech-savvy will still open and read emails, so it’s not as though you’ll still only be targeting to one segment of your market. You’ll be advertising to everyone, and you’ll know that everyone is receiving your message. Best of all, your customers will know that you’re trying to make it easy for them and they’ll appreciate you for it. And that appreciation may just send them to you the next time they need your product or service.

4. Email Gives You a One-on-One Connection

Building an email list and using email marketing has many advantages over other types of online marketing. But one of those advantages is that it allows you to develop a one-on-one connection with your customers, and also allows them to connect with you one-on-one, too. And that’s something that no other form of online marketing is going to allow.

That’s because those other types of marketing are focused on talking to the customer. But there’s very no return conversation. There’s no back and forth. And if the customer has a question about an ad or wants to learn more, they often have to move from the search engine or social media over to your blog or website, find your contact information, and then email you with the issue they’re having.

It sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? That’s because it is. And frankly, most customers won’t go to all that trouble just to have a question answered. They’ll forget about it and move on to something else, and maybe even one of your competitors.

But email marketing opens up that door for two-way communication. If you send out an email blast and a customer has a question about it, all they have to do is email you back. It’s as easy for them as hitting the “Reply” button, and they’ll feel better about it because it will be within the privacy of an email.

And when customers feel better about something, and get the answers to their questions quickly and easily, they’re much more likely to buy from you because loyalty and trust have already been established. They’ll appreciate that you took the time to answer their question, and feel as though the business really cares about them. And that will make them care more about the business.

5. Email Lists Give Businesses a Farther Reach

There’s a reason so many business owners head to social media before considering any other kind of online advertising. It’s because, with millions of users on every platform, there’s a good chance that many people will see the advertising. And that’s true. Millions of people will see it.

But did you know that email actually has a much larger base? That’s true, too. While millions of people might be on social media, email has nearly three times the user base of all social platforms combined. The reason for this? While not everyone loves social media, everyone likes to use email to keep in touch, with their family and loved ones, and with businesses too.

So what does that have to do with your business? Everything! At least when it comes to marketing. This larger user base means that when you use it, you’ll reach many more people than you would if you just relied on social media alone. And of course, business owners know that the more people that see their message, the better the chance that someone will find it interesting and maybe even use their business.

Email marketing is one of the best ways to reach the biggest audience possible. There’s just no way around it. And for business owners that are looking for a way to connect with as many people as possible, which is just about every business owner, that’s a huge benefit. While social media marketing might be good, and radio advertisements may work for local audiences, with so many users, email marketing is the way for businesses to get the farthest reach for their marketing dollars.