The Keys to Building a Mailing List

How Much Should I Put into Building a List?

Questions like this always boil down to one factor: How much is your mailing list worth to your business. Each industry has its own use for a mailing list, and not all of them will gain subscribers the same way. Lets go through a few different industries, how they use a mailing list, and the best way for them to gain subscribers. Let’s start with a group that relies very little on online marketing. High priced products…let’s say some sort of manufacturing equipment. We’ll even boil that down to conveyers and conveyer systems.

Mailing Lists and High Priced Items (Business to Business)

A factory manager might consider buying a new conveyer system for years before actually making a decision. During that time, companies rely heavily on the continued efforts of their salespeople. So they put very little consideration into online marketing and mailing lists Some would say that this industry is very under-developed in the way of e-commerce. And a mailing list could have a lot of potential…mainly because so few companies use them. I t’s true that the salesperson will still have to sell themselves before finalizing anything. But the client also needs to perceive the company on a whole as trustworthy. No matter how great a job the salesperson does, if the client doesn’t see the company as a professional and competent backdrop, the sale will not go through. A newsletter creates and strengthens this image…as long as the newsletter delivers information that’s important to the subscribers. If the newsletter is full of junk (or ads) that’s how the prospect will see the company. So each subscriber could turn into a very profitable sale, and the newsletter could (if properly executed) substantially increase the salesperson’s chances for the sale. I would say that such subscribers are pretty valuable. Be ready to pay for them. Offer a physical gift to subscribers…how expensive the gift will depend on how much your product costs…but offer something. This way you’ll get an actual address (so you know you’re mailings or emails go to an actual person), and the subscribers will remember who you are when they see your newsletter.

Mailing Lists and Low Priced Items (Business to Consumer)

The business to consumer industries, however, use a very different approach. Especially when the product line is less expensive. They make more direct sales from their mailing lists than high priced products. But then again, they make less money on each sale. Statistics show that web surfers are NOT loyal customers. In fact, more of them fall under the ‘impulsive buyers