There is a simple formula for building your customer email list.  It goes a little something like this:

Simple subscribe opportunities + valuable incentive = big email list

What this means is, even if you post links to your subscribe button on the regular, you’re not going to build a large email list. And if you provide a valuable incentive, but it isn’t an easy task to sign up, you’ll still never get subscribers. Humans are impatient, selfish creatures: we get agitated when a task is too difficult, or doesn’t have a payoff. So building your list is all about creating a balance for your consumers.

Simple subscribe opportunities

1. Ask at point of sale

You’ll likely find that this method is more effective when combined with discounts or offers. When customers approach the counter, ask if they’d like to get a discount or special offer by joining your email list. You can do the same for online – simply have a box to tick upon checkout.

2. Place a subscribe form in-store

Regardless of what first springs to mind, subscribe forms aren’t restricted to online. Consider placing a sign-up form in your store near the checkout or entrance/exit. A simple form on a clipboard with a pen could be all it takes for you to start collecting email addresses – but if you’re more high-tech and you’ve got the budget, think about having an iPad on display with an email subscribe app opened.

3. Collect business cards

Like we said, humans are impatient and selfish. An avenue for handing in their business card instead of writing details down works a treat when an incentive is provided. Set up a competition in-store whereby customers simply have to drop their business card in a box for a chance to win a prize.

4. Use receipts

When your customers physically shop in store, slip a small flyer into their bag with the purchased product to promote awareness of your newsletter. You could also print instructions on how to join at the bottom of receipts.

Valuable incentive

5. Discounts and offers

Offering a discount at the time of sale can help drive repeat purchases for years to come should you do it right. By offering a small discount on purchases for the simple task of providing an email address, you’ll drive customers to sign up and incentivise them to keep coming back.

6. Early access and exclusive promotions

Depending on your product/s or service and the level of awareness surrounding it, offering it to subscribers exclusively ahead of the curve is a great incentive to sign up and stay that way. Customers love special discounts and promotions that are only available to email subscribers.

7. Giveaways and contests

Take advantage of our innate competitive instinct by having customers provide you with their email address for a chance to win a prize. And don’t just offer any old measly prize: make it valuable enough for people to want to hand over their email address.

Find out why you need email marketing in your digital strategy. Need advice on how to build your customer email list? Get in touch.