Many South West businesses still aren’t using email marketing to its full potential, and one of the most common reasons for this is that they’re not making the most of the emails they have. Reports suggest that for every £1 spent on email in the UK, £26 of revenue is generated. That cash is powered by email addresses, so here’s a few ways you can find and use them.

When can you use them?

There’s often a bit of confusion on this; without getting too legal and quoting large swathes of the Data Protection Act, as a rule of thumb you can use someone’s email address if they have shown an interest in the specific area you are emailing them about, if they have an ongoing relationship with you, or you believe with reasonable logic that the content is going to be relevant to the person’s job role.

Obviously if you’re not sure on any of this then please do take a look at the Data Protection Act and how it effects email addresses, along with other email marketing compliance that you’ll need to know (e.g. offering people the opportunity to opt out of correspondence at any time).

So bearing in mind what we’ve said, here’s a few simple ways to grow your email database and the potential returns you gain from it.

Enquiries

If someone makes an enquiry you should be making a record of it and it should be going into an email marketing system for you to keep in touch with them. Having regular contact with them after their initial enquiry and providing them with interesting and relevant content could be the nudge they need to buy from you.

Your existing clients and customers

Email marketing isn’t all about new customers or clients; it can be used to keep in touch with existing trade, providing you with a constant contact that reaffirms your relationship with them. It can also be used to trigger them to repeat purchasing.

For both of these reasons you should be adding your existing customers to your email marketing system and database.

Social media competitions and promotions

People will usually strive to gain Page Likes or new followers from their competitions, but third part apps, particularly on Facebook, give local businesses a great way of quickly increasing their email list.

Events and networking events

We all get out there in the real world sometimes and when we do, we always come home with a lot of business cards. Rather than stuffing them into the top drawer of your desk, do something a little more productive with them and keep in touch with them after the event through email.

On your website

The final and most obvious way; do you have a sign up on your website that’s large and obvious to find? Those signing up for themselves may be tempted by wording that suggests they’ll get first access to offers, discounts and sales. Give them a reason to sign up and you’ll find that quite a few will do.

So that’s your lot for this post; email marketing databases don’t have to be complicated and daunting things. For the most part they’re a spreadsheet you’ll import into your email marketing system, so why not take an hour or two to focus on yours and then start benefitting from the emails with the results you deserve?