Give your customers a reason to give you their email Posted by Aaron on August 11th, 2008 | Filed under Social media, marketing
I can picture the meeting that must have happened recently somewhere in the Barak Obama HQ: a group of campaign staffers, sitting around a table brainstorming ways to encourage people to register with them and provide that little bit of critical information that might be the something to make or break the campaign. Amid the usual ideas (”ring tones”, “viral marketing”, “personalized home pages”), someone throws out the crazy idea: “What if we announce Obama’s running-mate via SMS and email?”
It might seem like a novel idea, but as most campaign strategists learned in 2004, the one with the most email addresses wins. So today’s announcement that Obama will, in fact, be announcing his VP candidate first by SMS and email, should come as no surprise. And, while the idea seems like a gimmick, more than likely, it’s part of a larger strategy. By incentivizing supporters and non-supporters alike to register with the campaign, Obama is taking a crazy idea and creating a huge asset.
Our clients are constantly asking us for ways to help them increase awareness of their online offerings. Their first question is almost always about buying lists. We’re not fans of buying lists for many reasons, but we do suggest they think creatively about ways to grow their own lists. Simply putting an ‘email’ field on a page isn’t enough. If you want to build an email list that produces results, you need make sure people understand the value you provide when they sign up. So take a cue from Obama - think about what can you can offer your customers and prospects that is of value in exchange for them volunteering their contact information.