How to grow your email database

Depending on your brand there are different strategies in place to grow your email database.

As a general rule, consumers are getting smarter as they understand they don’t need to sign up to a database to see ongoing offers. That is because most brands will post all their communications on social media channels.

The first step to growing an email database is to highlight to your customer the benefit of signing up. The benefit can’t just be 20% off your first purchase. Now this will work to a degree, it’s not generating authentic signups for customers that genuinely want to be on your database.

What are some customer benefits?

Each brand will have their own benefits but generally speaking your benefits need to be behind the closed door content;

• Special invites to exclusive parties
• Special invites to members-only offers
• Loyalty program that rewards people for engaging with your brand
• Content that only people on your database know
• Break all your news on email and not on social media
• Exclusive access to areas on your website that only members get

We as consumers still want to be wow’d and not enough brands are doing it now. Take a step back and give a real offer to your database, understand who they are and want they want, build that relationship and your email database will all turn into brand advocates.

Do instore signups work?

Yes, they absolutely can. BUT, throw away the pen and paper, there’s too much room for human error here. Instore signups must be digital. If your staff can put details in through the POS and integrate that system into your email platform is ideal. If that is not possible, then having an iPad instore is easy and cost-effective.

Again, you need benefits, and these must be highlighted instore.

Run competitions

These are quick-fire solutions but they do work. If the carrot (prize) is of value and something people want, they will enter. The key here is to not make the entry form long. Get the basics and if you want more details then you can set up future campaigns targeted to this list to encourage them to come back and give you more information.

Again, it’s important to highlight the benefits.

Benefits…

Yes, I have mentioned this a lot. The most important step to growing a database is understanding your value proposition to your customers. Why are they signing up? Would you sign up to this? Are the benefits worthwhile?