How To Build An Email List In Your Retail Store
A lot of people mistakenly believe that email marketing is a dying art — that none of the youngins are using email anymore, and that the only way to connect with them is through Snapchat or TikTok.
While social media marketing is undeniably a key part of modern small business marketing, email marketing is still far from dead. In fact, it’s still one of the best marketing channels available in terms of ROI.
That’s not to say that every email marketing campaign will drive the same results. The higher the quality of your emails, the better your results will be. And, effective email marketing starts with your email list.
Suffice it to say, your emails will do better if you send them to people who actually want to receive them, which means that you need to find ways to get people to share their email addresses voluntarily.
For an e-commerce store, getting people to sign up for email lists is easy when you can prompt customers to sign up as they check out. But, for brick and mortar retailers, the process can be a little more complicated. Here’s how to get it right.
4 steps to building an email list for retail stores
Step #1. Plant the seed
If you randomly walk around your store with a clipboard asking all of your customers to sign up for your email list, most of them will probably turn you down. You need to give your customers a reason to sign up, which means that you need to plant the seed.
One key way to start planting the seed with your customers is with signage in your physical store informing customers about your monthly newsletters or special offers they can get when they sign up.
Bonus tip – Use a QR code
Make it as easy as possible for customers to sign up for your email list by using a QR code on your in-store signage that takes them directly to a landing page on your website where they can sign up.
The fewer the steps your customers have to take to sign up, the better.
Step #2. Use tact and show value
Signage can go a long way toward planting the seed, but often, real, face-to-face conversations lead to the most sign ups. But, again coming right out and asking for an email address isn’t always the best approach.
Use tact when asking for email addresses, and don’t be too pushy. Often, asking something non-threatening, like, “Are you in our system?” sends a better message than, “Can I have your email address?”
Asking straight out for their email address sends the message that you’ll bombard them with spam emails. Asking if they’re in your system sends the message that you just want to be able to provide them with the best service and offers.
Of course, you want to make sure that they understand that you’ll send them emails, but you can also reassure them that you will only send one a week or two a month (or however often you plan to send them), and that they can unsubscribe easily.
Once you get the email address, make it worth your customers’ while by providing value. Provide value by giving them helpful advice or information in your emails, special offers and other things they want.
Step #3. Train your team
Since the biggest part of building a retail store’s email list happens face to face, a key part of getting it right involves training the people who interact the most with your customers — your employees.
Your employees are the ones who will bear the brunt of collecting email addresses, because they’re the ones who work directly with your customers the most. Your success depends on their understanding of why it’s important to collect email addresses and how to do so effectively.
Make it a point to train your team on how to ask for email addresses the right way. And, don’t just ask them to collect email addresses and be done with the conversation. Explain to them why it matters so that they understand the importance.
Step #4. Don’t spam
Getting people to give you their email addresses or sign up for your email list is just half the battle. You want your readers to continue to open, read and act on your emails, which means that you need to give them a reason to stick around.
Like I said, it’s incredibly important to provide value with your emails so that your readers will actually want to read them. And, one of the biggest mistakes a business can make is being overly spammy with email marketing.
If you use email marketing to try to drum up sales by only sending out spammy, overly promotional emails, a lot of people are going to unsubscribe from your email list. Respect your customers by providing value.
The other aspect of email marketing is timing. If you send too many emails to your customers, they’re going to get sick of them. Make a calendar so that you stay on track and aren’t bombarding your customers with emails or sending them too infrequently.
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