Build your newsletter subscriber database
Microsoft Office Live Small Business makes it easy to create and send compelling e-mail newsletter campaigns. But for any marketing effort to be successful, it must reach the right audience.
So, how do you build an effective subscriber base of recipients for your newsletters and other e-mail marketing messages? This article shows you how to develop a strategy for building your subscriber database and how to use the tools in Office Live Small Business to help track your success.
In this article
Establish a realistic, measurable goal
When setting any business goal, be specific about what achieving that goal will do for your business. The more you know about what you want to accomplish, the easier it is to plan a strategy that can get you there. For example, to simply say that you want to increase the number of newsletter subscribers over the next six months is not a measurable goal because you have no basis for comparison. Instead, specify a goal such as increasing subscribers by 20 percent over the next six months. Targeting an increase over past performance gives you a measurable goal. And, specifying a reasonable, attainable percentage makes it easier to work toward this goal as part of your overall business strategy.
The sections that follow provide key methods for building a subscriber database. As you review these sections, consider using the site reports available in Microsoft Office Live Small Business to help you determine where to begin. To learn more about using reports to help you get started with a new online business strategy, see Use your Web site to help achieve your business goals.
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Provide meaningful Web site content that is updated frequently
Most people subscribe to newsletters when a Web site provides expert advice or news on a topic of interest, or when they want to be informed of new offerings from a company. Updating your site frequently can help increase site visits. But updating it with the right content, as described in the following examples, can be an easy way to help build your subscriber database.
- Including expert information related to your type of business (such as tips and tricks) is one of the best ways to invite subscribers because it gives subscribers a sense that they are signing up to receive more than just advertising from your company.
- Changing special offerings frequently, such as discounts on a specific product or service, is another effective tool for inviting newsletter subscribers. Customers who find your special offers compelling may want to receive e-mail communication from you so that they always know what offers are available.
The more often you update site content, the more reason visitors have to return to your site and the more likely they are to want to receive additional information from your company. For help planning a strategy to develop repeat visitors, see the article Increase repeat visitors to your Web site.
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Provide multiple opportunities to subscribe
Your newsletters and other e-mail marketing messages are a promotional tool for your business. But they can also be part of a service that your company provides. Consider the following methods for increasing sign-up opportunities:
- Include a link to a newsletter sign-up page on any page on your Web site that contains expert information, industry news, special offers, or other types of content that you include in your e-mail marketing messages.
- If you participate in online forums that are related to your business, include a link to your newsletter sign-up page in your forum posts.
- If you have a physical store location or if you participate in other types of offline business activities (such as trade shows), provide opportunities for visitors to subscribe in person. For example, if you have an available computer, make that computer accessible to customers, and keep a Web browser open to your sign-up page.
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Create customized sign-up pages
When you create a Web site using Office Live Small Business, you can include a newsletter sign-up page that builds your database for you by automatically adding subscriber information to Contact Manager.
If you send different types of e-mail marketing campaigns, you may want to create multiple sign-up pages, with each page promoting a specific type of message. Creating multiple subscription opportunities gives you more chances to capture the customer's interest in your mailings. It also helps you track the efforts to promote your mailings that are the most successful, as discussed later in this article.
The easiest way to add a sign-up page to your Web site is to customize a Contact Us page. The Contact Us form module offers the option to add contact information to your newsletter subscriber list when the form is submitted, as shown in the following image.
You can also add a Contact Us module to any page. This module lets you invite visitors to subscribe when they submit the contact form. For more information about the Contact Us module, see Add, change, or remove a Contact Us module.
Note Information that is submitted to Contact Manager from any Contact Us form goes into your main newsletter subscriber list. This is convenient for building your subscriber database because you have all contact information in one place. However, when you have multiple sign-up pages, it also means that you do not automatically know which form the subscriber used.
Information that is submitted to Contact Manager from any newsletter sign-up form goes into your main newsletter subscriber list. This is convenient for building your subscriber database because you have all contact information in one place. However, if you use multiple sign-up forms, be sure that you clearly indicate on the page that subscribers will receive all mailings that your company sends unless they specify which mailings they want to receive (such as a newsletter for expert tips) in the forms they submit. You can then assign subscribers to appropriate groups in Contact Manager for use when you create e-mail marketing campaigns. For information about how to create groups in Contact Manager, see Organize business contacts into groups.
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Appeal to your existing subscribers
When your e-mail marketing campaigns look professional and contain information of value to your customers, your existing subscribers can be one of your best sources for developing new subscribers. Think about the e-mail messages that you forward to friends and colleagues. A great tip, interesting piece of news, or terrific special offer is something people often want to share.
For help creating e-mail marketing campaigns that grab your reader's attention, see Getting started with e-mail newsletters.
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What else can you do to help build your subscriber list?
In addition to the efforts you take to specifically support your goal, remember that everything you do to maintain and promote your online business can affect the level of interest you receive from current and potential customers.
For example, a Web site that looks professional and works well is more inviting and more likely to attract interest in the subscriptions you offer. Do all of the links on your site work? Is your text grammatically correct? Are the sign-up forms easy to use? Even if your site contains valuable information, a visitor who is frustrated when trying to use your site is less likely to request additional information from your company.
For help creating a professional-looking site and improving search engine results, see the articles Use the Web design tools and Make your site attractive to search engines.
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Determine key performance indicators
After you decide which tools to use to build your subscriber database, you can determine how to best track the results of your efforts. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are factors that provide important information about the progress of your efforts. For example, consider the following:
- Which of your sign-up pages generate the most subscribers?
- Which of your Web site pages that link to a sign-up page get the most traffic?
- Do you see an increase in page views for the pages that you link to from your e-mail marketing messages?
- Which referring sources (such as a search engine, a forum, or a partner Web site), provide the most traffic? Which of those sources result in the highest number of subscribers?
- How many of your current subscribers unsubscribe after receiving your e-mail marketing campaigns?
The site reports available in Office Live Small Business can tell you exactly what you need to know about most of the KPIs that you identify. For help using reports to track your progress, see Track and Analyze Key Performance Indicators.
Note You must activate the Reports feature before Office Live collects the site data that will help you track your KPIs. To activate Reports, on the Office Live Small Business Home page, at the top, click More, and then click Reports. On the reports page, click Activate for FREE.
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Develop a long-term strategy
When you set a goal to build a subscriber database, remember that the goal is not just about seeing a certain number of listings in Contact Manager. As with anything you do to build your business, the value of your subscriber database is in how it contributes to your success. So the number of subscribers you retain and the response that you see from your e-mail marketing campaigns are as important to this goal as the number of new subscriptions.
As you evaluate your KPIs and adjust your strategy according to the results, remember that your current goal is just one milestone in a long-term strategy to help you grow your business. Experiment with different types of efforts in support of each milestone, and track your results to find what works best for you and your customers.
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