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How many Lists should I have?

by iScotts
20 replies
Hi, I am in the process of building my list and I would like to understand a few things.

Say I have a membership site and would like to send those that signed up for my membership program and those that just signed up for my news letter different emails. Would I need to create separate lists?

Also If I have different squeeze pages offering different types of E-Courses would I need to create a different list for each? Why I am asking this is because obviously if I have 2 E-Courses on "list building" and "adsense" and had separate squeeze pages collecting emails. I would need to have a way to send the course that my subscribers signed up for.

Any advice on this is welcome

Thanks.
#lists
  • Profile picture of the author wenotice
    Originally Posted by iScotts View Post

    Say I have a membership site and would like to send those that signed up for my membership program and those that just signed up for my news letter different emails. Would I need to create separate lists?
    I would have a separate list for those that sign up for the membership program and another for the newsletter. You have to look at it from an intent standpoint and audience-to-message match. The people who signed up for the membership program has a different message than the newsletter. The membership program folks may get inside information and upsells that non-buyers do not have. The newsletter audience probably have not purchased yet so you will have a different message for that audience.

    So I would separate out your lists based on where they are in the buying funnel, customer intent, to ensure you match the message to the audience.

    Originally Posted by iScotts View Post

    Also If I have different squeeze pages offering different types of E-Courses would I need to create a different list for each? Why I am asking this is because obviously if I have 2 E-Courses on "list building" and "adsense" and had separate squeeze pages collecting emails. I would need to have a way to send the course that my subscribers signed up for.
    I agree with your sentiment here. Separate lists for very different messages. Eventually you may cross promote one course in the other, but if they were merged you might have a tougher time crafting a message with differing yet overlapping lists.

    Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author fedor50
    You should build a list for every different niche that you sell products and market in. One list per niche(Hey that rhymes).Build a relationship with your customers and don't spam them with affiliate links in every email that you send them
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    • Profile picture of the author wenotice
      Originally Posted by fedor50 View Post

      You should build a list for every different niche that you sell products and market in. One list per niche(Hey that rhymes).Build a relationship with your customers and don't spam them with affiliate links in every email that you send them
      It goes beyond just building a list per niche though. Because if I build for a widget niche and I have a newsletter, an opt-in bonus, and membership components, then I need those to be 3 very different messages and 3 very different lists. Each audience is in a different place in the buying funnel.
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  • Profile picture of the author imgeek2727
    Originally Posted by iScotts View Post

    Hi, I am in the process of building my list and I would like to understand a few things.

    Say I have a membership site and would like to send those that signed up for my membership program and those that just signed up for my news letter different emails. Would I need to create separate lists?
    Create as many lists as you need to "funnel" your list members. The truth is that most people who sign up to a list due to freebie access are freeloaders or gawkers. You need to filter these out to finer and finer lists until you get a "pure" list of BUYERS. The key is to filter using the right incentives. Freebies are great for populating lists. However, to filter, you have to use squeeze pages that involve a little more "pain" - ie., more effort on their part, a token payment, etc. Keep ramping this up as you upsell them to finer and finer lists.
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    • Profile picture of the author wenotice
      Originally Posted by imgeek2727 View Post

      Create as many lists as you need to "funnel" your list members. The truth is that most people who sign up to a list due to freebie access are freeloaders or gawkers. You need to filter these out to finer and finer lists until you get a "pure" list of BUYERS. The key is to filter using the right incentives. Freebies are great for populating lists. However, to filter, you have to use squeeze pages that involve a little more "pain" - ie., more effort on their part, a token payment, etc. Keep ramping this up as you upsell them to finer and finer lists.
      Good word Brad. You can also filter the lists from within the lists (if the open rate is decent). If you have one big list, then you can segment them by getting them to opt-in in other places for other things. Such as a webinar they would sign up for and segment this list for the webinar. Then from the webinar you can segment even more as an indicator for buying signals. Segment using a contest is another option. Get ninja with it, but don't overwhelm folks with too many lists to signup on. Remember, the message still has to match, and if it doesn't people may abandon the list. Which may not be all that bad because they may not have bought in the first place, however, if they are not on your list you don't have a channel of communication any longer.
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  • Profile picture of the author iScotts
    Ok thanks guys this cleared up a lot for me. I just hope my lists dont get to large and complicated though.
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    • Profile picture of the author SandyDuPlessis
      Originally Posted by iScotts View Post

      Ok thanks guys this cleared up a lot for me. I just hope my lists dont get to large and complicated though.
      What I do find useful is the broadcast feature that most autoresponders have. That way you can include and exclude your various lists depending on whether you are sending out general information or information specific to only one or two of your lists.
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      • Profile picture of the author iScotts
        Originally Posted by SandyDuPlessis View Post

        What I do find useful is the broadcast feature that most autoresponders have. That way you can include and exclude your various lists depending on whether you are sending out general information or information specific to only one or two of your lists.
        Good idea.. This way I dont have to put some in multiple lists.
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    • Profile picture of the author louie6925
      Originally Posted by iScotts View Post

      Ok thanks guys this cleared up a lot for me. I just hope my lists dont get to large and complicated though.
      I'm sure you don't mean that!!...you should be wanting them to get large and complicated!

      I have 17 seperate lists broken down by niches, sub-niches, buyers, and responsive/unresponsive.

      Doesn't matter how big they get, if you keep them organised they won't become complicated!
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      • Profile picture of the author iScotts
        Originally Posted by louie6925 View Post

        I'm sure you don't mean that!!...you should be wanting them to get large and complicated!

        I have 17 seperate lists broken down by niches, sub-niches, buyers, and responsive/unresponsive.

        Doesn't matter how big they get, if you keep them organised they won't become complicated!
        lol Ok yes you are right I just dont want to get over whelmed but clearly thats the way to go so Im ready..
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  • Profile picture of the author paul nicholls
    yes you will need to create lots of different lists based on niches and products

    i also segment my lists based on who purchased the oto and not, this is really important

    by having lots more separate lists your lists will be much more targeted so when ever you send out an email your open rate and conversions will be way higher

    paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Jimmy Correy
    1 niche, 1 squeeze page!
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    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      The rule I follow is to set-up a new list or segment for
      each distinct niche subject area.

      However, I don't set-up new lists willy nilly as it can get
      complicated real quick.

      I prefer to use custom fields to segment lists whenever
      possible. That way, I can send highly-targeted messages
      without having an unnecessarily high number of lists to
      manage.

      Dedicated to mutual success,

      Shaun
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      .

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      • Profile picture of the author wenotice
        Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly View Post

        The rule I follow is to set-up a new list or segment for
        each distinct niche subject area.

        However, I don't set-up new lists willy nilly as it can get
        complicated real quick.

        I prefer to use custom fields to segment lists whenever
        possible. That way, I can send highly-targeted messages
        without having an unnecessarily high number of lists to
        manage.

        Dedicated to mutual success,

        Shaun
        So at this point you are doing that same thing. It may not be separate lists but you are segmenting them out just the same. But it really brings up the fact that one would have to figure out how they will manage the lists and what works best for them. Even if you make an extra field you would still manage all the fields as if they are separate lists, except it looks like one big amorphous blob that you have to filter to send to a particular group.

        But to each has their own method list management method. Just remember message to audience match.
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        • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
          Originally Posted by wenotice View Post

          So at this point you are doing that same thing. It may not be separate lists but you are segmenting them out just the same. But it really brings up the fact that one would have to figure out how they will manage the lists and what works best for them. Even if you make an extra field you would still manage all the fields as if they are separate lists, except it looks like one big amorphous blob that you have to filter to send to a particular group.
          Having lots of separate lists and using list segments via
          custom fields is NOT the same thing at all - especially
          when it comes to the ease of managing the finer sub-lists.

          For example, if you create a separate list each time with
          say AWeber, then by default people will need to confirm
          their opt-in each time (unless you can use single opt-in
          on your account).

          Plus, each subscriber on multiple lists inflates your list
          count and monthly billing costs.

          If you create a new list for each and every minor subject
          change, then you add unnecessary extra work to your
          project for set-up and management of the lists.

          With list segmentation, you can minimize these effects.

          Dedicated to mutual success,

          Shaun
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          • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
            Shaun speaks true about list segmentation. It's extremely powerful and under used by most email marketers. The more targeted your segments are, the more relevant your content will be and the better the ROI.

            Regards,
            jim
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  • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zazz
    Originally Posted by iScotts View Post

    Hi, I am in the process of building my list and I would like to understand a few things.
    Say I have a membership site and would like to send those that signed up for my membership program and those that just signed up for my news letter different emails. Would I need to create separate lists?
    Also If I have different squeeze pages offering different types of E-Courses would I need to create a different list for each? Why I am asking this is because obviously if I have 2 E-Courses on "list building" and "adsense" and had separate squeeze pages collecting emails. I would need to have a way to send the course that my subscribers signed up for.
    Any advice on this is welcome
    Thanks.
    Consider each email in your list as a different relationship. Each relationship has a different value: those who bought product have a different (higher) value than those who just ordered some freebie for you, just as the relationship with your spouse/parents has different value to you than relationship with your work colleague. Each should go on its own list, according to their intrinsic value to you. Because your communication to each such group/list is different, and you need to talk to each one differently, to customize your message to be the most effective you can be.
    Hope this helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author rohan731
    Yes, I would recommend making two lists. It's not that hard if you have an autoresponder like AWeber or Getresponse.
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  • Profile picture of the author KickAss Marketing
    Actually, for some instances, the more you filter and segregate through building lists the better.

    Just determine how to segregate the items properly and then build the list according to that criteria. Proper segregation of persons through lists will help in maintaining a good relationship with them and maintaining interest.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Dude, have a look at this. I struggled with how best to segment my lists and this is what I eventually settled upon. This setup is for Aweber.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ng-advice.html
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