Email Marketing: How Do You Build A Relationship With Your List?

24 replies
What methods do you use to build a powerful relationship with your email list?
#build #email #list #marketing #relationship
  • Profile picture of the author Chris30K
    Great question, you offer them as much value as possible for one problem, and then sell them the solution to another
    Signature

    Chic Fil A > McDonald's

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  • Profile picture of the author erikko
    Its kinda tricky but I think the key here is time and also trying the best approach possible like don't sound too pushy.
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  • Profile picture of the author KristofferIM
    Hey there,

    There are two email gurus you should check out:

    Andre Chaperon
    Ben Settle

    Great stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ledux
    Email them often. Provide great value. Interact with your subscribers, if you have a small list ask them to reply to your emails. Show your personality in your emails.

    And as KristofferIM said check out Ben Settle, he really knows how to market using emails.
    Signature
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    • Profile picture of the author Erquilon
      Providing value and interaction are key to building a good relationship. Especially 'interaction' is often overlooked. Ask your subscribers questions. Ask them for their opinion. etc.. And if they reply, reply back! Get to know your subscribers. And get them to know you.

      'Providing value' alone isn't enough. Interaction is just as important.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mitro
        Before you can provide any value to them, you need to get and keep their attention and interest...

        So make your content stand out from the crowd. Make it engaging.

        One way to establish to relationship with a prospect is to: 1) introduce yourself, 2) help them relate to you by telling your story and 3) establish yourself as a trustworthy expert by demonstrating proof.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by empoweringentrepreneurs View Post

    What methods do you use to build a powerful relationship with your email list?
    Three main things ...

    (i) a "free report" that serves all these purposes

    (ii) establishing and maintaining a rigorous continuity process, with each email leading inexorably to the next

    (iii) setting and fulfilling my subscribers' expectations appropriately: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    Email marketing is mainly a one-way communication channel. An
    email campaign sends messages to a list of subscribers, providing
    information as in a newsletter or a sales message with
    instructions on how to respond. The marketer doesn’t expect the
    recipients to hit the reply button and send a message back to the
    company. In fact, most company emails are sent from a ‘no-reply’
    address with a reminder that no one will read any responses from
    this email.

    With the phenomenal growth of the social networks such as
    Facebook® and MySpace®, online marketers are beginning to realize
    that prospects want to join in the conversation and voice their
    opinions. Instead of a radio show consumers are looking for a
    telephone conversation. They want to know that you are listening
    to them as much as they are listening to you.

    There are many lessons to learn from the social networks that can
    help you to boost your reader engagement with your emails. Here
    are some of the more important lessons:

    Survey Your Readers
    People are more than happy to tell you just what they think about
    your product and services especially if they can do so
    anonymously. This is what a survey allows. Surveys are
    ubiquitous in the marketing world because they work. Here you
    can gauge your readers preferences, attitudes and values and
    curtail your marketing in order to suite the majority of your
    readers. If you ask engaging questions, then you can use the
    answers to further fine-tune your marketing so you are not just
    shooting in the dark or throwing mud on the wall hoping some
    would stick.

    You may ask about content for your newsletter, what your readers
    would like to see more of and announce changes and get reactions
    before you make those changes. And all this information you can
    get by just asking.

    Personalize Your Email With A Picture
    Facebook is built on the fact that people connect through
    pictures. When you can see a picture of the person who is
    ‘talking to you’ in the email then there is connection on a
    deeper level that just reading text. Even if the newsletter or
    promotional email is sent from the company as an entity, the
    company can still be given a face by using the picture of the CEO
    or the head of the marketing department. Keep in mind that people
    do business with people and not with companies per se. Many
    successful companies have used this ‘spokesperson’ model in their
    advertisement. Think of Dave Wendy for Wendy’s as one example.
    Even before the social networks were born leading magazines have
    use a headshot of the author of an article especially in the

    ‘Note From the Editor’ article. This goes a long way in building
    relationship and bond with the company. Keep in mind that email
    is a more personal form of communication than a web page or press
    release. So keeping your message in tune with the medium cannot
    hurt.

    Continue The Conversation On A Blog
    A blog provides the perfect platform for your readers to give
    their reactions to a particular issue or story. You can direct
    your readers to your blog to continue the conversation you’ve
    started in the email. This would keep both your email marketing
    and your blog alive with subscriber comments and better engage
    your subscribers. Readers can have an opportunity to ask
    questions so you know that you are scratching where it itches.
    A blog also provides an opportunity to build community among your
    readership. There is no way for email subsribers to interact
    with other subscribers, but a blog breaks down this barrier and
    takes the burden of keeping the conversation flowing off of your
    company. Not only will you answer questions, but your informed
    readers can also help in this process.

    Make Use Of Audio And Video
    Providing audio and video within your email is no longer a
    technical challenge, because it’s as simple as sending an HTLM
    email. The widespread availability of broadband access makes
    video and audio download a lot more practical than it was a
    couple years ago. And if you have your list segmented into HTML
    and text subscribers, then you can send the web link of the video
    and audio content to the text recipients and the embedded
    broadcast to the HTML subscribers.

    An audio-visual message allows you to humanize your message and
    create that brand and bond for your company. These messages can
    include product reviews, special holiday messages, newsletter
    content and customer testimonials. The younger demographics will
    respond to these messages as evident by the popularity of video
    social networks such as YouTube.

    Building your reader engagement is an ongoing process of learning
    from your subscribers and adapting to their needs with the end
    results of building your company brand and bottom line. You do
    not have to settle for just broadcasting email campaigns and
    newsletters in blind hope that you are hitting your target.
    Invite your subscribers to join the ‘econversation’.

    -Ray Edwards
    Signature
    The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Dave Wendy?

      I thought his name was Dave Thomas. Last I heard, the chain was named after Wendy Thomas, Dave's daughter.
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    • Profile picture of the author anders83k
      Originally Posted by Raydal View Post

      Email marketing is mainly a one-way communication channel. An
      email campaign sends messages to a list of subscribers, providing
      information as in a newsletter or a sales message with
      instructions on how to respond. The marketer doesn't expect the
      recipients to hit the reply button and send a message back to the
      company. In fact, most company emails are sent from a 'no-reply'
      address with a reminder that no one will read any responses from
      this email.

      With the phenomenal growth of the social networks such as
      Facebook® and MySpace®, online marketers are beginning to realize
      that prospects want to join in the conversation and voice their
      opinions. Instead of a radio show consumers are looking for a
      telephone conversation. They want to know that you are listening
      to them as much as they are listening to you.

      There are many lessons to learn from the social networks that can
      help you to boost your reader engagement with your emails. Here
      are some of the more important lessons:

      Survey Your Readers
      People are more than happy to tell you just what they think about
      your product and services especially if they can do so
      anonymously. This is what a survey allows. Surveys are
      ubiquitous in the marketing world because they work. Here you
      can gauge your readers preferences, attitudes and values and
      curtail your marketing in order to suite the majority of your
      readers. If you ask engaging questions, then you can use the
      answers to further fine-tune your marketing so you are not just
      shooting in the dark or throwing mud on the wall hoping some
      would stick.

      You may ask about content for your newsletter, what your readers
      would like to see more of and announce changes and get reactions
      before you make those changes. And all this information you can
      get by just asking.

      Personalize Your Email With A Picture
      Facebook is built on the fact that people connect through
      pictures. When you can see a picture of the person who is
      'talking to you' in the email then there is connection on a
      deeper level that just reading text. Even if the newsletter or
      promotional email is sent from the company as an entity, the
      company can still be given a face by using the picture of the CEO
      or the head of the marketing department. Keep in mind that people
      do business with people and not with companies per se. Many
      successful companies have used this 'spokesperson' model in their
      advertisement. Think of Dave Wendy for Wendy's as one example.
      Even before the social networks were born leading magazines have
      use a headshot of the author of an article especially in the

      'Note From the Editor' article. This goes a long way in building
      relationship and bond with the company. Keep in mind that email
      is a more personal form of communication than a web page or press
      release. So keeping your message in tune with the medium cannot
      hurt.

      Continue The Conversation On A Blog
      A blog provides the perfect platform for your readers to give
      their reactions to a particular issue or story. You can direct
      your readers to your blog to continue the conversation you've
      started in the email. This would keep both your email marketing
      and your blog alive with subscriber comments and better engage
      your subscribers. Readers can have an opportunity to ask
      questions so you know that you are scratching where it itches.
      A blog also provides an opportunity to build community among your
      readership. There is no way for email subsribers to interact
      with other subscribers, but a blog breaks down this barrier and
      takes the burden of keeping the conversation flowing off of your
      company. Not only will you answer questions, but your informed
      readers can also help in this process.

      Make Use Of Audio And Video
      Providing audio and video within your email is no longer a
      technical challenge, because it's as simple as sending an HTLM
      email. The widespread availability of broadband access makes
      video and audio download a lot more practical than it was a
      couple years ago. And if you have your list segmented into HTML
      and text subscribers, then you can send the web link of the video
      and audio content to the text recipients and the embedded
      broadcast to the HTML subscribers.

      An audio-visual message allows you to humanize your message and
      create that brand and bond for your company. These messages can
      include product reviews, special holiday messages, newsletter
      content and customer testimonials. The younger demographics will
      respond to these messages as evident by the popularity of video
      social networks such as YouTube.

      Building your reader engagement is an ongoing process of learning
      from your subscribers and adapting to their needs with the end
      results of building your company brand and bottom line. You do
      not have to settle for just broadcasting email campaigns and
      newsletters in blind hope that you are hitting your target.
      Invite your subscribers to join the 'econversation'.

      -Ray Edwards
      Thank you Ray for the idea using a photo of myself in the e-mails, I will try that next time I'm mailing my list.
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      • Profile picture of the author Javisito
        Originally Posted by anders83k View Post

        Thank you Ray for the idea using a photo of myself in the e-mails, I will try that next time I'm mailing my list.
        Yeah I agree I will definitely test this thing out as I could do with a higher Opt-In rate
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      Originally Posted by Raydal View Post


      With the phenomenal growth of the social networks such as
      Facebook® and MySpace®,
      Damn, Ray.

      Getting pretty meticulous in the details on us LOL

      Does this mean I need to start typing the trademarks in every time I mention these two companies ?
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      • Profile picture of the author Raydal
        Originally Posted by discrat View Post

        Damn, Ray.

        Getting pretty meticulous in the details on us LOL

        Does this mean I need to start typing the trademarks in every time I mention these two companies ?
        How did you notice those? You're really a meticulous reader.

        -Ray Edwards
        Signature
        The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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  • Profile picture of the author emailsangel
    Hello there,

    Below are few methods to build a relationship.

    Use effective communication.

    Respect your clients or customers time.

    Proceed with caution while interacting in Social Media.

    Make your customers happy by encouraging them with good offers or deals.

    Publish a News Letter fortnight.

    Meet your clients expectations and Build trust it matters most.
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  • Profile picture of the author 60SPS
    The big mistake people make is not understanding the true value of "personality" when it comes to building a relationship with your list.

    You can give away the best content in the world, but eventually, folks WILL get tired of reading your stuff... and your open rates will drop off.

    That's not to say that giving away valuable information is not important - it's CRITICAL!

    However, if you give great value and you share bits and pieces about your life... your ups and your downs... your trials and tribulations... and if you speak from your heart... and try to be light-hearted and humorous every now and again... then people will love you.

    They will wait anxiously to hear from you. They will hang on every word you have to say. They will welcome you into their lives with open arms.

    Funny side-note: Once upon a time I worked with the late Gary Halbert...

    ... The good folks on Gary's list worshiped the ground he walked on!

    He once gave my email address out on his newsletter... and wow... I was bombarded with emails for weeks.

    But much to my surprise, nobody asked me about marketing. Nobody asked me about his secrets for making money... or getting rich.

    You know what questions they were asking me?

    They were asking... What kind of car does Gary drive? What kind of clothes does he wear? What kind of food does he eat?

    It was the strangest thing.

    But the lesson is powerful...

    People's love for Gary went beyond what he was teaching. They loved the man, the person - they loved Gary.

    The result was that they not only opened his emails in record numbers... but they also bought his products with reckless abandon.

    Gary's secret for success?

    He put his life and soul into every communication he sent to his list.

    This is how you build a deep rooted BOND with your list.

    I hope this helps.
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    • Profile picture of the author Edwin Torres
      Originally Posted by 60SPS View Post

      The big mistake people make is not understanding the true value of "personality" when it comes to building a relationship with your list.

      You can give away the best content in the world, but eventually, folks WILL get tired of reading your stuff... and your open rates will drop off.

      That's not to say that giving away valuable information is not important - it's CRITICAL!

      However, if you give great value and you share bits and pieces about your life... your ups and your downs... your trials and tribulations... and if you speak from your heart... and try to be light-hearted and humorous every now and again... then people will love you.

      They will wait anxiously to hear from you. They will hang on every word you have to say. They will welcome you into their lives with open arms.

      Funny side-note: Once upon a time I worked with the late Gary Halbert...

      ... The good folks on Gary's list worshiped the ground he walked on!

      He once gave my email address out on his newsletter... and wow... I was bombarded with emails for weeks.

      But much to my surprise, nobody asked me about marketing. Nobody asked me about his secrets for making money... or getting rich.

      You know what questions they were asking me?

      They were asking... What kind of car does Gary drive? What kind of clothes does he wear? What kind of food does he eat?

      It was the strangest thing.

      But the lesson is powerful...

      People's love for Gary went beyond what he was teaching. They loved the man, the person - they loved Gary.

      The result was that they not only opened his emails in record numbers... but they also bought his products with reckless abandon.

      Gary's secret for success?

      He put his life and soul into every communication he sent to his list.

      This is how you build a deep rooted BOND with your list.

      I hope this helps.

      Awesome post man!

      What you said is true....people on your list don't always want to just learn and read, they want to be entertained.

      Who gets paid more: Teachers or Entertainers?

      If you share personal stories and other cool stuff about YOU and connect it to some marketing lesson or tip your list will love you.

      Thats what Ben Settle and Andre Chaperon (two of the top email marketers online) recommend.
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  • Profile picture of the author cellosara87
    Give them discounts, offer free gifts etc etc.
    Signature
    Cheap Mobile Phones for Latest Cell Phone users in Australia with Free Shipping.
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  • To all those Aweber Geniuses!!! Can somebody answer this question please - Thanks a million

    Ok, here is the situation. I want to build my list by

    a.) uploading bulk email addresses myself
    b.) adding email addresses manually via my own capture page - typing in myself when I am on the road on my iphone, etc.....

    but in both cases...it´s very annoying they don´t become subsribers automatically. It ask to confirm the subsription. I know the reason why, but is there no way to avoid this??? I have Aweber configured as single-opt-in but it doesn´t work.

    Please help
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      A good way to answer this question "How Do You Build A Relationship With Your List? " is this :

      How do you build a relationship or better yet how do you talk with your Dad, Mom, brother,sister, best friend, spouse via Email ?

      Do you talk to them in a real formal tone trying to pitch them product after product or............
      do you talk to them in a relatively easy going manner and in a Conversationalist tone ?

      What I am getting at is that you really need to talk and communicate with your List in a tone that is similar to how you would talk to your best friend.

      This relieves any tension and they start to feel more closer to you and feel like you are more of a real human being than someone just shooting out sales letters.

      So set that tone from the beginning.

      And your Tone can be of different sorts.

      You make talk to your best friend like a smart arse full of sarcasm or you may talk you to her in a positive and comical way, or you may talk to her in a totally laid back carefree surfer mentality, and even may talk to your friend with a tough, Love authoritative tone, ( yes some friends are that way lol).

      All these Tones WORK. And many more on top of that
      ( I use kind of a hybrid : Iam pretty laid back but sometimes I can be sarcastic and will not hesitate to give a swift kick in my Lists a$$es if necessary. I also like to poke fun of myself and my extremely sordid past with IM and my inability to even comprehend how to build a List just 5 years ago.... . "but here is the best way I found out how to do it ".....as I proceed with a shameless Promo Link )

      These are excellent ways to start building that initial relationship with your List

      You just need to adopt a Tone and be consistent .

      And, have FUN with it



      - Robert Andrew
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by BarcelonaGreetings View Post

        To all those Aweber Geniuses!!! Can somebody answer this question please - Thanks a million

        Ok, here is the situation. I want to build my list by

        a.) uploading bulk email addresses myself
        b.) adding email addresses manually via my own capture page - typing in myself when I am on the road on my iphone, etc.....

        but in both cases...it´s very annoying they don´t become subsribers automatically. It ask to confirm the subsription. I know the reason why, but is there no way to avoid this??? I have Aweber configured as single-opt-in but it doesn´t work.

        Please help
        It doesn't work because trying to add bulk addresses or typing in addresses yourself isn't an opt-in. You haven't met the criteria for opting in. There's no "opt" when you choose to forgo even the slightest hint of permission.

        Making people confirm subscriptions is a direct consequence of the people before you scraping and spamming, manually or otherwise.
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  • Profile picture of the author Khalil Bashir
    I think you build the relationships by displaying your true self through interactive blog posts
    that allow your subscribers to become familiar with you. New stuff you've learned about internet marketing, things you've gone through during your day, money you've made, blah blah blah.

    Also you can further strengthen the ties by giving away free tools and things that make business more efficient and easier. These are just some small things, but there is more of course.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Robert (discrat) touched on something I want to go into here.

    The reality is that you don't really build the relationship with "the list." It's a useful shorthand, but the truth is, you are building individual relationships with every member of that list, and every relationship is a little bit different.

    Which is okay. Over time, the list members that really resonate with you and your voice and values will become your best customers and clients - and advocates. Others will feel a more casual relationship, consuming your content and accepting the odd offer now and again. And some will not resonate at all, and either leave the list by unsubscribing or simply stop opening your emails.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Trujillo
    ==> Building a relationship to your prospects separates you from the competition!

    ==> Building a solid relationship with your prospects shows you are their for your prospects!

    ==> Building a relationship is ALL about building trust and positioning yourself as a credible expert in your niche.

    In order to build trust, study your niche in and out, figure out how you can help them and provide solutions out of their best interests not yours! When you provide solutions and put yourself in their shoes you create TRUST.

    Building trust is all about genuinely being their for your prospects through your actions. Think of all the real life relationships you have had with your friends. Your best were different from your others friends because of TRUST.

    Now think of how you can build trust within your niche, and position yourself as someone who actually cares.

    That's how you build trust.
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