By Mason Duchatschek
Social Media Marketing Consultant – St. Louis, MO
I was just informed by a business owner that he had 1500 subscribers on his email list. His goal was to grow that list to 15,000 subscribers in a matter of months with a limited budget. Who wouldn’t want to grow their email subscriber list, fast, without spending much?
One of the main goals of social media marketing, video marketing, Twitter marketing, Facebook marketing and mobile marketing is to convert followers into email subscribers and then into clients. However, just like most people date for a while before they get engaged or married, I think business owners should court their online relationships before asking for the kind of commitment that requires a prospect to give up their name and email address.
It's a lot easier to persuade individuals to follow you on Twitter, subscribe to your YouTube channel or like your Facebook page by comparison. Why? Because it doesn’t take much time and they don’t have to give away their email address.
I’m not saying you couldn’t grow an email subscribe list without using the other online marketing and social media tools, but it is easier said than done. The odds are certainly against you that you could do it quickly and/or inexpensively.
I’m an advocate for investing your time in online activities that maximize your likelihood of success. Strategically speaking, if you want an email marketing list, start building tribes of followers on major social media accounts first. Once you have provided valuable ideas, demonstrated your expertise and earned the trust of your tribe over a reasonable period of time, then it is OK to invite them to your email list.
If you’re good at what you do and you serve other people, then they will join your email list when they are ready. If you push your luck before you should, then you are likely to blow relationships you could have otherwise built.
Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55OKdH2r3_Y
