5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Email List

Tina Smith: 0:00

What a lot of the stats are showing from the email marketing firms are. For every dollar that you spend in email marketing in a retail setting, it gets you back forty five dollars in revenue. Welcome to the natural products marketer podcast.

Amanda Ballard: 0:19

I’m Tina and I’m Amanda and we’re here to make marketing easier for natural products businesses, so you can reach more people and change more lives.

Tina Smith: 0:29

Welcome to the natural products marketer podcast, and today we are going to talk about a subject that’s near and dear to our hearts Email marketing, and one of the reasons that we’re talking about it. If anyone listened to the seven steps for dominating your local market, you’ll know that hardly anyone who’s visiting your website is ready to buy. That number is under 10%. So for 90% of people or more that are visiting your website, they’re not ready to buy at any particular time. So what do you do to stay top of mind, to be there when they’re ready? We think email marketing is a great way to do it, but I was noticing on HubSpot’s latest twenty twenty three email statistics report that only 64% of small businesses are using email marketing. Can you believe that? No, it needs to be a hundred percent Right, I was shocked by that number. But how can we also encourage our small businesses that are listening to this podcast to get in this game, because it is one of the most effective marketing tactics that you can use to grow your business.

Amanda Ballard: 1:40

Right, and today we want to spend some time highlighting five easy ways that you can grow your email list, because the more contacts that you have in that list, the more opportunities you have to capture their attention.

Tina Smith: 1:55

Hundred percent. You were noticing some of the other statistics in this report that we got from HubSpot about email statistics that we’ll get into later. But there’s a lot of good information that we’ve looked up in some of the reports. But first you’ve got to have an email list in the first place. So let’s talk, let’s jump right into how you do that.

Amanda Ballard: 2:17

Yeah so there’s there’s multiple ways that you can build your email list and if you have a retail location, one of the easiest ways that you can do that is gathering emails through your point of sale system, if you have. You know, if you’re direct to consumer, surely you’re capturing your emails when they make a purchase on your e-commerce site. But being able to offer easy ways for people to sign up in your brick and mortar location is one of the best ways that you can build that list at a very quick rate. But I think there’s a few incentives that I’d like to talk about to how to make that offer more inviting. Yeah, let’s jump in. Yeah, so one of the first things that I love is offering a discount. I think you wonder if you can find the link to your email list or what it is they’re adding to the list for each of these things. Everyone loves discounted products, especially if they’re already in your store. They’re more than likely going to make a purchase anyway, so why not give them an additional incentives so that you can reach out to them whenever, wherever? So one of the best things that you could do is to offer just a quick discount or a free product, something inexpensive because, at the end of the day, an email is incredibly valuable to you as a business owner and most people aren’t going to want to give it away for nothing. So, tina, what are we seeing kind of as the going rate of what an email is worth to a business?

Tina Smith: 3:47

So to a business like, what is it worth to you to have an email that’s going to get into defining what this lifetime customer value is for you? But what a lot of the stats are showing from the email marketing firms are for every dollar that you spend in email marketing in a retail setting, it gets you back $45 in revenue. And there are ways to increase that ROI which we can talk about later.

Amanda Ballard: 4:14

But if you think about it, what a huge ROI on something that doesn’t take a whole lot of effort, right, and that’s something that I think is so overlooked in a lot of my conversations with retailers, as they talk about oh, we need to do more on social media and yeah, you might need to, but if you have a $45 ROI for every dollar like that’s insane you’re not getting that anywhere else. So that’s why we can’t stress enough how important email marketing is.

Tina Smith: 4:44

Yeah, unignorable, easy, low hanging fruit to get started in this too. Plus, if you think about the best, emails feel very personal, very authentic, and it’s like hey, do you would you like to save a couple of dollars here? Or, hey, I have this product in my shop, it’s new, do you want to try it? Like you can talk an email, just like you’re talking to the person, because it is a one-to-one communication, even if it’s automated. Yeah, yeah.

Amanda Ballard: 5:13

So another great way and this kind of goes hand in hand with discounts to get people to sign up for your email list would be a loyalty program. I know tons of retailers have loyalty programs. You know they might already be built in with their point of sale. You can just activate that, get all of the information right at the register. Whatever sort of loyalty program you do, make sure that you are collecting their email. You know it might be that you have. You know, spend $10, you get a dollar. However your system works, it doesn’t matter At the end of the day you capture that email If it doesn’t automatically get imported into whatever email service that you do. Make sure that you’re uploading those contacts on a regular basis. I recommend at least once a month to do that, just so you’re not missing out on a lot of those new leads that are coming in and let’s just talk about loyalty program.

Tina Smith: 6:08

What incentives I mean? Now, have you seen work for someone to feel like, oh, I really am getting some value out of this loyalty program because it’s easy enough? It’s usually like, hey, do you want to become part of our loyalty program? It’s free. And at checkout people are saying yes because they think, hey, I’ll get value out of this. But what kind of value are you seeing retailers offer?

Amanda Ballard: 6:33

I mean, it really depends. I’ve seen anywhere from you know a paid membership of you know anywhere from 10 to 15 to even $100 for certain retailers. It all depends on kind of what their packages are. But if you show the value add of you know, here’s what you get for your $10 or here’s what you get for $100 if that’s what you want to do. But I think the value is it’s all based on, I think, what customer experience that person had when they came into your store. Because I’ve worked at the cash register before trying to pitch people on hey, just give us your email address, your you know, just basic information. You’ll get a one-time coupon that we send out every single year, but then you also get cash back in your account so you can use it on future purchases. Most of the time, if they had a good experience with you, even if they’re a first-time customer, they’ll give you their information. The only times where I feel like I ever received pushback was oh, I’m just visiting from out of town, and then you could sometimes even be like well, you know this also works on our e-commerce platform too. So you know you can sign up and we can. You know you can get those same rewards online as you can in store. So I think a lot of it is based off of their experience with you whether or not they’re willing to give that to you, because I mean, I just think about Some of the stores that I’ve given my email address to. You know different clothing stores that I shop out regularly. They very seldom have loyalty programs, but I give them my information because I had a good experience they’re. You know sales people did a really nice job taking care of me. I like their clothing. I want to stay in the know of what they have going on. So I think that the key to a loyalty program obviously make it. If it’s free, I mean, there’s really no resistance. But if you have a paid sort of loyalty program, make sure that the customer experience really sells it.

Tina Smith: 8:40

Yeah, and a couple of the things that I’ve seen really easy ways to do a loyalty program is some kind of points that lead up to hey dollars off your next purchase. So like, if you get so many points and you end up with $5 in your account the next time you’re in there, they take it off your next purchase. So if there’s a way to sort of build up some of that capital for people coming back over and over again, I mean you’re really working to get people back in your store and it’s an easy way to do it when you have these loyalty programs. So one of the easiest ways is just that cash back piece on some of your future purchases. But you can do things that scale all the way up to hey. You get a free wellness consult, and those are the ones that the loyalty programs are generally charging to be part of because you get a lot of benefit with it. So you can weigh that out as to what makes sense for your store and what aligns with your personality and your philosophy. And at the same time you can keep it super simple and there are programs that you can pull in place to help you put the loyalty program together and offer it at the point of sale.

Amanda Ballard: 9:53

Yeah, and I think one more thing before we move on is you can gamify it a little bit too. You know, I’m sure a lot of you probably have the Starbucks app on your phone, Even if you don’t go to Starbucks regularly. They almost incentivize you to have the app. But I’ll get emails. Hey, double rewards, double stars I think that’s what they use. Double stars, If you, you know, visit any of our locations on Tuesday between 2 and 6 pm. Those are a dead time for them. They’re trying to get people in the doors during their slow time of the day and they’re incentivizing extra points. You could totally do something like that. If you know. If Tuesdays are really slow day in your store, double wellness points on any purchase on Tuesdays, and maybe Tuesday becomes your busiest day of the week, depending on your store traffic. So I think you can have fun with it and, again, use email to figure out okay, how can we amplify the loyalty program even more?

Tina Smith: 10:56

Yeah, I love that. Or if you’ve got a new product that you’re trying to promote, I think Starbucks does that to you. Follow Starbucks, by the way, for good ideas around these incentives. They do like buy four of these things within this many days. They do gamify it and I like that as well. Yeah.

Amanda Ballard: 11:15

So the next thing to grow your email list and this is something that we always recommend that you have on your website is some sort of digital download. So this could be anything from an ebook on how to improve your sleep to a quiz of you know what type of magnesium is right for you. Whatever it is that kind of suits your business. We highly recommend having a digital download, kind of going back to what Tina was saying earlier about having something that’s, between you know, 15 to $30 worth of perceived value to the customer in order to get them to download that item and kind of going along those lines. I think the other thing that I’ve found to be helpful is it’s not even necessarily a digital download, but it’s something that they’re really interested in that your store offers. So a couple of things that I’ve done in the past is you know, I’ve found that there are some really niche departments within my store, the company that I’m currently with. They have a huge tropical fruit section, which we do talk about tropical fruit on our social channels and things of that nature, but there are like hardcore tropical fruit fans that want to know of all of the crazy things that we’re getting in each and every week. So we started an email campaign just for we call them fruit hunters and every single time we send out an update. It’s like you are the first to know about all the new fruits coming into the market this week and it’s more of just you. You have that exclusive firsthand experience. You know, oh, I need to plan my trips to the store in order to get that when it’s most fresh. And it’s been fun, because then you can connect and people share their stories and it’s a great way to kind of build community around these niche topics. The other thing you could do is like, let’s say, you have a pet department. You know, not everyone has pets, so it doesn’t necessarily make sense to do pet content to maybe the masses, but maybe more than like once a month, if that. But if you have an exclusive list of these are people that only want to hear about the latest and greatest supplements for dogs, then email them on a regular basis and that’s the beauty of having you know whether it’s a digital download or an exclusive kind of club for these people that are interested in super specific topics and you could, you know, incentivize that as well as like hey, when you sign up for this email list, you’re going to get a $5 off coupon for any of our pets supplements, whatever it is, to kind of incentivize them as well. I think those are great ways to give a value to your customer and get their email in return.

Tina Smith: 14:13

Yeah, two things that makes me think of. First is turning that and I know a lot of the independent retailers that we work with have new kinds of products coming in their door all the time because they’re getting things that are either local or they’re just getting products that you can’t find anywhere else, right? So that is turning that what might seem like a disadvantage to a consumer who’s expecting some consistency in the store all the time, into an advantage and it makes it exciting and an event to come in because you’ve got something new and different than they’ve seen before. So I love that idea of the fruit hunters and this could be anything local farmers growing different products or just products they’re not going to find anywhere else, because I know a lot of you are not carrying products that they can find in other places around you, and so it’s this what can seem like a disadvantage, and turning that into an advantage and using your email list to do that. So I love that idea. And then the second thing it makes me think about with these digital downloads. They don’t always have to be a download, so it could be anything like a quiz to, and when you were talking about magnesium, this is the one I always bring up because there are like 55,000 magnesiums and of course, I’m over exaggerating, but I’m always trying to remember like what magnesium and do I need for what thing that I’m trying to solve for, and almost everyone is deficient in magnesium. So which ones work, which ones have the best bio availability? I don’t know, so I’m constantly having to do research around it. If you had a quick quiz on your website that started asking questions that the magnesium solve for, and then you could say, hey, your best magnesium might be this one, and we have all of these products related to that particular type of magnesium. You can shop online or in our store, whatever that looks like, has a very personalized experience and, man, I would definitely give you my email address if you could point me in the right direction every time I’m thinking about taking magnesium again.

Amanda Ballard: 16:26

Yeah, yeah, and to kind of go off of that, and this is something that I have found to be so successful and the stats back it up. But typically when, whenever I have some sort of digital download or a quiz or whatever it is on the website, as soon as I get that email added to my list, we set up stuff on the back end that will sync with my email provider where they’re getting an automated email. That’s a welcome email to that list. There is a stat in the same article that we’ve been mentioning today that more than eight out of 10 people will open a welcome email, which is almost unheard of. A fantastic open rate for an email is like 50 percent, which most people really don’t have. Most people are probably in the 25 percent range and you can clean up your email list to maybe increase that. But to get an 80 plus percent open rate on welcome emails, that’s huge and you have a huge potential for because it’s a super warm lead. They just signed up for that download or that quiz. They get that email. You can set it up in automations to be sent immediately. Once the data syncs up, they get that email. It’s like, wow, that was fast, they already know here’s the test results from what magnesium I need links to purchase. They might make a purchase right then and there, because they feel so inspired to make a purchase at that time. But don’t neglect automation, and it’s one thing that you just don’t even have to think about. You set it and forget it.

Tina Smith: 18:08

Yes, and people love it. People love these options for taking quizzes or telling people more about themselves. We are always our own favorite subjects, so if they can learn more about themselves or tell people more about themselves, building relationship in that way, absolutely people will start to give you their email addresses.

Amanda Ballard: 18:30

Yeah, so the next thing to grow your email list would be events. I’ve seen countless health food stores around the country offering great events in their stores, and I think it’s often something that’s second nature to be like. Of course, we’re going to offer a lecture on digestive health, but are you capturing emails in the process? And I think, whether it’s just a quick RSVP on your website, one is going to help you know your headcounts and things of that nature, but also then you could send a follow up. Hey, we saw that you attended the lecture on gut health. Hey, here’s a follow up article written by the person that just gave that lecture. You know you can do some collabs in that regard, or you know these were the products that were mentioned. If you have any questions, give us a call, stop on by. But I think events are something super powerful and something that a lot of retailers aren’t utilizing enough to capture email leads.

Tina Smith: 19:36

And let’s just go back to the basics, which is creating an experience in the store. So are you having events in the first place? If you’re not, customers love events, so partner with the chiropractor or the acupuncturist or whoever, and have an event. People will come and then you can also put on your website like hey, do you want to know about local events? This HubSpot study is citing that 53% of consumers love emails about local events and they will send them to their friends. So this is a great way for you to both engage with people and also to bring in new people to your store as well. Yeah, yeah.

Amanda Ballard: 20:22

And I’ve been to a lot of these events and they really are Great. And they don’t have to be like grandiose things. It literally could be. You know, we’re having a meet and greet with the new pediatrician in the area that we’re partnering with and she’s going to be our main referral for, you know, all of your holistic pediatric needs Something as simple as having her, you know, come to your store and do a meet and greet. It’s great. You don’t have to do these like catered functions that are going to cost you an arm and a leg Sometimes. I think simple is better.

Tina Smith: 20:58

Oh yeah, and think about those dead times again. We were talking about dead times in the store before and incentivizing people to be in the store. When you have those lulls in business, this is a perfect opportunity. A meet and greet is an amazing opportunity for you to say, hey, come by and put it right in that dead spot. So you’ve got people coming in and look if you have convenience items, they’re going to grab them while they’re there. Absolutely, I do that every time I go into one of your stores.

Amanda Ballard: 21:26

Yeah, Well and that’s the other thing too is for events. You could send out emails about demos that you have going on in the store. You probably are having demos. I would hope that you’re probably doing demos at least every Saturday, because I feel like most health food stores, that’s their busiest day of the week. Send out an email. Hey, we have our favorite brand for collagen is going to be here doing collagen samples. Oh, by the way, it’s 40% off this month. Then it’s like come and taste it and you can save. But maybe and maybe it’s a flash sale. You could use it for flash sales for those demos.

Tina Smith: 22:07

Yeah, and I’ll just anecdote here Costco used to be one of my favorite places to go because they always had free samples right around lunchtime, so I would go and get please don’t judge me, this is not in my regular eating habits any longer, but I would go and get a dog and a drink for $1.99 and then do my samples, turn around the store and, of course, I bought something else from Costco while I was there. So it’s an incredible way to get people into your store samples and tastings and it just generates excitement and helps people feel like they’re part of a community of people like them.

Amanda Ballard: 22:50

Yeah, so the last tip for building your email list is refer a friend. So, tina, I know you’re a huge fan of referrals. Could you kind of explain this a little bit more?

Tina Smith: 23:04

Yeah, sure. So you know as well as I do that most of the people that are coming in your store are referral based. It’s a friend told a friend, or the local acupuncturist told them hey, you need this product. Go in, so looking at all of your different referral channels and then incenting people to refer a friend, and you can build your email list around giving incentives to your very loyal customers or your very loyal referral partners that then and since them to share, and when they do, both parties can end up getting an incentive. So if you think about some of your favorite referral programs, think about like 10 for you, 10 for me, which is usually like share this link, you get $10 off your next purchase. They get $10 off of their purchase when they purchase. So it’s something super simple but a way for people to start to refer your product. And those are warm leads because if someone they know and trust already is reminding them that, hey, this is a product or a place that I know and love and trust, then they’re more likely to know and love and trust. You build that relationship faster and then make a purchase. So and there are a million ways you can do this that’s one example. But this you know, you get five, they get five or 10 or whatever the number is is a super easy way to build that referral and to grab an email while you’re at it, yeah.

Amanda Ballard: 24:41

Awesome. So those are basically the five best and fastest ways to grow your email marketing list at a pretty rapid rate, and I think if you are a retailer, there’s really no excuse Like. These are so easy, it’s such low hanging fruit and there’s so many ways that you can have this implemented at your point of sale, on your website. Using a pop-up, you can have QR codes around your store, qr codes at every single event that you have. You know different things like that to get these email lists fast, and I think, at the end of the day, it’s one thing to grow your list, but you have to do something with it after, and I think that’s where the pain points really start to kick in is what to do with the email list that you have. So we’ll spend future episodes talking about how to actually create exciting and engaging emails that actually work and give you that ROI that $45 potential ROI for every dollar. We’ll definitely spend some significant time talking about that.

Tina Smith: 25:49

Yes, you heard it here first. Amanda is scolding all of you. There’s no excuse for not collecting emails, and really, one of the things that we want to drive home today is that statistic that jumped out at us, with 65% of small businesses using emails to communicate with their customers, seems so low and there’s just so much opportunity for growth. If you implemented simple email campaigns today, and if there’s one that we can say that you should implement that we mentioned earlier, amanda, it’s going to be a welcome email. There’s so many of you that are so good at welcoming people into your store. Remember that you want their digital experience to be the same thing that they’re going to get when they walk into the store. So give them a welcome, and it’s as easy as hey. Welcome, thanks. We’re so glad you’re here. Can’t wait to see you again in the store. Something super simple you can write it as if you’re talking to that one person, because it is a one-to-one communication, and just keep it easy, but do some engagement. Have them open that welcome and think about how you’re going to invite them to come back. Maybe it’s a discount, maybe it’s something else, but you want to start creating a relationship with that person. All right, that’s it for growing your email list. By the way, shoot us any questions at info at naturalproductsmarketercom. If you have questions about how to capture or grow your email list, we’d love to hear your questions. We’ll be happy to respond to them on this podcast, on our website or right back at you with emails, because we use them too.

Amanda Ballard: 27:36

Thanks so much for listening to the natural products marketer podcast. We hope you found this episode to be super helpful. Make sure you check out the show notes for any of those valuable resources that we mentioned on today’s episode.

Tina Smith: 27:47

And, before you go, we would love for you to give us a review. Follow, like and subscribe on Apple podcast, spotify, youtube or wherever you’re listening today, and make sure you join us for our next episode, where we give you more marketing tips so that you can reach more people and change more lives.