If you’re like most businesses, you could stand to drive a little extra revenue. To help you do that, we’re going to talk about the “how” and “why” of building your email list. Email marketing is still the best way to connect with customers vs. social media. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing on average sees a 4300 percent return on investment (ROI) for businesses in the USA. 

Fun fact: You are 6x more likely to get higher click-through rates through emails instead of tweets. Also, email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter. 

If those stats aren’t convincing enough, consider how often you check your email inbox. Probably several times a day? If you’re like me, then several times per hour. Email is a personal way to communicate with people. It’s extremely targeted in that once a user subscribes – you know for a fact they have some interest in what you have to offer. It’s now up to you to give them more of what they want to hear.

Now that we’ve stressed a strong email list is one of your most important assets, let’s dive into a few proven ways you can build your email list.

• The first and most obvious way to start collecting emails is to simply ask. Any chance you get, ask your customer for their email address. Some customers might blindly give you their email, however most will require more convincing.
• Next, describe what your customers will get out of subscribing to your emails. Your creativity can come into play here. The first offer is just a newsletter. Some people will simply want to hear what you have to say if you tell them they’re going to receive a weekly or monthly email with club happenings or important information.
• Another way to get people to sign up for your list is by inviting them to “join the club”. This can mean anything from a birthday or anniversary club that rewards them with a special offer to a subscribers only club that receives a coupon for free golf or lessons on a periodic basis. It’s meant to be used as a way to build their trust by offering something of real value.

Here are a few ways to actually show potential customers your signup form. 

• The first way is to drop a form onto your website. It’s probably not a bad idea to show this form on almost every page of your website. There are many tactics to showing your signup form – too many to list in this article. However, talk with your website provider to see how you can integrate a form – maybe via a subtle popup, slide-in, or call to action.
• Social media can be a great way to promote your email list. There’s often no need to deceive users or try to trick them into signing up – simply tell them the benefits of signing up and ask them to give their information. 
• Other non-digital ways to collect emails are simple signup sheets. If you’re at a trade show, tournament or other golf event, collecting email addresses in person can be as easy as putting out a signup sheet and encouraging people to write down their details.

Hopefully you are now convinced that building your list of emails is a great idea and you have a few ideas of what you need to do in order to get started.