Report by Ascend2 & Allegra
Whether you have an email list or are thinking of starting one, do you think growing your list is important for 2015? Want to know what other small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are thinking?
Here’s a survey I got in my email today from Ascend 2 and Allegra Network (I’m on Ascend2’s email list!). Let’s see if your thinking aligns with your colleagues around the world. You can get the survey here... Email-List-Growth-SMBs-Report-Allegra_3.4FINAL.
A few of my comments and observations:
First off, good to see that SMBs considered increasing the size of the list less important than lead generation and increasing conversion rates. Here’s the thing, a smaller list of people who actually want your advice, tips, and info is better than a big list just half interested in what you offer.
That doesn’t mean that list growth isn’t on their minds. 65% of SMB’s consider list growth “very important.” I just want to be sure you remember that the gold is in lists of people who care about what you can do for them.
And bully for me as a web content writer and strategist. “Content relevance/value” and effective strategy ended up the most challenging obstacles to success. Modern business people know intuitively that content quality, relevance, and value builds their authority and motivates their audience.
Then there is a list growth tactic that SMB’s consider effective, and one that I should implement but haven’t yet. It’s offering a relevant piece of content for downloading to entice subscriptions. In other words, a report, white paper, or short ebook of interest to my marketplace that answers a question on their mind or makes their job easier.
For me, that might be an SEO checklist or Web page best practices report. For an insurance agency a home inventory, an attorney a primer on wills. I guess it’s the old saw, it’s the shoe store owner’s kids who have the worst shoes.
The survey also confirms content download and website access, say to your blog, as the easiest ways to get email growth. Social media and paid search were thought by respondents to be more difficult. I like to say that your website is the hub of your content marketing. It’s really the goal of your content marketing lead generation…get visitors to your site so you can move them to action.
There’s more in the survey to check out. Here it is again and comment below on what you think about the growth of your email list Email-List-Growth-SMBs-Report-Allegra_3.4FINAL.
Until next time,
Nick
Nick Burns is an SEO web writer specializing in persuasive copywriting and content marketing. He provides clients a winning content strategy plus the special web writing to make it work. You can contact Nick here.
