Often there are good reasons to exclude subscribers from a campaign. For example, you may want to send an email update that’s only relevant to people who haven’t registered for a specific event. Or alternately, you may want to avoid sending your monthly newsletter to people who are already on your weekly mailing list. Well, it’s now possible to exclude lists and segments with a single click – here’s a quick look at what you’ll see when you next send a campaign.

As with much of the app, we’ve really aimed at making the exclusion of lists and segments as simple and self-explanatory as possible. When creating a new campaign in your eConnect Email account, you’ll now see an “Exclude list” or “Exclude segment” button when you hover over either a list or segment on the “Who will receive this campaign” screen. Clicking this button will ensure that subscribers in the list or segment are not only removed, but excluded, or “washed” (as it’s sometimes called) from other lists that have been included in the send.

What’s also worth mentioning is that excluded lists and segments are subtracted from the unique subscriber count in our updated Campaign Snapshot.

This has been an actively requested addition to the app, so we really hope that you find it to be helpful when sending targeted campaigns. Just to give you an insider tip, we’re going to be unveiling a few updates to how you manage your lists in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned by subscribing to our blog updates below, or at least checking back often. In the interim, if you have any questions or feedback, either let us know in the comments below, or get in touch directly – naturally, we’d love to hear from you.

So far this year we’ve rolled out a couple of big changes to help you organically build your email lists. Following the introduction of our subscribe form app for the iPad, the subscribe button and the subscribe page, we’ve turned our attention back to the original website subscription form builder.

After we spruced up the “Grow your audience” pages in “Lists & Subscribers,” it became quite evident that the trusty option to generate your own subscription form code within “Copy/paste a form to your site” was well due for an update. While the old website subscription form builder did the job, it was well, looking a bit tired and not at all consistent with the rest of the eConnect Email platform.

After a large amount of work, we’re happy to announce that we’ve overhauled the “Add a subscribe form to our site” section of your account, to make it easier to create a form, get the code and preview the results. It’s also a lot more intuitive and user-friendly.

Flexible forms with and real-time previews

While many of our clients have no trouble customizing our website subscription form code to their heart’s delight, we’ve gone the next step with our form builder. For one, it’s now easy to re-order the display of form fields – for example, if you want the “Email address” field to display before “Name”, you can now drag-and-drop it into place. As you make changes to the forms, the preview alongside it will update automatically.

An improved workflow

Once you’ve tailored your website subscription form to taste, you can simply copy the code, or move on to other popular tasks, like customizing your subscribe confirmation page, confirmation email or setting up an auto-responder. All it takes is a few minutes to build a form, and then customize what your subscribers see, before and after signing up for your lists.

While these changes are all fairly subtle, we hope that they make the process of creating subscription forms for your website a touch easier. Of course, if there’s anything we can improve to make it even easier to build your website subscription forms, please sound off by posting a comment below.

Hot on the heels of the new Subscribe Button, today we’re happy to announce another simple tool that makes it easy to grow your audience with eConnect Email. As of today, every list in your account now has its very own Subscribe Page, a simple, customizable page that lets anyone join your list – no coding required.

Unlike the Subscribe button, or our copy/paste forms, which you need to integrate into your site and touch code, the Subscribe Page is just a simple, webpage/URL that you can easily share with anyone. Check out a real-world example of it in action.

Customize everything

We’ve made it easy to tweak everything on this page so you can keep it consistent with your own brand. Change the background color, choose from a range of font styles, or add your own logo.

Just like the subscribe button, you can also choose which fields you’d like to show, in what order, and even set certain fields as required. You can also customize the confirmation message when a new person joins your list.

Looks great on mobile

Just like our Subscribe Buttons, we made sure every Subscribe Page looks great on any mobile device but still stays true to any customizations you’ve made.

Easily track signups

Just like we do for the Subscribe Button, we’ll keep track of how many subscribers have joined your list via the subscribe page so you can see at a glance how it’s been working for you.

Subscribe Pages are live and available in all accounts now. You can find them in the Grow your audience section in the sidebar for each of your lists. We can’t wait to see how you guys start using them.

A couple of hours ago we launched Subscribe Me, an app that turns your iPad into a beautiful subscription form. It’s perfect for the counter at your store, an event you might be hosting, or anywhere else where people might like to join your list when they’re not in front of their computer. It’s totally free and available now.

Customize everything

When we built Subscribe Me, the most important thing was that it could be completely customized to match your own look and feel. When it’s sitting at the counter in your store, it should look like it was built just for you.

We’ve included 10 great looking themes to make it easy to get started, but you can throw in your own logo and background image, change the copy to suit, the button label, the fonts, text sizes and plenty more. To make this easy, we’ve gone for a live preview approach so you can see exactly how your form will look as you make changes.

Once you’ve designed your form, you can easily secure it by setting a passcode, ready for people to start subscribing. This means anyone can join your list, but they can’t make any changes to the form or your settings. If you want to make any tweaks, just enter your passcode and you’re good to go.

Works offline

Let’s say you sell handmade goods each weekend at the local fair. Now you can take your Wifi only iPad with Subscribe Me installed, set it up on the tabletop and hundreds of people can sign up to your weekly newsletter, all without an Internet connection.

After a successful day of selling, Subscribe Me will automatically sync all your new subscribers straight into your eConnect Email account the moment it’s connected to the web. This all happens seamlessly behind the scenes without you lifting a finger.

Beautiful, flexible forms

As well as looking great, we made sure Subscribe Me was as easy to use as possible for your subscribers. We designed stunning custom form controls that looks awesome on a retina display. We also give you control over which fields to show, and what order they should be displayed.

You can also set certain fields as required, and we’ll handle error checking for your subscribers to let them know if they missed something.

Available now, for free

Subscribe Me launched in the App Store a few hours ago. It’s free to download, all you need is a eConnect Email account. When you first run the app you can choose which list you’d like to connect it to, but you can easily change this to any other list at a later date.

We’re really excited about getting our first dedicated app out there. We’ve got plans for more improvements down the line, so please give it a try and let us know what you think.

In nature, “nurturing” always implies a particular relationship between the nurturer and the nuturee: the party with more knowledge/experience/information/power shares those qualities with the party possessing less, with the goal of bringing about positive change. Appropriately, “lead nurturing” in the email marketing world refers to the educational relationship you create with subscribers, with the goal of persuading them to act. When you get it right, you’ll not only get more customers to say yes, you’ll also build a core of loyal clients who throw their business your way again and again.

Basics of Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing isn’t just sending emails once a week. It involves providing relevant, useful information to the subscriber about the offer you want him to accept. And it requires planning.

• Create a target audience persona. Your email list includes a variety of personality and customer types, but in order to create the most effective email campaign, you’ll need to choose one target persona to focus on. Create each email with that personality in mind. What motivates them? What information do they need? What questions do they want answered? Focus on building a relationship with your target audience in order to earn their loyalty.
• Determine a consistent email frequency and sequence. Every new lead on your list should receive the same emails in the same order and at the same frequency. Each new message should have a specific goal and call to action. Frequency should be no less than once a week; every five to six days works well in most cases.
• Create content. Each email should contain helpful, actionable, and educational content. Be creative. Try videos, FAQs, surveys, special reports and other formats to get the most important information about your company and your offer into the hands of your subscribers. Emails should build on each other, creating forward momentum and culminating with your ultimate call to action.
• Use offer-based opt-ins. Provide an incentive for opting in to your email list that is related to your ultimate offer. If you’re selling a weight loss e-book, for instance, your opt-in offer could be a free report detailing seven secrets to reducing the risk of Type II diabetes.
• Use autorepsonders. Autoresponders ensure that each new lead gets the same emails at the same frequency. It’s the smartest way to keep your email campaign ducks in a row.

Securing Action With Lead Nurturing

Once your campaign is up and running, keep a close eye on your analytics. Monitor which links are being clicked, how many subscribers convert, how many new leads you get, and where those leads are coming from. Tweak your campaign based on subscriber behavior.

Persuading your target audience to say yes begins with a strong lead nurturing campaign designed to educate and build relationships. Strong content, effective planning, and a solid approach to email creation and distribution will create a loyal audience that wants what you have to offer.

The number one tool you have at your disposal when it comes to building your email list is your subscription form. It needs to be where people will see it and can respond without having to hunt around your site. And if you really want to capture the most possible leads, you’ll need to think outside the box, placing multiple forms in key positions throughout your site where you can nab those potential subscribers when they’re most engaged with your content and ready to hear more.

Front and Center

If you want to grow your mailing list, you have to ask your website visitors to subscribe. Feature your subscription form above the fold and near your headline with a bold call to action. Include two or three bullet points to let visitors know how they’ll benefit from joining your email list. This location confronts readers with a subscription request at the moment their curiosity has already been aroused and they’re interested in what you have to say.

Subscription Landing Page

If you haven’t convinced the reader by now, he may need a little more persuasion than you can provide in a couple of bullet points. The subscription landing page is dedicated to detailing benefits and explaining what the subscriber will receive when he hands over his email address. You may also offer an incentive or freebie in exchange for signing up.

Top of the Sidebar

This is a classic location that you see just about everywhere. That’s because it works. People have become conditioned to look in this location for a subscription form, so use that to your advantage and give them what they expect. Don’t try to be different just for the sake of being different.

Resource Pages

Any resource page (About Me, Start Here, Category pages) a reader clicks to from your home page is a great location for a subscription form. Why? By clicking, the user has already expressed an interest in finding out more about you. You can take that interest a step further by asking for a subscription.

Subscription forms play an integral role in your email list-building strategy, so don’t just slap one up on your website and expect it to work for everyone. Cater to the differences in your audience by placing forms at the top of your homepage, on a targeted subscription landing page, at the top of the sidebar, on resource pages, and anywhere else visitors are already more engaged with your content.

Today’s consumers have moved beyond being impressed with social media marketing efforts. Nowadays, it’s not impressive; it’s expected. But that’s old news for most marketers. If you don’t have a solid social media strategy in place, you’re a step behind. For those of you that do, the next step is integrating the various aspects of your marketing approach so that they work together.

Far from being competitors in the marketplace, email marketing and social media should be viewed as allies in your broader marketing approach. To accomplish that goal, start by integrating some of these popular email apps:

Social Sharing

This is a broad category that includes sharing buttons for a variety of popular networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, and more. Create a copy of your email to share with your social media contacts with the click of a button.

Facebook Share/Like

Even if you don’t include a variety of social sharing buttons, you’ll want to at least make it possible for your subscribers to share your email content on their Facebook pages. Include a share/like button and recruit your loyal followers to help spread your message among their friends.

Continue…

Recently we talked about why co-registration is a bad idea when it comes to building your subscriber list. Along with purchased and rented lists, co-registration falls into the category of questionable or downright unethical list building tactics. This month, let’s take a look at some creative and legitimate ways you can beef up your subscriber numbers and make sure your email reaches as many inboxes as possible.

Obvious ideas such as asking for registration during a purchase and including a registration page on your website still rank among the most effective tactics for increasing your email list subscriber numbers. But beyond that, in order to reach the less reachable segments of your audience, try implementing one or more of these ideas:

Pair sign-up requests with fabulous online content.

A webinar, YouTube video, or embedded video demo on your site can all provide enough incentive for someone to sign up for your newsletter. Just be sure to follow-up with equally engaging and informative email content.

Experiment with off-line events.

If you own a brick-and-mortar store, put a fishbowl at the checkout counter where people can enter to win a drawing. Make sure it’s clear that they’ll be signing up for your email list by doing so, however.

Refer a friend.

Include a “forward to a friend” button in your emails and on your blog or website content pages. Make it easy for people who already love what you have to offer to share the love with their contact lists.

Implement social media sign-ups.

Place a sign-up option on your Facebook registration page and blog registration page, and consider adding social media sharing options within your email campaigns and blog content.

The bottom line is if you’re following the cardinal rules of list building (provide great content, be memorable, and get permission) you can let your creativity drive your list building efforts. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and try something new. You can use testing and analytics to determine which efforts are the most effective, and then keep tweaking your approach for maximum results.

At eConnect Email – a full service email marketing agency, we’re all about helping you get your email content in front of as many eyes as possible. We’ll help you build your subscriber list, manage your contacts, and optimize content in order to ensure the success of each email campaign you design.

Do you have some creative ideas on how to build your subscriber list?  If so, we’d love to hear them, please share them below.