It’s no secret – I’m a big fan of using Mailchimp for email marketing. Whether it is building a new list, upgrading an existing one, or sending out content to the list, Mailchimp has the right features at the right price for most small businesses.
Why Should I Build An Email List?
The statistics vary from study to study, but there is no question that email marketing is currently one of the most effective marketing methods available. Email marketing falls into a category called “permission marketing”. Basically, the people on the list have given you permission to market to them. Not only that, but unlike paying for an advertisement, you have an audience that (if you were honest when putting your list together) is interested in what you are marketing to them.
Inexpensive and effective? Yep! I’m guessing the combination of those two features has you sold on the idea.
How Much Will It Cost Me?
Here is one of the reasons that I am such a fan of Mailchimp. If you are just starting out, your list is probably not very large. Fortunately, with Mailchimp you can get started for free! Their free plan will allow you to have up to 2,000 subscribers and to send out up to 12,000 emails per month.
The pricing for more subscribers or emails per month than that are very reasonable. And let’s be real here – when you have a list of more than 2,000 subscribers, you’ll be happy to pay a reasonable fee – based on the value you will get in return from a list of that size.
What Do I Need To Know?
Even if you’ve never used Mailchimp, everything can be figured out with a combination of “playing around” and using their documentation (or Googling to find tutorials). If you have somebody working on your website, that person should be familiar with incorporating sign-up forms into your website.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line is that your small business needs an email marketing list. It really doesn’t matter if you use Mailchimp or one of the many other comparable services that are out there, the key is starting today (if you haven’t already).
If you have a brick-and-mortar location, don’t forget to take advantage of opportunities to build your list by signing up customers in person!