Scale your existing email program success by accelerating the growth of your master opt-in email database. Start by auditing every customer/prospect touch point. Are you taking advantage of every contact opportunity?

Acquiring an email address is also mission-critical to beginning a dialog for a future sale. In 2006, make email list building a high priority for your department and entire organization. If you’re not aggressively trying to capture a significant percentage of your addressable market, then rest assured your competitors are, or soon will. The average consumer will only subscribe to eight to 10 companies. It’s a land grab more than ever for email addresses-- no different than 10 years ago when businesses were vying for phone numbers. Today’s market leaders are growing their email lists at least 20 to 30 percent year-over-year by aggressively leveraging web traffic with quick and easy sign-up forms that require only an email address.

You too can accelerate the growth of your email contact database by simply positioning sign-up forms on high-traffic pages of your website and landing pages (especially to capture search traffic). Also include opt-in messaging deeper in the site on the pages where readers are researching your products and services. This reduces the 80 percent or more of unique web visitors that will abandon your website never to return and fuels your lead generation efforts.

Want to spike your email subscriptions? Upgrade your sign-up form by including the following five best practices:

• Only ask for an email address-- people are much more receptive to a quick sign-up form that only asks for an email address. Note: you can easily obtain additional information -- first and last name, zip code, product or service interests, et cetera -- after you earn your prospect or customers confidence via future follow-up emails or offline touch points.
• Include a link to your privacy policy-- most won't read it, but it assures the person signing up that you respect their privacy.
• Include a link to view a sample email from your company. People want to see that you send emails that are both professional and valuable to them.
• Add bullet points that address the question, "What's in it for me?" People need to understand why you should be one of the few companies that has access to their inbox.
• Include the call-to-action in the direct response button (i.e., Subscribe). People want to know what happens when they click on the button.

Implement these best practices and you'll see your sign-up rates improve considerably.