After finding the right e-mail marketing vendor, the next step is to focus on building your contact list, but don’t forget to include opt-in and opt-out options.

Ryan Moss
Research Analyst

So you did all of your homework and decided on the vendor that best suits your needs. Now it is time to build your contact list, otherwise known as the people who will be receiving your e-mail campaigns. There are many places to start including your own personal contacts, however, it is important to make sure you have opt-in and/or opt-out features. Opt-out features are a requirement so you are CAN-SPAM compliant, but opt-in features are also a great way to ensure that the only people receiving your emails are those who really are interested.

There are tons of ways to make contacts that can be added to your list. This includes meeting people at networking meetings, trade shows, seminars, retail locations and other events. You can also encourage people to sign up for your e-mail marketing campaigns through the use of direct mail/postcards, phone calls or having a sign-up box on your website.

Building a list is easy, but it takes hard work to build a great list that only targets people who want to be marketed to. If you build your list properly you should be able to reap the tremendous benefits of email marketing.