5 Tools to Build and Manage an Email List

Are you doing enough to build your email list? Well, you are probably aware of the endless amazing opportunities that email marketing offers for e-commerce stores. They do not only deliver a high ROI for marketing channels but also brings in huge sales. So to say, with evolving technology, email marketing remains a powerful and effective online marketing strategy.

To succeed in email marketing, having an email list is essential. Building one from scratch isn’t a difficult task, but relatively daunting. Thankfully, there are several list building tools that help grow the number of your email subscribers and have other benefits for your email marketing strategy.

When building the list, you need to encourage visitors to sign up. Keeping in mind that many people are tired of spammy promotional emails, you should show them the real value of getting into your email list. That said, offer something in exchange for their email addresses. Your offer could be in the form of one of the following.

• Content or product service upgrade
• Special discounts and coupon offers
• Free Ebook, report or whitepaper
• Newsletter with exclusive access
• Free product or service trial

With the offers above at stake, you will surely land some customers signing up to your email list. Note that these tools are only helpful when used properly. Besides, nearly all of these email growth tools run continually on their own once set up. Well, check out some of the great email list building and management tools below.

1. OptinMonster

This is a commonly used email list building tool that boasts of several features, making it great for all e-commerce stores. To begin, its ease of integration features a dedicated WordPress and Shopify app plugin. If you don’t use these online stores, worry not as integration with other types is a matter of pasting its code snippet.

Photo credits – bootstrappingecommerce.com

On a basic level, this tool helps builds email opt-in forms using a simple drag and drop visual editor. It analyses form conversations and determines which opt-in forms are dong best. What’s more is that you can create exit-intent popups. These are forms that appear on a website when a visitor is just about to leave.

To make your opt-ins more effective, this design tool has the following rules;

• Targeting rules – these help in displaying offers relevant to the content a customer is looking at.
• A/B testing – this testing optimizes offers and helps find out which offers work best.
• Triggering rules – as the name suggests, setting these rules displays opt-ins to customers at the right time.

OptinMonster can also help display special offers and discounts to customers who have already signed up to your list. This gives an alternative way to reconnect with them. Since it is a standalone email tool, OptinMonster easily integrates with all popular email marketing services. This enables you to use your service of choice without a doubt.

OptinMonster comes in various design options. This makes it easy to create forms that perfectly suit the design of your website. There are three main opt-in form types namely; lightbox, footer bar, and slide-in.

Photo credits – sendible.com

2. GetSiteControl

This all-in-one marketing tool goes far beyond the basic email list building. This tool brings up to 7 call-to-action widgets to a single dashboard allowing you to add subscription pop-ups, contact forms, social media buttons, promo bars, live chats and surveys to your e-commerce site.

Simply put, with this tool, you will have several tools to interact with under the same roof. Like our first tool, GetSiteControl can be easily installed into all e-commerce stores including those built with BigCommerce, Squarespace and Shopify. The installation and integration process takes a few minutes and doesn’t require any specialized knowledge.

Of all the tools provided by GetSiteControl, three are capable of collecting emails. They are contact forms, survey forms, and opt-ins. You can take advantage of any of the three or alternatively use them together to maximize your email list building strategy.

To optimize conversation, the forms come with advanced features, which include;

• Targeting settings – here, you get to choose which page the widget appears and who should see it. You can configure it based on language, IP, location, browser and UTM tags that define the audience. You can also use it to target new and returning visitors differently.
• Behaviour settings – these settings help you decide when and how often the form should appear. This is solely determined by user actions such as the time spent on the webpage, amount of scrolling and exit-intent triggers.
• A/B testing – helps discover what works and what doesn’t work by running up to 5 simultaneous split tests.

3. Optimonk

Ever heard of “onsite retargeting?” Well, if not yet, Optimonk uses this principle to build your email list. Popularly known as “exit-intent,” this tool waits until it detects that one of your online shoppers is almost leaving your store. Just then, before the shopper slips away, it displays a targeted offer, usually in the form of a coupon that keeps them around.

A common strategy is the Optimonk’s lucky wheel that gamifies discounts by allowing shoppers to spin a lucky wheel. The wheel determines the amount of discount the shopper gets by signing up. Besides this core functionality, other intriguing features make this tool great for email list building and management.

Photo credits – bootstrappingecommerce.com

Worth noting, is the dynamic text replacement feature that allows you to create customized offers depending on the type of product the shopper is shopping around for. For instance, you can program it to display unique texts for people shopping for shoes, accessories, and electronics.

4. MailChimp

This popular email list management tool works well with WordPress e-commerce sites. It provides several affordable yet professional email templates with interesting features and customizable fields. This makes it easy to create email campaigns that match your company’s brand.

The tool also has integrated social sharing buttons that make it easy to share to various social media platforms. As mentioned, the platform integrates with WordPress effortlessly and other website service providers. Better yet, it offers tracking and analytic features for a smart email campaign management.

5. ManyContacts

This free, simple, unique, and easy to use drop-down email collection tool runs across the top bar of your website. Its drop-down animation effect is attention grabbing and can be fully customized in terms of its color, text and form field. The tool also aids in data collection, by storing your email list subscribers location, social profiles, IP address and more.

Conclusion

It is not likely that your first-time website visitor will make an immediate purchase. However, collecting their emails and politely getting them to view your products can ascertain a purchase. The best way to show your prospects value is by building an email list and converting them into loyal and trusting customers.

With the above-mentioned email list building and management tools, your email marketing strategy will be cost efficient, relevant and full of people with a genuine interest in your company.