Previously, we’ve seen just how important targeting is when it comes to email marketing. However, many online marketers and entrepreneurs aren’t too sure about how to actually implement it as part of their online marketing campaigns. This is understandable, as there are actually few of them which truly segment their subscribers in order to deliver them personalized content when they send out email advertisements and newsletters. Here are some tips that will make it easy for you:

Maintain Separate Lists On Your Website or Different Websites

One of the most common mistake is putting in email submission boxes and capturing the client’s permission to email them on the checkout pages of all your websites, then putting all of these email addresses onto one big list. If you run websites that sell products that are very similar and which all target the exact same type of buyer, then this might be OK. However, it is better to keep separate lists for separate sites. Also, keep the email list that you got from customers that just signed up for your newsletter on your site without buying anything separate from the newsletter that you have for your paying customers.

Keep Track of What Your Customers Buy

If you have an e-commerce website that directly sells products to your customers, then keep track of who buys what. This will allow you to specifically tailor your promotions to them. Buyers who have purchased a specific kind of item are more likely to buy that type of item again, so if you include promotions on your products as part of the emails that you send to your list, you should show them products that are relevant based on their past purchases. This is something that’s already done by the leading e-commerce sites out there and is something you should definitely do as well.

Use Demographic Information

The most basic piece of demographic information that you could collect would be the country where the subscriber lives in. If you include affiliate offers as part of your emails, then this will ensure that you only include offers that accept traffic from that subscribers country. It could also allow you to display prices in the subscribers local currency. As for other demographics such as age, gender, income level, etc. you could include this as part of an optional survey when signing up for your mailing list or making a purchase. To increase the number of visitors that fill it out, you could offer a small discount or promotion of some sort.

Ask What Made Your Visitors Interested in Your Site

This is something else that’s good to include as part of the sign up survey. Ask your visitors what they’re looking for on your site and what they hope to buy in the future. This would allow you to create sub groups in your email list and then include offers and promotions that are relevant to these subscribers, thus making them more likely to actually buy something.

Previously, we’ve seen quite a few ways to improve the overall conversion rates on your website. If you have an e-commerce site which sells something online, then conversions are obviously something that you want to have. Here are some more ways to increase your website‘s conversion rates in addition to what we’ve covered before:

• Optimize your website for mobile visitors

Depending on the geographical location of the visitors that you are targeting, as well as your niche, anywhere from 10% to 25% of website visitors will be using mobile devices such as smart phones. What does this mean to you? Quite simply, you need to make sure that your website will work well to someone who is using a mobile device to access it. All parts of your site should be functional on mobile browsers, especially the checkout process. If a visitor that is using a smart phone notices that your website is not loading as it should, then they will obviously go somewhere else, which is definitely not what you want when it comes to your sales.

• Find ways to capture visitors contact information

In most cases, this will be limited to just their e-mail address. It is also a good idea to give visitors a certain incentives in exchange for getting their e-mail. For example, you could have a contest where one of your subscribers will win a free product. Or if you offer intangible products, such as e-books or software, you could give a free trial of your software, or a free guide in exchange for the user signing up for your mailing list.

Some of you may think: how does this increase conversions? The user is not buying anything right now… Well, even though they are not making a purchase at the moment, they may very well return to buy something later on. By getting their e-mail address, you will obviously be able to send them a newsletter which contains information about your business, updates on your products and current promotions.

• Include videos on your site

Including videos on your website can increase conversions by giving your website a look of authority on your niche. These can include instructional videos, a presentation of what your business is, as well as customer testimonials. Whether the video should play automatically when your page is opened is still the topic of debate. Some believe that it simply annoys users to have to hear your video if they didn’t want to, while others say that it will focus the customers attention to the video. In any case, you can put up a video on your site and simply put in a call to action for the visitors to watch it if they want to.

If you follow the tips that were presented in this series, you should definitely see at least some improvements in your conversion rates. But of course, there are many other things that you can do, which are left only to your own creativity.

Starting a successful newsletter is tough, no matter what type of site it’s for. Most people delete the majority of newsletters that hit their inbox without ever even opening them. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t run an email marketing campaign, it just means you have to follow a few important guidelines while doing so.

First, and probably the most important, is don’t buy subscribers. We’ve all seen the ads that promise tens of thousands of subscribers for one low, low price, but it’s still not worth it. The price might be affordable, but you probably don’t want the subscribers they’re tying to sell you. You can’t be certain how they got a hold of those email addresses, so there’s always a chance they were obtained illegally, or at the very least, by underhanded means. If they were all obtained on the up and up, you still have no way of knowing whether or not they’re active email addresses that get checked by someone regularly. Even if they do get checked regularly, you still don’t want them. There’s no way to guarantee that each email address you bought belongs to someone who is likely to be interested in your newsletter. You might be buying subscribers that are likely to flag your newsletter as spam, and hurt the overall reputation of your newsletter, and by proxy, your site.

Instead of paying for subscribers, ask for them. Put an opt in page on your site, and put an opt in box on the sidebar. Also, if you have a store, give your customers the option to sign up for your newsletter during checkout. By asking your customers to sign up, you won’t get as many subscribers as you would by buying them, but you’ll get subscribers with a genuine interest in your site, and your niche.

Once you have the right subscribers, it’s important to start sending them the right things. Don’t just send out sales emails, try to send out entertaining and informative content as well. If you can entertain your subscribers, they’ll be more likely to open and read all of your emails, including your sales emails.

A successful newsletter just comes down to sending the right information to the right subscribers. If you have subscribers that are interested in what you have to say, and you’re sending them meaningful content, your newsletter will perform well.

If you already have a membership site that’s doing fairly well, and an equally successful list to go with it, what’s the next step? Where do you go from there to ensure that your list will keep growing? There are a few things you can do to keep growing your list, even if you’re already done a fair job of growing it.

If you haven’t done so already, integrate your membership site, and your list directly, so that when someone signs up for your site, they’ll be automatically subscribed to your list as well. Most membership site software makes it easy to integrate the two, but if you really get stuck, and you can’t get the two sign ups into one form, put an opt in for your list on your sign up page. It’s also a good idea to put a list opt in on your site’s sidebar. That way, even if someone isn’t a registered user yet, they can still sign up for your list.

You may want to consider using a forced opt in page as well. One of the most effective uses of a forced opt in page is the two step checkout. In a two step checkout, after the customer clicks the “buy” button on your sales letter, or product page, they’ll first be sent to an opt in page that asks for their email address and name. The page should indicate that it is step one of two, so they customer is clear on where they stand in the checkout process. Once they opt into your list, they’ll be redirected to the actual checkout form so they can complete their purchase. If you’re using this method, it’s important to make your opt in page feel like a part of the checkout process. Make sure the opt in page doesn’t look significantly different from the actual checkout form. Customers may become wary of your site if they feel like the forced opt in wasn’t actually part of the checkout process.

Whether your membership site is small, or large, these tips can help you to grow your list in a big way.There are always more ways to encourage your users to opt into your list. Try to incorporate the list into your site as heavily as possible, and you’ll see your list grow quickly.