Using Print to Build Your Email List

You produce a great e-newsletter, linked to a website full of insight. Yet your list languishes. You hardly see any opt-outs, which validates the quality of your content, while at the same time your list doesn't grow like you know it should.

Print to the Rescue

Try using a print campaign to give your email list a needed boost. Why? Consider these points.

If your organization is like most others, you have a treasure trove of print addresses you can tap to build your subscriber list. Your print list most likely contains a subset of contacts that are not represented on your email list. Why not communicate with those contacts, making them aware of your newsletter and giving them a simple link to sign-up?

You can also reach out via print much more easily than via email. Most broadcast email solutions providers bar email list rental, as it is defined in the industry's eyes as spam. No such stigma is attached to print list rentals, so you can expand your universe of contacts by simply renting a targeted list as part of a print campaign.

What to Send

Postcards are a cost-effective printed solution. Consider using the message side to tickle the potential subscriber with a summary of your e-newsletter content, and the panel to the left of the reverse-side address area to entice the reader with an incentive to sign-up.

We created a sample campaign for fictional Mary's Coffee Shop. Mary pours her heart and soul into her e-newsletter, and uses a summary of one of her articles to create an effective postcard mailer. She offers two actual benefits to the coffee lover: A subscription to her quality content, and a $1 off coupon for any size cup of Sumatran joe.

See the sample creative below.