How to Use Your Smartphone to Grow Your Email List

These days, it’s hard to find something you can’t do on a mobile device.

Want to watch your favorite TV show while running on the treadmill and monitoring your heart rate all at the same time? There’s an app for that.

How about something a little more basic like paying your bills, managing your calendar, checking your email, or finding directions? Yup, there are plenty of apps for all of those activities as well.

The fact is, devices like smartphones and tablets have changed the way we view the world and manage our day-to-day responsibilities. And while all this technology can sometimes overwhelm us, with the right tools, they can simplify our lives.

That is certainly the case when it comes to growing your list of email contacts

Yes, growing your list has gone mobile too. And if you’ve been having a hard time growing your list or keeping yourself organized when collecting email addresses “the old fashioned way,” there are new tools you may want to consider.

One of our favorite mobile list building tools is the Constant Contact Quickview app

In addition to letting you monitor your email campaign from your smartphone, the Quickview app makes it easy to add and organize your email contacts from the palm of your hand.

And the good news is you don’t need any special technical knowledge to use it.

Here’s a look at how simple the Quickview app is to use:

Putting the app into action

What if the same person signing up for your email list on a paper sign-up form was able to join your list by simply sharing their information with you or a member of your staff in a one-on-one interaction?

The conversation may sound something like this:

“Hey I love your store! How long have you been open?”

“We’ve been here for 3 years, thanks for coming in… Hey, if you’re interested in learning more, you should sign up for our email list. We send out a monthly email. Don’t worry; we won’t be flooding your inbox.”

“That sounds great, how do I sign up?”

“What’s your email address? I’ll plug it into my database now. Keep in mind that you’ll also be receiving a welcome email later today. Don’t worry, that’s just to provide you with some additional information and to welcome you to our list. After that, you’ll be getting our emails once a month, normally toward the end of the month.”

“Sounds great. Thanks.”

Depending on what type of business you own or the type of organization you manage, this conversation may feature different questions.

For example, an owner of a B2B may also want to collect information like a company name, job title, or the location of a business.

For a nonprofit organization, which has a number of different audiences it needs to speak to each month, you may want to add local business owners to one list, local media personnel to another, and have another list for your donors and volunteers.

Regardless of your industry, you should also collect information about specific interests, frequency, and other preferences that you think could help start your email marketing relationship on the right foot and keep them on your list longer as a result.

Now the sign-up experience for you looks something like this:

• You met a new customer, supporter, or prospect and collected their email address
• You learned a little bit about their interests, needs, and preferences
• You added them to a relevant email list and sent them a welcome email that same day

Or if you look at things from the perspective of your newest email contact:

• I discovered a great new business, organization, or potential business partner
• I’m impressed that they took the time to get my preferences
• I received a welcome email, before I even got home, with some great information about what to expect. I can’t wait for their first email newsletter.

(Your welcome email will be sent automatically. Not sure what your welcome email should include? Read this.)

This is the type of sign-up experience all businesses and organizations should strive for, and it’s an experience that has never been easier thanks to your trustee mobile device.

Other mobile list building tools

Quickview is just one of the mobile tools you can use to help grow your list. You may also want to consider these popular mobile apps and tools.

iCapture: The iCapture app works similar to the Quickview app, in that you plug new contacts into a mobile device and have them automatically added to your email list. Unlike Quickview, iCapture is only available for tablets.

So rather than having a paper sign-up form at an event registration table or on the counter at your store, iCapture lets you use your tablet to give attendees or customers the chance to join your list right away. Learn more about the iCapture app for iPad or iCapture for Android today.

Captricity: For a lot of businesses and organizations, the “old school” method of collecting business cards or using a paper sign-up form is still the best way to go. If you fall into that category, Captricity can save you time and effort when it comes to getting those contacts into your email marketing database.

Instead of entering names and email addresses into a spreadsheet or into your database one by one, Captricity lets you snap a photo of a business card or sign-up form and automatically add it to your list. Learn more about the Captricity app.

Scan-to-Join and Text-to-Join: Using mobile to grow your email list isn’t all about apps. 133.7 million people in the U.S. currently own a smartphone. Chances are, your customers, supporters, and prospects fall into that list.

With Text-to-Join, you can create a unique access code and keyword that people can use to be automatically added to your list. So rather than putting their name on a sheet of paper, they send a text message and are asked to join your list right from their own mobile device.

Scan-to-Join works the same way, but instead of sending a text message, all someone needs to do is scan a QR code on their smartphone and join your list that way.

Even if a paper sign-up form is still your most effective method, you could use a flyer with your text keyword or QR code and give people the option to choose a method that works best for them.

Learn how to set up Text-to-Join and Scan-to-Join today.

As you can see, there are a number of mobile tools you can use to grow your email list. Try one, try them all, or if you’re just not quite there yet, bookmark this post and come back to it when you think you are. It’s easy to get started and could help take your list building efforts to a whole new level.

Have questions about any of these mobile list building tools? Let us know in the comments below.

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