The most expensive item in email marketing is the email list. From bought-in lists to website pages, your success rate often reflects the amount of time and money invested in the process. However, the group that gives the best return on investment is often overlooked.

One difficulty with building email lists is that the person you go after often does not know you and so you are, to an extent, asking them to take a risk. You have to bait your hook with an offer they cannot refuse and you might not really be able to afford.

Look to your current customers, the ones who seem happy with the prices you are charging and the way you do business, but are not tempted by the benefits of becoming subscribers. This group is the one most likely to respond positively to your campaign.

You will have some kind of interface with current customers. It might be at a counter, via telephone or perhaps just a website. At one time or another there will be a parcel and an invoice. These are opportunities to demonstrate the benefits of becoming a subscriber to your email lists.

Take a telephone sale. When such a customer’s details come up on the screen it could have a flag on it. If a member of staff tells your customer that the item had been offered at a reduced rate via email marketing just a few days before it might make them consider their options.

Imagine if they are then told: “If I could sign you up now I know I would be able to get this sale at the offer price for a valued customer like you.” You are telling them that you regard them as special, that you feel they should be offered the best price and that as a subscriber lots more bargains will come their way.

“You can cancel at any time. We include a method of unsubscribing on every email. You have nothing to lose.”

Your regular customers are an obvious target. As long as you do not upset them you have nothing to lose as well.