A mailing list is one of the most important tools an internet marketer has. It offers the opportunity for ongoing contact with customers and prospective customers. But it’s about much more than just getting sales. A mailing list allows marketers to connect with their audience and earn their trust.

In order to get the best results from your mailing list, it’s important to form a bond with your subscribers. This will make them look forward to seeing your mailings in your inbox, increasing open and response rates. It will also make them more comfortable giving you their business. Here are ten ways that you can create a deeper bond with your subscribers.

#1: Ask What You Can Do for Them

If you want to know what your subscribers want, the best thing you can do is ask. Asking readers for suggestions for future mailings
lets them know that their needs are important to you. And when they respond, it gives you the information you need to create more relevant and targeted campaigns. It’s truly a win-win situation.

#2: Take Questions

Another way to get your subscribers more involved is to ask them to send in their questions. You can answer them in future mailings to benefit not only the sender, but all of your subscribers.

As a bonus, the questions that readers send in could give you ideas for blog posts or information products.

#3: Invite them to Connect through Social Media

Social media makes it possible for marketers to connect with their audiences in ways that once were not possible. So why not promote your social media pages through your newsletter? It will give subscribers a new way to receive information about your products and services and to interact with you.

#4: Continue the Discussion on Your Blog

One of the shortcomings of an email list is that it doesn’t offer much opportunity for discussion with your audience. How can you overcome this? By directing readers to your blog. Send them an excerpt or a brief synopsis of your latest post along with a link where they can read and comment. By replying to their comments, you can strengthen your bond even more.

#5: Link to Your YouTube Videos

YouTube videos are excellent marketing tools. You can use them to put a face to your marketing campaigns and make yourself more accessible. Sharing them with your subscribers gives them something to connect with beyond their inboxes.

#6: Incorporate Their Comments into Your Newsletter

When you pay attention to your audience, you are rewarded with increased loyalty. Using their comments in your newsletter lets them know that you are listening. If a subscriber emails you directly, it’s a good idea to get his permission before including his comments in one of your mailings.

Comments found on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are generally fair game, but letting the commenter know your intentions gives you an additional opportunity for interaction and conveys respect.

#7: Invite Them to a Subscribers-only Webinar

Exclusive events are great for creating a deeper bond with subscribers. One of the easiest and least expensive ways to hold such an event is to have a webinar. A webinar allows you to present information via audio and video and allows the opportunity for participants to ask questions and make comments. Having a subscribers-only webinar can also help you get new subscribers if you send the word out via social media or your blog.

#8: Offer Exclusive Discounts

Want to increase your sales and make your subscribers feel special at the same time? Offer them an exclusive discount on your
products or services.

You could even encourage interaction by taking a vote on which product they would like to receive an exclusive discount on.

Whenever you give your subscriber preferential treatment, you win in creating a stronger bond with them.

#9: Make Personalized Offers

Another way to increase sales while keeping your subscribers happy is to send them personalized offers. For instance, you could ask for their birthday or birth month and send them a special offer in honor of their special day.

Or you could send offers for discounts on new products to customers who have purchased complementary products in the past. Such offers let subscribers know how much you value them.

#10: Run a Survey

Some subscribers simply aren’t interested in interacting with marketers on a personal level, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t want
to know that they value their opinions.

A good way to engage these subscribers is to take a survey. This allows them to share their opinions, ideas and concerns anonymously if they so desire. You get valuable feedback that you might not have otherwise received, and they get the assurance that you want to keep them happy.

Bonding with your subscribers requires some time and effort, but it is well worth it. It will go a long way toward ensuring that they stay subscribed, and when it comes time to make a purchase they will have no qualms about doing so.

review

If you’re planning on starting a review website, it can be a daunting task to site and write all the reviews yourself. While you’ll likely be creating plenty of your own content, there are other great sources you can use to fill your product review website.

NOTE: If you do receive free products or you pay someone to help write reviews for your site, make sure you include the appropriate disclosures and that you’re legally compliant.

How to Get Free Products to Review

Buying all the products you plan to review can get expensive, so try these ways to get free products for your website.

Look at other sites that review products in your niche and look for disclaimers saying they received the product for free. When you see certain products being reviewed regularly, it’s quite likely that the company readily gives away product in exchange for review.

Contact companies directly and let them know that you would like to review their product. Include honest information about your website demographics and traffic. You can also show them a sample review, so they know how you approach your reviews.

Place a product review request form on your website. Once your traffic grows, you will find that companies will be contacting you for a review.

Remember, keep your reputation intact. Never promise a positive review in exchange for free product. Always include object information in your product reviews, whether it is good or bad.

Do it Yourself

Write product reviews. Make a list of products you plan to review, the key features you should be looking at and start writing.

Write product comparisons. Consumers are always looking for help on making an appropriate product decision and comparisons are one way to help them make the decision. Create categories of products (ex. smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.) and put together comparison charts and other useful information.

Take photos of products. While photos are rarely enough on their own, they can certainly add a wealth of information to a product review. Take and publish product photos readily.

Create screenshots of products used on your computer. A similar idea to photos, you can also take a picture of your computer screen and share. You can do this with software, websites you want to demonstrate and more.

Take a video of yourself demonstrating the product. If you don’t feel like writing, show your readers how the product works through video.

Take a video of other people talking about the product. If you’re not familiar with a product, but you know someone who is, ask them some questions and ask them to show the product in a video.

Free Reviews

Use the Product Reviews features of the Amazon Associates program. This allows you to display review details from Amazon on your website. NOTE: This doesn’t include actually text from the review, but shows ratings and a number of reviews, so users can click through to see them.

Just log into your Associates program and when you create an image or text only link, you’ll see the option for adding product review information.

According to Amazon, “When users hover over a preview-enhanced link, either a text link or image link, a small window appears containing valuable content and information about the product you’re advertising. Our test results show that visitors who see a Product Preview have high click-through and conversion rates — helping you earn more fees.”

When setting up your link, choose “Text Only” or “Image Only”:

The first piece of code is for your text or image:

Then there is another optional piece of code that allows you to add the Product Review component.

When you place both pieces of code on your website, the link looks something like this:

When your user hovers over the link, a box like this appears:

Check the affiliate program you’re working with to see if they have any reviews available for publishing. They might have a product profile sheet or customer submitted reviews, so ask.

Allow users to submit their ratings and reviews. One of the best ways to enrich your website content is to let users participate, so make it easy for them to share their opinion.

You can use the GD Star Rating WordPress plugin to automate this for you. Here’s a sample of how the plugin can look on your website. You can do a lot of customization with this plugin, so you can decide exactly how users can participate.

Embed YouTube videos into your website. Simply search YouTube for “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][product name] review” and find something that you find relevant to your product review page.

When you find a video you want to put on your site, look for the “Share” link on the video page. Then choose the “Embed” option below. It will give the code you need to put on your website to display the video. You can choose the size of the video screen and other options before you copy and paste the code.

Once you’ve published the review on your site, consider adding your own thoughts about the video to give your readers a fresh and unique perspective from your website.

Review Template

[Insert Product Name] Product Review: [Add Brief Opinion/Benefit]

[ADD PRODUCT PHOTO] Add introductory paragraph to explain what the product is, why your reviewing it, its main benefits, etc.

About [Internet Product Name]:

[Make a bulleted list of features and any benefits you’d like to highlight. The bullets below are a guideline and may not suit every product]

Description:
Format / Size / etc.:
Seller:
Price:
Main Features:

[Next Include paragraphs that address factors like durability, usefulness, quality of information, performance, user experience. Use a subheadline for each factor you discuss. Examples below:]

Entertainment Value [for example – could be another factor]

Insert details about entertainment value. Write down how you determined the entertainment value, if you took opinions of others, etc.

Efficiency [for example – could be another factor]

Insert details about efficiency. Insert details about efficiency. Talk about how you tested the product, where you gathered further information about efficiency from other users.

Who This Product is Suitable For

Insert details about who would most benefit from this product and even include an honest warning for whom it’s not suitable for. Ex. Advanced users; those who are more concerned about price than quality, etc.

Feature & Benefit Comparison

If you can, add a little comparison with another product, so your readers can make the best buying decision possible.

Overall Opinion

Summarize your opinion and add some further suggestions on how to use the product. Don’t forget to tell your readers where to buy the product again.

Note to Review: Add plenty of photos and if possible, a video, demonstrating the product. Show how the product is used for the best review possible.