No matter where I speak, one of the most frequently asked questions I receive is, “What tactics work best for building my email subscriber database?” In fact, in ExactTarget’s 2009 Email List Growth Study, email list growth is ranked #3 by marketers in their list of top priorities for improving email marketing performance in 2009.
Considering the fact that email list attrition averages 25% per year, BtoB marketers need to stay focused on constantly replenishing their email subscriber database. And to attract quality email subscribers, the one tactic you cannot afford to overlook is Paid Search.
Earlier this week, Chris Dawkins, founder and CEO of search engine optimization company Trace Media Marketing, had an excellent article in BtoB Online in which he discussed best practices for using PPC (Pay Per Click) or paid search in combination with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or natural search to attract visitors to your website or landing page.
One of the reasons I’m a big proponent of using paid search is because it allows you to fine-tune your SEO strategy. As Dawkins points out in his article, “testing various keywords and phrases with paid search can be beneficial to your SEO efforts. For example, you can figure out quickly which keywords convert to leads or sales. As your SEO campaign starts delivering traffic, you can back off a little from your paid campaign and focus more on SEO.”
Paid search also allows marketers to lead prospective email subscribers to the desired landing page where they can be invited to subscribe and identify their needs and interests – data that can be used to deliver email content that is relevant and timely.
Still think search is an option? Think again. Forrester Research, in their recently released “U.S. Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2009–2014,” says search marketing spending will total $31.5 billion by 2014 as more marketing budget shifts to interactive media.
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