Listbuilding is Great, But I Want More from It

Let’s say that you’ve been listbuilding for a while, and you want to REALLY reap the benefits of having a list.  You have a large list, but you notice that you may have a small conversion rate for your newer products.  There are two things that you can do….One is technical and one is creative.

Promote Relevant Products on Your List

Granted, the people on your list have probably already bought products from you.  In the future, in order to keep the conversion rate high, you should promote relevant products.  A potentially good reason that you’re not getting repeat buyers is that your other products don’t appeal to them.

This is where doing your product and niche research really comes in handy.  You want to avoid a situation that’s, as they say, “apples and oranges,” but you also want to make sure that you’re promoting a good product.  Your endorsement won’t sweeten the deal on a product if there are thousands of negative reviews all over the place about it.

Make Your Sales Pitch Sparkle

Another possible problem you may be having is that your sales pitch may not be good enough.  Some marketers use a minimalistic approach, and others use a more wordy pitch.  Either one’s fine, but if you’re not connecting to your list, you’re not going to sell this new product.

Keep these things in mind:  They already know who you are, so there’s no sense in yammering about yourself.  You may not know who they are—that is—you may not be talking to them in the right way.  If you attracted them by talking like a pirate, you’re not going to keep their interest by talking like a ninja.  Your persona should be consistent across the boards—in your blog, on your Twitter, in your Web pages, and in your mailings.

Seeking Relevant Affiliate Campaigns through Your List

Asking your list for advice about future affiliate campaigns can be risky territory for you.  You can’t just outright ask them what you should do next, but you still want input for the future.  After all, you have to maintain your brand as someone who knows what’s going on out there, but in the interest of increasing your conversions, you have to know what they want.

Setting up polls in your list mailings is a great resolution to this problem.  Instead of approaching your list like “I don’t know what to do next,” you can present them with choices.  Three or four options should do fine.

Now, especially if you have hundreds or thousands of people in your list, this looks like a possibly unwieldy project.  Survey engines such as ASK will give you radio buttons to work with and will tally up the score when the survey’s done.  Now you can make an informed decision about where to go to next with your affiliate campaign.

Before I’m finished, there’s one more method you can use.  Provide incentives to sign up for the new product.  This method is a no-brainer.  If you give out stuff with value, people will gobble it up.