Contributed by – Laura Estes

In the wake of GDPR, many countries seek greater visibility into email marketing practices. Canada and Australia also have their own set of strict email marketing laws. While the United States abides by the CAN-SPAM law, it is much less strict. An opted-in list may not be required in the US, but it does lead to a higher engagement rate and hopefully more conversions.

So, no matter where you are, it is important to master the art of asking your list to “opt in” to marketing emails. Here are a few recommendations:

Call Your Lists
Most of my clients feel the pressure to call a sales-ready lead, let alone a cold lead that may not be so open to the idea of being added to your email list…

So, don’t call a cold lead and simply ask to add them to your marketing list; use some finesse. For example, call the lead and engage in some discovery questions about their IT needs. Should they seem unsettled or uneducated, suggest that they receive your bi-weekly educational emails (or even a monthly newsletter, etc) to warm them up not only to the value of a MSP, but to you. Then, when you call again in a few months, they will be more familiar with your business and the value you provide.

However, if this still doesn’t seem like the route you’re ready to go down, try some of these other approaches which may feel more comfortable for you.

Opt In Prospects at a Tradeshow
Picture this: You’re meeting and greeting prospects at a tradeshow. The conversation is going well, maybe you are even fixing a device on-the-spot while discussing the value of moving to the cloud. This is a great time to ask prospects to opt-in to your informative emails. So… you whip out your tablet that is already navigated to your landing page for capturing contact information. Your prospect willingly opts-in because you have shown them that you have valuable information to offer.

If you are working with a platform like Mindmatrix, this form fill information will automatically integrate with your email marketing, sending the prospect a welcome letter and subsequent email marketing.

Offer Opt-in Upon Event Registration
Say you are hosting a lunch and learn. You may invite people via email, phone calls or at a tradeshow event. No matter how you send out the invite, be sure to offer a check box to receive future IT-related news upon registration submission.

This is an ideal way to receive email opt-ins no matter to which spam laws you are compliant.

Remember, an opted-in list is important for everything from protecting your email sender-score to protecting your business, to converting more prospects. So, the more opt-ins, the better.

Gathering opt-ins during the registration from an educational event is ideal because these contacts are already interested in education. If you offer to send MORE education right to their inbox, they are likely to be inclined ‒ you just have to ask!

Add a “Sign me Up” Call-To-Action to Your Website
You want to catch a lead at the right place at the right time. If a contact is perusing your website services or even your contact page, this means they probably have questions about what an MSP does and the value you offer. These are great locations to include a call-to-action for the visitor to receive educational IT news or your monthly newsletter to help fill the gaps and answer their questions.

Asking for email opt-ins might feel awkward, but hopefully, these tactics help ease the tension when it comes time to pop the question!

 Laura Estes is a Marketing and Sales Enablement Consultant at Mindmatrix, which draws her strong background in content creation, social media, digital marketing and communication skills.