We’ve written before about how to engage your customers once you have email addresses. But what about actually getting those emails?

Today, we’re here to give you 6 quick tips on collecting more emails.

Take a loss. Who doesn’t love a freebie? Or at least getting a discount. As we’ve never said, a repeat customer is worth 7 times more than a potential one, and sending emails to your customers helps them to purchase repeatedly. So long story short, an email address is absolutely worth a one-time discount or freebie.

Cross-promote. Have you ever done a marketing campaign solely aimed at getting email subscribers? Try promoting the value of your emails via social media, advertising, and even direct mail campaigns. Just make sure you follow the first tip.

Ask for them. It might sound crazy, but you may not have a lot of email subscribers simply because you haven’t asked for them. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar or an online business, make asking for emails part of the process, whether it’s a simple “would you like to sign up for our newsletter?” before checking someone out, a pop-up box on your website, or a social media campaign asking people to sign up.

Encourage sharing. One step further than asking is asking someone else to do it for you. Give your current email subscribers a reason to send a subscription suggestion to a friend, like a discount for both of them.

Offer great things. Make your emails something your customers can’t live without. Exclusivity is a viable positioning strategy because customers enjoy feeling like they have access to something not available to the general public. Want to learn about the latest release before everyone else? Subscribe to our emails. Want to get better discounts than everyone else? Subscribe to our emails. Want to learn the tightly-guarded secrets to our industry? Subscribe to our emails. [Don’t forget about design!]

Offer subscription options. One of the biggest reasons people won’t sign up for your emails is fear of spam. Promise them this is impossible because you have great subscription options like “only sales” or “once a month.” Providing tailored subscription options keeps customers in control of how they interact with your brand and minimizes the angst associated with committing to another mailing list. Problem solved.