The Internet is changing (rapidly) — for instance, new privacy regulations are coming into operation practically every day (e.g. Apple’s iOS 14.5 , Google’s Privacy Sandbox, etc.). And, because of that, running targeted or retargeted ad campaigns (e.g. Facebook, Google, and more) to reach customers is now and will become increasingly more restrictive.

Advertising platforms like Facebook and Google, for instance, have historically relied on what are known as third-party cookies to accurately deliver targeted/retargeted ads to designated audiences. Now that’s all changing—third-party cookies are getting the boot 🥾

Backstory:  when you installed your Facebook Pixel and/or Google’s Global Site Tag on your website, for instance—in so doing, you permitted Facebook and Google to plant “cookies” (third-party cookies, technically) on the web browsers of your site’s visitors. Those cookies were/are used to track the actions and behaviors of the folks surfing your site and could/can then be made into target audiences for your ad campaigns. Impressive, right?! 

In effect, however, every Pixeled-and-Tagged website here, there, or anywhere has become somewhat of a spy network for these platforms, observing Internet-users’ patterns, interests, and so forth. (Sort of like how, in The Dark Knight movie, Batman turned everybody’s cell phones into a sonar system to track down the Joker 🤡) It’s all big data!

As privacy restrictions intensify—and, as a result of that, as ad-targeting becomes less and less effective—it’ll be all the more critical to build your email list! (What’s more, it’ll be equally as important to develop useful/valuable email content to send out.)

Email marketing is (way) underrated! Many marketers believe it's purely a direct sales channel—but it's more than that. In 2022, consider distributing a once-a-week email in which you share ALL your content (i.e., blogs, videos, social posts, and so forth).

Here are FOUR ideas to grow your email list in 2022:

1. Postcard QR-codes:  On every mailer you send out, consider adding an email opt-in call-to-action (CTA) adjacent to a scannable QR-code. Link the code to an entry page on your website whereby visitors can subscribe to your email list.

2. Website Pop-Ups & Banners:  Optimize your website with pop-up boxes, banners, and/or promo-bars to offer visitors a free subscription to your weekly email.

   Heads-up:  improper use of pop-ups, for instance, can damage your site's SEO. (I’ve added details in my blog — just tap my LINK-IN-BIO.)

   For example, Google penalizes websites in which pop-ups cover a page’s main content immediately after the page loads. So be sure to program your pop-ups to appear, for instance, on a delay, on the second page viewed, or when a users demonstrates exit-intent.

   In addition, Google notes that fullscreen pop-ups that block a desired page’s content and/or that require the viewer to dismiss prior to accessing the page’s content can also damage your site’s SEO. The solution for this is the same as before: program your pop-ups to only show on, for instance, the second page viewed or upon exit-intent.

   From a search-engine POV, Google’s only looking at the page that’d be listed in the search results—not other pages on the same website to which visitors may navigate next. Those, for all intents and purposes, are fair game for pop-ups.

3. Social Media Link-in-Bio: The use of a "LINK-IN-BIO" tool, such as Liinks.co, Linktree, or LinkFolio, is popular (and useful) on social sites like Instagram. Insert important CTAs to drive visitors to your various links—for instance, a podcast, a blog, or, you guessed it—your email subscriber form!

4. Facebook Advertising: In your FB Ads Manager, run either link-click (redirects to a URL) or lead-form campaigns to capture emails and grow your list. Target your market area, retarget your website traffic, and/or retarget your Facebook-Page and Instagram followers.

Bottom line: the Internet, in many ways, is changing. As privacy ramps up, make email marketing in 2022 a top business priority!