How to build an email list before you launch your online store

Even before you launch your online store, you can still get buyers. These buyers may not give you the sales right away but they come in the form of an email list, which is also valuable. How it works is that you bring in visitors to a landing page, they scan through the content and if they are interested, they will provide their email address through the form. The email address is captured into your list and you can send out newsletters to them.

Preparing your landing page

An important part of building an email list is the landing page. This is where you will direct all traffic and convince visitors to exchange their email. You can use EasyStore’s themes and content editor to design your landing page. This can be done even  if you don’t have any products yet.

Important elements of the landing page:

1. Provide something in return that your audience will value.
2. • This can be a discount code for when you officially launch or to be put in an exclusive list where they get first access to promotions or new products.
3. Include information about your business and what will you offer in your upcoming online store
4. Mention the date of when your store will open. If possible, you can use a countdown timer.
5. Must have a place where they can submit their email. I suggest embedding Mailchimp opt-in form to your landing page to collect the emails. 

Getting traffic

Since you don’t have your store completely set up yet and products aren’t ready, you don't want to go for paid traffic. Here are some ways to generate free traffic.

1. Create social media profiles for your business
2. • Make sure to include a link to your landing page on the about section or bio
   • Get followers for your business (Read: 21 ways to get more Instagram followers)
3. Join FB groups related to your product industry and engage in conversations
4. • Try not to be a spammer
5. Answer questions in forums related to your product
6. Get your friends and family to tell their friends
7. Outreach to influencers in the industry. Some of them might help for free.

Conclusion

You may be wondering why you need to put in effort to promote your empty online store. The reason is that this creates anticipation. This is the same reason that people line up to be the first people to get the new iPhone. Another reason is that it takes time to get your online store ready for launch. You can take advantage of this time and build a list of potential customers even before your official launch. The next thing to do is launch your online store and tell them about it.