Every email needs a recipient.

But just like social media, it's not necessarily about the number of people

you've reached with your message.

Building the right lists means finding people

who want to receive your content,

and it can mean the difference between your emails making an impact

or making it into the trash.

For many marketers, figuring out who to send your emails to

can be a real struggle.

If you're just starting out, you may not have many followers

or any email lists at all.

Reaching out through online channels like social media

and blogs can allow you to reach people interested in what you have to offer.

But don't forget offline strategies as well.

Meeting people in person allows you key moments

to share your vision for your company and products,

and events like conferences, workshops, and even local meetups

are a great way to network, create buzz,

and get some email addresses.

Now, laws prohibit businesses from blasting emails out to just anyone,

so gathering email addresses from websites

or other email systems without permission is not recommended.

If you want to build lists the right way,

you need to give users a reason to sign up.

Dropping a signup form on your website is good,

but it's merely step 1 for promoting a new email newsletter or other messaging.

Providing details on the content users will receive,

how often they'll get contacted, and access to previous newsletter issues

will help even more.

People want to receive information that benefits them,

so consider personalizing content as well.

It has great appeal because it's much more relevant to the user

than general marketing messages.

You may be tempted to send your messages to everyone you know,

but research has shown that segmenting your lists can have great success.

Segments allow you to better target audiences

by sorting users by demographics, interests,

their status as a customer, and some other variables.

This is especially helpful because not all of your messages

are going to be relevant to all of your list members,

and you don't want to run the risk of users unsubscribing

when you can easily omit them.

Grouping list members by location, for example,

can allow you to reach users in a part of the world

where you might be appearing at a regional event.

Therefore, it's important to gather as much information

about your users as you can when they sign up.

Of course, you don't want to be too intrusive

and risk scaring them off, so get what you can.

Simple demographics are helpful, but if there's a way to link email information

to the products or services the users are interested in,

it can greatly help your marketing efforts later on

when rolling out new items they might want to buy.

If your site has a social login through Facebook or Twitter,

this can give you even more insight.

But whatever tools you use, make an effort to continually grow your lists

and target them with segments, and your emails will be more relevant and effective.