Building your email list should be a priority for your business.
Email is one of the most effective tools in your marketing arsenal. In fact, data by McKinsey shows that it’s 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined when it comes to winning over new clients.
So how can you encourage people to sign up for your email list?
Here are six great tools you can harness to supercharge your list growth.
Nondescript forms don’t tempt your website visitors to take the leap and sign up for your list. The majority of visitors will also abandon forms that are cluttered or have way too many fields to fill out.
To encourage sign-ups, focus on visual appeal - think fonts, colors, animations - and ease of use. Get rid of non-essential fields, even if it’s information you’d like for your marketing strategy. At this stage, it’s better to attract subscribers - you can collect insights about them later.
Someone just spent some time reading one of your blog posts, browsing your products, or using one of the interactive tools you offer? Excellent! That means they’re interested in what you do. This is a great time to try and convert them with a popup suggesting they sign up for your email list to stay up to date with news and offers.
Slide-ins work the same, but don’t take up the majority of the screen. Instead, they appear unobtrusively in a sidebar. If you don’t want to jar your website visitors too much, this is an appealing alternative.
This is exactly what exit-intent tools are for. As their name suggests, these tools recognize the exit intent of a visitor - their cursor approaching the “back” or “close” button in their browser, for example.
When this happens, they take action. For instance, they can show a “before you go” pop-up. Here, you can ask visitors whether they’re sure they want to leave, capture their attention with interactive elements, or offer a juicy incentive for a sign-up.
This is where split-testing (also known as A/B testing) tools come in.
These tools allow you to display alternative versions of different elements - such as sign-up forms, landing pages, and popups. You can try out different layouts, fonts, color palettes, and visual elements.
Website visitors will randomly see one or the other.
Then, you can compare the number of sign-ups each version resulted in and opt for whatever worked best.
All people have to do is enter their details, and - in the case of the quiz - answer a few questions. They get a shot at winning a prize. And you get their valuable contact information.
If your website runs on WordPress, there are a few fantastic plugins that simplify this entire process. By making it as time efficient as possible, they turn the giveaway/quiz strategy into one of the highest-ROI ways of winning over subscribers.
However, you need to highlight them properly.
Say you’ve just published an e-book or a free course. If you merely put that information on your regular website or your blog, visitors can easily overlook it.
By building a specific landing page for your book or course, you can shine a spotlight on it. A landing page is a distraction-free space for visitors to get information about the value of your freebie - and directly sign up for your list to get access.
To grow your list, though, it’s crucial that you invest your time and money in the right tools for your website. Sign-up forms, exit-intent pop-ups, split-testing tools, and plugins to help you promote your freebies are a huge help when it comes to growing your list.
Email is one of the most effective tools in your marketing arsenal. In fact, data by McKinsey shows that it’s 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined when it comes to winning over new clients.
So how can you encourage people to sign up for your email list?
Here are six great tools you can harness to supercharge your list growth.
1 - Great Sign-Up Forms
At the most basic level, you need to make your sign-up forms captivating and user-friendly.Nondescript forms don’t tempt your website visitors to take the leap and sign up for your list. The majority of visitors will also abandon forms that are cluttered or have way too many fields to fill out.
To encourage sign-ups, focus on visual appeal - think fonts, colors, animations - and ease of use. Get rid of non-essential fields, even if it’s information you’d like for your marketing strategy. At this stage, it’s better to attract subscribers - you can collect insights about them later.
2 - Subscription Popups and Slide-Ins
Next up, think about adding some well-timed subscription popups to your website. You can set these to show up at strategic points during a website visitor’s journey.Someone just spent some time reading one of your blog posts, browsing your products, or using one of the interactive tools you offer? Excellent! That means they’re interested in what you do. This is a great time to try and convert them with a popup suggesting they sign up for your email list to stay up to date with news and offers.
Slide-ins work the same, but don’t take up the majority of the screen. Instead, they appear unobtrusively in a sidebar. If you don’t want to jar your website visitors too much, this is an appealing alternative.
3 - Exit-Intent Tools
Someone is just about to leave your site. Yikes! Time for a last-ditch attempt at getting them to sign up for your list.This is exactly what exit-intent tools are for. As their name suggests, these tools recognize the exit intent of a visitor - their cursor approaching the “back” or “close” button in their browser, for example.
When this happens, they take action. For instance, they can show a “before you go” pop-up. Here, you can ask visitors whether they’re sure they want to leave, capture their attention with interactive elements, or offer a juicy incentive for a sign-up.
4 - Split-Testing Tools
How do you know what elements of your strategy to drive email sign-ups actually work? And how can you be sure that something else wouldn’t work better?This is where split-testing (also known as A/B testing) tools come in.
These tools allow you to display alternative versions of different elements - such as sign-up forms, landing pages, and popups. You can try out different layouts, fonts, color palettes, and visual elements.
Website visitors will randomly see one or the other.
Then, you can compare the number of sign-ups each version resulted in and opt for whatever worked best.
5 - Giveaway and Quiz Plugins
One of the most effective ways of getting people to sign up to your email list is to offer something in return. Giveaways and prize quizzes are prime examples of that.All people have to do is enter their details, and - in the case of the quiz - answer a few questions. They get a shot at winning a prize. And you get their valuable contact information.
If your website runs on WordPress, there are a few fantastic plugins that simplify this entire process. By making it as time efficient as possible, they turn the giveaway/quiz strategy into one of the highest-ROI ways of winning over subscribers.
6 - Landing Page Builders
Lastly, a great landing page builder can also drive up email sign-ups. As mentioned above, offering something in return for website visitors’ contact details works as a great incentive. Next to giveaways and quizzes, freebies like e-books, cheat sheets, and whitepapers are also fantastic options.However, you need to highlight them properly.
Say you’ve just published an e-book or a free course. If you merely put that information on your regular website or your blog, visitors can easily overlook it.
By building a specific landing page for your book or course, you can shine a spotlight on it. A landing page is a distraction-free space for visitors to get information about the value of your freebie - and directly sign up for your list to get access.
Conclusion
Building your email list is essential. Having an extensive list will help you harness email marketing to convert customers and grow your business.To grow your list, though, it’s crucial that you invest your time and money in the right tools for your website. Sign-up forms, exit-intent pop-ups, split-testing tools, and plugins to help you promote your freebies are a huge help when it comes to growing your list.
Featured illustrations: Freepik