How to Gain Email Subscribers: Key Strategies that Work

According to HubSpot ,80% of business professionals believe that email marketing increases sales and customer retention. Email enables businesses to contact customers directly for new products, discount offers, and after-sales reach out. All this is thanks to a strong email list.?

For you to get subscribers, you need to optimize the journey in the funnel to your email list. Make the customer experience as they approach your sign-up form so delightful that customers say, “Yeah. I want to hear from this company”. This article will cover strategies you can implement to bulk up your email list.?

Let`s get into it.

Making the Opt-In Process Obvious and Easy

To grow your email list, make the sign-up form easy to complete and prominently placed on your website.

It is okay to ask for the email address, although requesting for the name and email address is not too much if you are keen on personalizing your messages to your list. Either way, it's best to test what works for you.

Be direct with your request. Let your prospects know what you want them to do with your sign-up form. Using words such as “sign up” and “subscribe ” instead of “check this out” will prepare your prospects on what to expect once they act.

The sign-up above is a perfect example of simplicity and straight-to-the-point form. It only asks for the email address and it is very clear what action customers should take - “subscribe now”.

Asking for less data saves time and lowers your bounce rate.

Design

The structure of your sign-up form determines if subscribers will fill in their email addresses or not.

One important element in a sign-up form is the Call to Action(CTA). It directs prospects on what action to take on the sign-up page.? Make your CTA clear and conspicuous for your prospect to subscribe fast without hesitating. Your CTA should stand out from the rest of the page by choosing a contrasting color, visible font, and noticeable positioning to grab attention.

In addition, your sign-up form should not take customers to a separate page. Pulling your prospects away from the home page might raise distrust and increase the bounce rate. To avoid this, use a modal window, where prospects fill in the form without getting out of the home page. Also, a modal window blinds out all distractions, a perfect design to grab attention and get customers to sign up.

Ensuring all elements of your sign-up form are optimized for conversion can be daunting and costly. But there is hope since Maildroppas form builder allows you to create beautiful forms without any coding knowledge right from your browser.

Take a look at the below modal sign-up form which is designed to overlay on top of the site to drive customers to act. Notice how it blinds all other content but the form.

Using Creativity in Your Messaging to Increase Opt-Ins?

What value are you giving your customers in exchange for their email addresses? Your answer to this question will guide your messaging to gain subscribers. Find out what your target audience wants and be creative in wording that needs. Do not make your sign-up form bland by having a basic copy that reads, “Subscribe” or “Sign Up.” Some examples of offers you can make include:?

• A discount code for their next purchase online or in your store
• A promo code for a free product included with the purchase
• An e-book, workbook, app, or other resources
• An online workshop or training course
• An exclusive newsletter?

Like the sign-up page above, let potential subscribers know the benefit of being on your list. In addition, the prospect is promised no spamming once they subscribe. Laying bare all expectations before customers commit is an effective way to build trust and grow your email list fast.

Showcase social proof

Social proof goes the extra mile where CTA cannot. Numbers are powerful and influence customers' behavior.

Take the above sign-up page as an example. The number of subscribers on the form will prompt prospects to want to be part of the 100,000 peers. Customers have a need to belong and showcasing social proof is one strategy to ask them to be part of your community and satisfy this need. In a few easy clicks, you can create your sign-up form with Maildroppa that showcases your social proof.

Progress bar

In addition to keeping your form simple, add a progress bar. When using this approach, ask for an email and name on the initial sign-up, then gradually request more data as the customer progresses in the buyer's journey.?

The sign-up page below initiates a 2 step sign-up process utilizing progress bars. The 50% progress bar encourages customers to complete what they have already started.?

Use multiple sign-up forms

Now that you have optimized your sign-up form for conversion, you need to avail as many chances as possible for customers to sign up. Place multiple sign-up forms in strategic locations on your web page.?

Customers are drawn to different things. A group of customers will resonate with the slider form, others with the pop-up forms, and some will act on the sign-up form at the end of an article. You can place your sign-up forms on your homepage, the sidebar of a blog post, or even as a pop-up.

Give your users as many opportunities as possible to join your email list.

Up to this point, you have optimized your sign-up form and availed many opportunities for customers to sign up. But how can you get them to want to hear from you??

Content

The whole point of having an email list is building a solid relationship with your customers. Relationships are built through communication. In business, content is the pillar of enforcing trust with your customers. Once customers trust your brand, they will not hesitate to join your email list.

Focus on relevant content that solves the user's problem. How you structure your blog post matters too. To create a comprehensive and engaging blog post for your readers:

• Add meaningful links to your articles. Both outbound(out of your website ) and inbound (within your website) links increase your domain authority or trustworthiness in Google’s eyes.?
• Let the layout and formatting of your article keep the reader engaged.
• Add high-quality images to draw readers to learn more.
• Write attention-grabbing headlines

Most importantly, remember content is a long-term strategy to establish trust. ??

However great your content is, it is only good enough if your customers know about it. There are two ways to let your audience find your content:?

• Google/SEO
• Social media?

Google / SEO

Google is the search engine people trust to discover brands they resonate with. Therefore, it is crucial to aim for a higher ranking on Google pages for your audience to easily find you. How do you do this? Conduct keyword research related to your brand and create content around the low competitive keywords to gain a high ranking on Google. Remember to add inbound links for an extra boost in Google rankings.

SEO-driven content is a long-term game. The more content you produce, the better your ranking.

Social Media?

The PwC Global Consumer Insights Survey found that posting engaging brand content on social media can influence 14% of consumers to remain loyal. Creating entertaining posts consistently and interacting with your customers on social media is not a quick strategy to convert customers. When you are on social platforms, focus on building a brand and establishing trust with your audience.

In addition to connecting with your customers, you can use social media to get more email sign-ups. When you post, share your free incentives in return for your customer’s email addresses.? Also, you can add newsletter signup options on most social media sites through custom tabs, lead generation forms, or even adding a link in your About section.

Wrapping up

Building an email list is a long-term strategy that benefits your business and the customer. It`s not a “get-as-many-new subscribers-as-I-can-and-then-stop” approach.?

Start tackling a few strategies at a time to see what works best for you.

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