Think email is old-fashioned? Think again. Email is the highest-converting sales channel around. In fact, emails average a 122% ROI and still outperform all other digital sales channels. Even better? You can increase revenue up to 18x when you make the emails “relevant”. Clearly, it’s a tool you want to use and optimize. But what if your email list is a bit on the puny side? Build it, grow it, and care for it with the tips below that focus on strategies to help you get more email subscribers.
6 Ways Your Website Can Help You Get More Email Subscribers
Your company’s website is key to securing quality email subscribers. Does it do all it needs to, to help you get more email subscribers? Here are six elements you can use to grow your email subscriber list:
1. Lead Magnets
To get something you must give something. Why would I just hand you my email address unless there’s something in it for me? Look at it from a reader’s perspective. Say your reader wanted to know what to look for in a service level agreement from a Cloud provider, did a Google search, and found your blog post. He learned from it and now thinks rather highly of you. Capitalize on that.
Create a lead magnet where you offer a free download of one of your top-rated pieces — something related to what your reader has just read. Entice them. In a sentence, make them understand why reading this is essential.
Use different types of lead magnets on different pages. Consider:
- A video tutorial
- A free mini-course
- A toolkit
- An eBook
2. Welcome Mats
A welcome mat is a full-screen call-to-action that SumoMe says works “insanely well” and has a conversion rate of about 1.8%, although some do much better — one user reported achieving a 22% conversion rate. Similar to a lead magnet, your welcome mat should offer something in exchange for your visitors’ email addresses. It should be concise, drive home the benefit your reader will get, and convince them they need it now.
Be original with your welcome mat message — welcome mats can use humor, a discounted offer, or exclusive access to increase conversions. There are a couple of ways you can create a welcome mat:
- Free trial from SumoMe (monthly subscription fee after trial ends)
- Create one on your own (a $4.00 course)
3. “Don’t Go” Pages
You’ve probably seen “don’t go” pages — just as you’re about to abandon the site, an exit overlay takes over the page, offering you something in return for your email address. They’re designed to appear when a web visitor’s cursor hits the top pixel of the page, making it impossible to hit the back button, type in a different URL or close the tab until the popup is closed.
Rooster says these popup-like pieces are “freaking effective” and can increase conversion rates by between three and 18%. Conversion Fanatics puts the rate at 10%, but also notes that WP Beginners actually saw a conversion rate increase of 600%.
But it’s essential that you target your overlay message, or you risk having your web visitors see it as an intrusion. As a service provider, you should:
- Address the prospect’s pain point
- Briefly explain the benefits they get from you in exchange for an email address
4. Hello Bars
The Hello Bar is a tool similar to a welcome mat, but it doesn’t take up the entire browser window. Both free and paid versions of the tool let you create a thin graphic across the top of a web page where you include your call-to-action to help you get more email subscribers. DIYThemes added nearly 1,200 subscribers in just 30 days, and suggests three steps that will aid your success:
- Offer a tangible benefit
- Send traffic gleaned from the bar to a landing page
- Use active text and include a prominent call to action on the landing page
The free version of the Hello Bar limits the number of clicks per month, which means you could be leaving potential email addresses on the table. So take a look at some alternatives, including WP Notification Bar and CTA Skin.
5. Optimize Your Best-Performing Pages
Chances are only a small percentage of your web pages are responsible for the majority of your traffic. Optimize those and get more email subscribers. A HubSpot post that cites a 240% increase in conversion rates for a particular page suggests that you:
- Find out which pages or blog posts get the most traffic
- Discover what keywords your visitors used to get to those pages
- Create a resource based on those keywords
- Create a call-to-action on that page that incorporates those keywords
6. Giveaways or Viral Competitions
Create a giveaway contest to get more email subscribers. But be sure to plan it with care — you want quality subscribers, ones that could actually convert to buyers of your services. Follow these steps:
- Think of what your niche audience really wants — something that’s related to what you do
- Find something in scarce supply — a free consultation or attendance at a top conference
- Put a price tag on it to establish its value
Or conduct a viral competition. It’s similar to a giveaway in that you offer something of particular value. However, the person who enters it gets an additional entry for each email address he or she refers to you.
3 Other Ways to Get More Email Subscribers
While your website or blog is a great place to get more email subscribers, don’t stop there. Use all avenues available to you, including:
1. Use Your CTA Everywhere
Don’t just hope people will find their way to whatever you’re offering. Announce it all over the place.
Create a landing page for your call-to-action. On it, include the offer you’re making and the benefit the reader gets in return for his or her email. Then, include its URL in your email signature, on your Twitter bio, and on your Facebook page.
2. Amplify Your Content
Promote your content to a wider audience with these tactics:
- Rework some of your web or blog content pages. Make them into a YouTube video tutorial or SlideShare
- Publish on LinkedIn
- Cite influencers in your blog post or on your web page — and let those influencers know you’ve done so
- Pitch a guest blog to an influential site
3. Consider Niche Advertising
When you really know the audience you want to attract, think about niche advertising or concentrated marketing to increase brand awareness and interest in your service. When well targeted and crafted, niche advertising can increase traffic and get you more email subscribers. Consider possible advertising opportunities in:
- Relevant blogs
- Related newsletters
- Noncompetitive, but germane, websites
- Any venue where your target market hangs out
You’ve Got More Email Subscribers, Now What?
Once you’ve grown your list and sent out a few emails, analyze what you’ve learned. A tool like Campaign Monitor can be helpful. Look at the emails with the highest engagement rates. Did they have something in common? Segment your list by those who respond immediately and those that wait until the last minute. Add a segment related to purchase history and another by location or demographics if those matter.
The idea here is to create smaller groups of subscribers who have a commonality, so the emails you send to them will be relevant and strike a chord. And once that’s done, you can concentrate on improving your email conversion rate and ensuring your message gets to your readers by avoiding spam filters.
If you want help growing your list or enhancing your email marketing, contact us today and let the Total Product Marketing team help.
