Email List Sign Up

Last week, I posted about How an Effective Lead Magnet can help Grow your Email List, including 20 different types of Opt-Ins you can use. This week I’ll take that a step further by focusing on how to get the Email List Sign Up: from the form itself to how to promote your freebie across your other marketing channels.

The Signup Form

The obvious first step in email list sign up is to create a sign-up form on your website. You should be able to create the form itself in your email provider (e.g. MailChimp or ConvertKit) and link it to your email list. Then you should just be able to insert the code onto your website. How this is done depends on your website platform and your theme. Some have pre-designed places to put these, others might require a plugin. Once you have decided the type of form you want for your site, check with your designer or with your platform help on how to place it on your site. There are a few types of forms you could use on your site, and I suggest you don’t just limit yourself to one. Here are some common ideas:

The Pop-Up

Love them or hate them, pop-up’s can be a highly effective way for your visitors to see your freebie and opt-in. If you do choose this option, I suggest you take caution with the way you implement it. Recently, Google has just announced that they will penalise sites search results if pop-ups are intrusive when someone first comes onto a website. This specifically refers to those pop-ups that appear as soon as you click onto a site and that cover the first fold (screen view) of content. So please avoid this type of pop-up. This doesn’t mean you can’t use these at all, with the plug-ins that are available these days you have a lot of choice in the way it is used:

• It can appear after a pre-set period of time someone is on your site
• It can appear when someone reaches the bottom of your page
• It can appear on exit
• It can also be configured to only appear once every 30 days for each visitor

And at all costs, make sure it is easy to exit out of if someone isn’t interested, especially on mobile devices!

The Welcome Mat

A welcome mat is an opt-in screen that takes up the entire first fold of a website. These have proven to be really popular recently, but again Google has just announced that they will penalise these sites search results as well so probably best to steer clear.

In your Header and/or Footer Bar

A simple way to get your form consistently across your website is in your header or footer bar (like what I have on this site). Sometimes these are called Call to Action Bars. These are a great way to have your opt-in seen on every page of your site (unless you indicate otherwise on specific pages) and aren’t seen as intrusive like the first two options listed above.

In your Sidebar

If you have a sidebar for your website, particularly if you have a blog, this is another place you can put a simple reminder of your freebie, without it being seen as intrusive.

Within your Page or Post Content

If the content of a specific page or post leads logically into your lead magnet, you can even place a form in the middle of the content. Alternatively create a great graphic and have it link to a specific Landing Page.

A Landing Page of its Own

No matter which of the above options you go for, I highly recommend that you create a standalone landing page for your signature lead magnet. This serves a multitude of purposes but the main one being that it is an easy hyperlink for you to send traffic to. This can either be directly from an image or text within a page or post on your website or it can be from any social media, emails or promotions you do across the rest of the web.

How to Create an Enticing Form

Depending on the type of forms you have chosen, there are a variety of things you can do to entice the reader to signup.

A Great Headline/Call to Action

A quick overview of what they will get and if possible, highlighting the benefit to them or problem solved.

Explain exactly what they will Get

For the brief version of your forms, this will be a single line of text explaining exactly what they will get such as what is included in your resource library or the length of their email course and what it will achieve. On the landing page version of this, go into this a bit deeper with dot points about what they can expect.

Include a Picture

Pictures speak louder than words and people love to see a preview of exactly what they will get. So depending on what the form provider allows, try to include a screenshot of the cover or content of your ebook or checklist or a screen grab of your video.

Keep it Short

As tempting as it is to get more information from people at this stage, the more boxes someone has to complete the less likely they are to complete it. So keep it short and sweet and just to a first name and email if possible.

Other Places to Promote your Opt-In

You’ve spent a long time creating your lead magnet so you want to make best use of it as possible! In fact, your signature freebie can be one of your most powerful promotional items is it is a much softer sell than a direct product or service push. If you have created a landing page, this is made simple as all you need to do is create the promo and link directly to that page. Here are some places you might want to promote it:

1. Social Media Post  – Frequently!! Don’t just do it once, do it on a regularly basis.
2. Facebook or Twitter Cover Image – These places are virtual billboards for your business and something any new follower will see.
3. Facebook or Twitter Pinned Post – Make a promotion of this freebie your pinned post to get that extra traffic!
4. Social Media Bio – Mention your freebie in your Bio as well and link to this as your main link instead of just your homepage.
5. Video – Use Facebook Live, Instagram Video or Periscope to extend the reach. If ever there was something that was worth doing a video one, it is your signature freebie!
6. Referrals – If someone signs up for your freebie, don’t be scared to include a “click to tweet” button or ask them to share to the social media platform of their choice.
7. Collaboration – Similar to the above, you can ask any business buddies of your’s to share to their networks.
8. Custom Blog Posts – Make the power of your lead magnet go even further by creating a blog post that leads into it. This gives you yet another thing to share across social media and within blog sharing threads in Facebook Groups
9. In your Email Footer – For your regular emails, you can use this freebie as a way to encourage people to check out your website in a no-pressure way.
10. Advertising – Ads that lead to something free are much more effective than those that go straight for the sale. So if you want to consider advertising to grow your sales, think about creating an ad to that signature freebie and then once someone is on your list you can nurture them to the point of sale.

And if you want to take it even further think about ways you can repurpose your freebie. Can you convert it into a Video or a SlideShare? Can you create an Infographic or a Webinar? Can you use it as a basis for some PR? Once you have created something that is working well to grow your list, use it to it’s full potential!

After the Sign-Up

You’ve now got someone on your list… Awesome!! Please don’t just stop there with your email list sign up  process! How will they experience your brand once they click “submit”? Firstly, make sure you thank them on the web page itself and let them know the email is on its way and to check their promotions or spam folders if they don’t get it. If you take them to a thank you page, you might also want to consider adding a couple of links to other areas on your website they might be interested in, to keep them browsing. Next, make sure to include them in a Welcome sequence of emails. I go into this in more detail in the post “4 Ways Email Marketing Can Increase your Sales” but, in essence, don’t just send them the freebie and then leave them to it. Create at least a series of 3 emails. This is your opportunity to introduce them to your brand, how you can help them and what you are all about. Provide even more value by giving them a bonus freebie or provide links to blog posts they might be interested in. Round this out with a soft sell into the next step in your sales funnel. By doing this not only will you try to capitalise on their fresh interest in your brand but you will also get them used to receiving emails from you and therefore when you send your more regular pieces or your promotions they will be more inclined open and not just forget that they had actually signed up to get your emails.   Email is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can use, so you want to make sure you invest your time in getting this set up effectively. If you find one particular form isn’t working as well as you hoped, make sure you are covering all of the tips in this and the previous post and then experiment with different options. Once you have something that is working well, it gives you so much more leverage in all of your other marketing channels. If you haven’t done so yet, make sure you get the freebie that came with the first post in this series. All about templates for creating your email sequences. (no email address required) Next up, we’ll have a look at what makes a great email so stay tuned for that one!

What Opt-Ins have you found worked well for your business? Make sure to let us know in the comments below!