Collecting emails from your website’s visitors is crucial if you are looking to grow and cultivate your audience. But this is not an easy task, considering that very few people are willing to give out their information for no good reason.
Building a list is one thing—if you want your list to power an actual business, you cannot rely on worn out tactics like list buying or social media contests.
We have put together the 5 best ways to collect email addresses – legally.
1- Offer a captivating lead magnet
“Yes, please, I need this” – that is the response you should be aiming for. Basically, a lead magnet is something you offer your readers in exchange for their email address. It is one of the best tried and tested methods to grow an email list. You can offer resources such as checklists, reports, videos, white papers etc.
Best practice: aim to solve a medium-sized problem in a fast way.
2- Add some cool features
You can increase user subscription by allowing your users to follow a specific subject-matter, resulting in either a mobile push or e-mail alert, similar to what Magnet® offers. By doing so, you are offering value in exchange for a subscriber’s details. Building on that, you can move on to more value-adding features such as a personalized newsletter, personalized recommendations etc. which are sure to build reader loyalty.
3- Use social media wisely
It is true that social media allows you to connect with people you might have otherwise never had the chance to connect with. Although social media can send traffic to your website and email newsletter, it only works if you are using it well.
What definitely does not work: dumping loads of links and content that people have no incentive for interacting with.
Here’s how you can use social media to build an email list:
- Participate in relevant conversations or create conversations your followers want to be a part of.
- Share your views on current events.
- Occasionally share your own content, and make it exciting.
If you want people to subscribe through social media, you need to have conversations that people want to be part of.
4- Piggyback
The idea here is the following: if someone is already subscribed to content related to yours, there is a probability that they would be interested in your content. So try to partner up with someone who is already prominent in your industry – especially that word of mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools. This can be done in the form of a webinar, podcast, guest post etc.
The takeaway: partnerships are a very effective way to let you tap into a relevant audience while getting a good recommendation from a trusted source.
5- Good old pop ups
Almost everyone has encountered pop ups, and although some people find them annoying, they still account for the highest opt-in conversion rate. Since pop ups demand attention and action, they are highly effective. There are many forms – site wide, exit intent, slide in to name a few.
It is worth noting that you should not shy away from aggressive pop ups, since weaker forms would leave room for distraction (i.e. the bigger the better).
Extra tip: add animations to your pop ups to grab attention better.
Finally, after collecting emails, make sure your campaigns adhere to GDPR standards.
Do you have any tried and tested email collection hacks? Feel free to share your experience. Talk to us on Twitter @USKlangoo.