There is no better way to gather sign-ups than through an opt-in form on your website. I'm sure most - if not all of you - have a form on your site already.
But just because you have an opt-in form now, doesn't mean you can't make improvements. Here are four tips to help you make those improvements and get even more sign-ups.
#1 - Make It Impossible to Miss
It's one thing to have an opt-in form - it's another thing entirely to make that opt-in form so easy to find that everyone who visits your website can see it. There are very few people who want to join your mailing list so badly that they'll click around your site and search for your opt-in form to find it.
So you should either:
Link to your form from the main navigation menu of your website that says something along the lines of "Sign-up for Our Newsletter" or "Get More Info."
OR
Include your form on every page of your website. This can be done through the simple inclusion of a sidebar that stays on screen no matter which page is being viewed.
#2 - Keep It Simple
It can be tempting to ask for lots of information on an opt-in form - email address, phone number, postal address, etc. The more info you collect, the easier it is to qualify your leads and the more avenues you have available for marketing to them.
However, asking for too much info can discourage people from signing up. So you have to strike a balance between getting the info you need and ensuring your form is not acting as a barrier to new sign-ups.
Ask yourself how much info you actually need. Unless it's very important that your sales people have as much info as possible, you should limit your form to Email Address, First Name and Last Name (or some similar combination). Or you could have 2 forms: a simple opt-in form for mailing list sign-ups and a separate form for more serious inquiries that requires potential customers to provide you with more info.
#3 - Explain the Value
Don't just ask people for their contact info, tell them what you're going to give them in exchange for that info. Instead of "Join Our Mailing List" say "Sign-up for our twice monthly newsletter to get tips, hear about new products and get access to email only deals."
This approach should go beyond your opt-in form. Everyone in your organization should be aware of the value of your email marketing program, so they can convey that value to potential customers. It is always better to tell someone what you're going to give them instead of asking them to give you something. "Can I send you our newsletter?" is better than "Can I get your email address?" just as "Would you like to buy that item?" is much better than "Would you like to give me 75 dollars?"
#4 - Market It
Use your non-email marketing to direct people to your opt-in form. An ad in the newspaper, a postcard, an online ad - all these can be used to send people to a form.
Why is that of any value to you? Because once someone is on your email marketing list, you have a stronger connection and can market to them directly.
Of course, sending people from an ad to a form with no extra incentive or explanation may not get you very far, since most people are unlikely to jump all over the chance to join some random company's list if they aren't already interested in the products / services of that company. So you would likely want to combine the form with some other content or offer.
To provide an example of such a combination - I know of a pub / restaurant that sends out a postcard to people who move to their neighborhood. This card asks the new residents to sign-up for the pub's newsletter and offers a 50% coupon for their next visit if they sign-up. They do so many things right:
- They reach out to new residents who don't know the neighborhood yet and are therefore likely to want to try new places nearby.
- They ask people to sign-up for their newsletter which enables them to continue marketing to those folks who are clearly interested.
- They provide an incentive to both sign-up and come down to the pub. So not only do people have a good reason to sign-up, they also have a good reason to become an actual customer.
Can you think of an approach to take with your own potential customers that could accomplish something similar?
Richard Huffaker, Education & Training Manager
But just because you have an opt-in form now, doesn't mean you can't make improvements. Here are four tips to help you make those improvements and get even more sign-ups.
#1 - Make It Impossible to Miss
It's one thing to have an opt-in form - it's another thing entirely to make that opt-in form so easy to find that everyone who visits your website can see it. There are very few people who want to join your mailing list so badly that they'll click around your site and search for your opt-in form to find it.
So you should either:
Link to your form from the main navigation menu of your website that says something along the lines of "Sign-up for Our Newsletter" or "Get More Info."
OR
Include your form on every page of your website. This can be done through the simple inclusion of a sidebar that stays on screen no matter which page is being viewed.
#2 - Keep It Simple
It can be tempting to ask for lots of information on an opt-in form - email address, phone number, postal address, etc. The more info you collect, the easier it is to qualify your leads and the more avenues you have available for marketing to them.
However, asking for too much info can discourage people from signing up. So you have to strike a balance between getting the info you need and ensuring your form is not acting as a barrier to new sign-ups.
Ask yourself how much info you actually need. Unless it's very important that your sales people have as much info as possible, you should limit your form to Email Address, First Name and Last Name (or some similar combination). Or you could have 2 forms: a simple opt-in form for mailing list sign-ups and a separate form for more serious inquiries that requires potential customers to provide you with more info.
#3 - Explain the Value
Don't just ask people for their contact info, tell them what you're going to give them in exchange for that info. Instead of "Join Our Mailing List" say "Sign-up for our twice monthly newsletter to get tips, hear about new products and get access to email only deals."
This approach should go beyond your opt-in form. Everyone in your organization should be aware of the value of your email marketing program, so they can convey that value to potential customers. It is always better to tell someone what you're going to give them instead of asking them to give you something. "Can I send you our newsletter?" is better than "Can I get your email address?" just as "Would you like to buy that item?" is much better than "Would you like to give me 75 dollars?"
#4 - Market It
Use your non-email marketing to direct people to your opt-in form. An ad in the newspaper, a postcard, an online ad - all these can be used to send people to a form.
Why is that of any value to you? Because once someone is on your email marketing list, you have a stronger connection and can market to them directly.
Of course, sending people from an ad to a form with no extra incentive or explanation may not get you very far, since most people are unlikely to jump all over the chance to join some random company's list if they aren't already interested in the products / services of that company. So you would likely want to combine the form with some other content or offer.
To provide an example of such a combination - I know of a pub / restaurant that sends out a postcard to people who move to their neighborhood. This card asks the new residents to sign-up for the pub's newsletter and offers a 50% coupon for their next visit if they sign-up. They do so many things right:
- They reach out to new residents who don't know the neighborhood yet and are therefore likely to want to try new places nearby.
- They ask people to sign-up for their newsletter which enables them to continue marketing to those folks who are clearly interested.
- They provide an incentive to both sign-up and come down to the pub. So not only do people have a good reason to sign-up, they also have a good reason to become an actual customer.
Can you think of an approach to take with your own potential customers that could accomplish something similar?
Richard Huffaker, Education & Training Manager
I am a great fan of Vertical Response and Salesforce. It just makes so much sense to link your database with emarketing. We advise all of our clients to use this same combination. As advisors it is easier for us to help them succeed. I am interested in your thoughts about placing a value on an eBook. Many sites will put a figure $250 - which to me seems a bit over the top when you can get a great book at borders for $35. Most visitors are not idiots, we don't want to insult them. So should we be saying Free eBook value $XXX or just Free eBook? We are about to do a split test on our own site, just interested in your experience from your users.
Posted by: Rob Lawson | November 02, 2009 at 05:05 PM