Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to stay in touch with your customers and drive repeat sales. Unlike social media, where algorithms decide who sees your posts, email lands straight in your subscribers’ inboxes. It’s direct, it’s personal and it gives you a channel that you own and control.
But an email marketing strategy is only as strong as the list behind it. If nobody is signing up, there’s nobody to send your offers, news and updates to.
Many businesses add a sign-up form to their website and then wonder why so few people use it. The truth is that most visitors won’t hand over their email address unless you give them a good reason and make it easy to do.
So, here are three simple ways to generate more email subscribers through your website.
1. Promote Sign-Up Forms over Social Media
It’s important to highlight your website’s sign-up forms more prominently than your social media icons and links. Yes, more Facebook likes and Instagram followers can be a great thing, but they won’t necessarily help with your email marketing. Instead, give prominence to the sign-up forms on your website that add subscribers to your mailing list. One way to do this is to build your sign-up form into a page or section of your website, and also have it appear in a lightbox after certain conditions are met (perhaps as part of your exit strategy). This isn’t to say that your social media links should be forgotten about. Rather, keep them neatly tucked into your website footer, for example.
2. Explain the Benefits of Signing Up in One Line
Take the guesswork out of why people should sign up by spelling out the benefits for them. This is best communicated in a single catchy line, as signing up should be a simple and uncomplicated process. Something such as “Sign up now for exclusive weekly discounts and start earning loyalty points to spend!” works well to show your website visitors the incentives for joining your mailing list. It answers their question of “What’s in it for me?” With this, those who sign up do so with their eyes wide open, and they now have certain expectations (as stated in this one-liner) that you can meet.
3. Let Subscribers Control the Communication
Your website visitors will appreciate it if you give them the option to choose when they receive emails from you. This can be as simple as ticking a box for every week, every two weeks or once a month. It will take a little work on your end to set up mailing lists for each of these timeframes, but it’s a niche offering that can help get people to sign up. It can also set you and your business apart from the competition by showing a willingness to cater to your customers and potential customers alike. This also means you can drip-feed news and information to some subscribers on a week-by-week basis, or send a bumper newsletter with a full month of news and offers to those who choose to receive it monthly.
Start Growing Your Email List Today
Building an email list takes time, but every subscriber is someone who has chosen to hear from your business, and that makes them some of your most valuable contacts. Make your sign-up forms easy to find, give people a clear reason to join and let them decide how often they hear from you.
Remember to keep things GDPR compliant too. Only email people who have opted in, be clear about what they’re signing up for, and make it easy for them to unsubscribe at any time.
If you’d like help adding effective sign-up forms to your website or getting your email marketing off the ground, get in touch with Whelan Web Design. We help businesses across Waterford and the South East turn website visitors into loyal customers.
