An effective email marketing program is one key to driving traffic and revenue on your site. But how, and where, do you inspire visitors to sign up for that email list?
In this article, we will be discussing 14 ways to increase your opt-ins on your site. These are great for any eCommerce site and should help encourage more people to sign up for future communication.
1. Use “lead magnets” to get people excited about signing up for your email list.
You can use “lead magnets” to get people excited about signing up for your newsletter and/or promotions. These are special things that can convince users to sign up for your list. For example: You might give away free samples, a free gift, or other types of content that they’d normally have to pay for. If it’s something valuable, then they’re more likely to take advantage of this.
2. Use pop-up opt-in forms
Another way to increase your opt-ins is by using pop-up forms. You can add them to different pages or sections on your site and they’ll appear when people scroll over the page. This will allow you to be more creative in how you get people to sign up for your newsletter. We recommend using these subtly, as to not overwhelm a visitor and also obtrusive popups can impact your ecommerce SEO performance.
3. Send targeted e-mails to your customers
Additionally, you can send targeted e-mails to your customers who have shopped with you before. This will help increase the chances that they sign up for your newsletter and give them a reason to trust you as an online retailer. People want discounts and coupons so this is a great way to get those people on your mailing list!
4. Add an opt-in bar on the homepage of your site
Another idea to increase opt-ins is by adding an opt-in bar on the homepage of your site. This will make it incredibly easy for people to sign up, and they won’t need to search around for a place to subscribe.
5. Get people to subscribe by offering them something in return for their information (e.g., a coupon)
You can also make it easier for people to sign up by offering them something in return if they do. Make sure you’re not just offering them junk, but instead something that is valuable to the customer in exchange for their information. People will be receptive if they see that they can get something in return.
6. Create exclusive content and make it available only to subscribers (i.e., Give people something that they can’t get anywhere else!)
In addition, you can also make exclusive content available to subscribers only. Make it so that people have to sign up for your newsletter in order to get access to this content. This will really help drive more people towards signing up because they’ll want to see what’s on the other side.
7. Integrate the opt-in form with a pop up chat
You can increase the number of opt-ins on your website by adding a pop up chat. This will make things easier for people and they won’t need to leave your site to check their e-mail. It’ll be right there waiting for them when they’re ready, and also doubles as good customer service.
8. Utilize Facebook retargeting campaigns
Another idea to consider is utilizing Facebook retargeting campaigns. These’ll allow you to target people who have visited your site before and then offer them something that’s exclusive only available through these ads. This will incentivize them to visit your site, and can help increase those opt-ins when they get there.
Below is an example from Zenefits. A sponsored ad to download an HR checklist acts as a lead magnet to gain more email address opt-ins after downloading.
9. Place subscribe links on key pages of your website
You can also place subscribe links on key pages of your website. You want to make them visible on all the right pages so people don’t have to go out of their way to find it. For example, you could make it available on your “Contact Us, “About Us”, and/or FAQs pages.
10. Track your progress and analyze the results
This item is one Trinity is passionate about. We highly recommend you track your progress and analyze the results of what you’ve changed. Use tools like Google Analytics to track how many people are visiting your site, what pages they visit, where they leave or click more, etc… You’ll want to look for anything that could be standing in the way of users signing up. So if things don’t work quite right the first time around, circle back to your data to find out why.
11. Place contextual text links under posts so they know where they can get updates from
Another good idea is to place contextual text links under posts so people know where they can get updates from. For example, if someone reads about something a beverage you sell, tell them about your email list right there while you have their attention.
12. Offer coupons or discounts in exchange for sharing and following your social media profiles and pages
Here’s another great idea: Consider how to offer coupons or discounts in exchange for sharing and following your social media profiles and pages. This is a great way to get more opt-ins because it’s something that people will actually want to do.
13. Consider a referral program and reward your user
You may also consider offering a referral program. How does this work? Basically, let’s say Bob signs up on your site for your newsletter. He then goes ahead and refers 10 other people who signup too – he’ll get rewarded for it, and you will, too!
14. Make your opt-in forms mobile friendly
Making your opt-in forms mobile friendly is another way to increase the number of people who sign up on your site. This makes life easier for new subscribers since they can sign up anytime, anywhere. This option should be made readily available to people on all mobile devices.
Conclusion
Now that you have some ideas on how to increase opt-ins, try implementing some of these into your site and see how they perform. But remember: Without tracking your results, you’ll be left guessing which changes are making the most impact; meaning you could be leaving valuable revenue on the table. Use Google Analytics or another tracking service to really see what’s going – what’s working? Is there something which can be improved? If so, how? Track things like page views per visit, bounce rate, time spent per visit — these are some examples of things that will make a difference in your campaigns.
We hope these tips helped you think about how to implement opt-ins more effectively on your e-commerce site! If you’re in need of a bit of help on getting started or maturing your site, make sure to contact us for a free, personalized consultation on how to help you grow your e-commerce site.
