How to Capture More Email Addresses on Your Website
More leads.
You want them.
We want them.
Every business wants them.
Keeping your sales pipeline full of fresh leads is a vital part of any marketing strategy. And that matters regardless of the size of your business.
The trick today is that readers are savvy. They have spent years bombarded with virtually every popup and request under the sun. So it makes it that much harder to capture more email addresses on your website.
But, before you surrender to low opt-in rates hang on just one minute.
There are all sorts of list building strategies and tactics brands are using that are breaking the mold — and filling their funnels.
In this post, we’re going to share with you some of the best ways to capture more emails for your site.
Offer something your visitors can’t resist
First things first, look at your offer. A lot of brands lament the fact that they aren’t converting visitors into leads but that could also be because their opt-in offer isn’t grabbing the interest of potential customers.
Think outside the box beyond the standard offerings. What’s something your customer desperately wants?
How about a discount or a mystery sale?
Sparking that curiosity trigger can ignite your visitors fear of missing out (FOMO). It’s mighty hard to ignore what kind of discount is hiding under that opt-in, right?
Other irresistible offers can include contests and giveaways. You can also start building a trusting relationship with your reader from the jump by offering an educational email course or a content upgrade with one secret easy to do tip that can impact their business right away.
And think about how you can create interactive email capture forms. These have been shown to stand out from the pack and lead to higher conversion rates.
Ask for emails in an unobtrusive way
Some people get upset when they’re interrupted by an ask for their email address. You’ve probably felt this way once or twice too.
But there are still ways to be aggressive about capturing leads without disrupting a users experience. These are known as deployment triggers. With the right triggers, you can get granular on how you want your lead capture forms to display, not only where but when too.
A few of these include:
Slide Ins
These will slide into the reader’s vision from the left or right at the bottom half of the screen. You can design these to catch the eye without distracting readers from what they were doing before.
Hello Bars
Also called top bars, these sit unobtrusively at the very top of your website. They tend to have a lower opt-in rate, but it’s still an easy way to grab attention — and a few extra leads.
Exit Triggers
Exit triggers are email capture forums that will only display just as a reader is about to leave the site. You can use them to entice a reader to stay or give them a special offer.
Adding these into your email capture mix is an easy way to increase your conversion rates.
Don’t forget about your blog posts
For many brands, their most significant traffic comes from blog content. So this is the perfect place to have a call to action, yet lots of blogs aren’t taking advantage of the possibilities of email capture straight from the blog.
Here’s how to fix it.
Create one opt-in for each of your main pillar pieces of content. This should be part of your content creation plan. You can use a variety of offers including a study, whitepaper, product features, and discounts to name a few.
Embed these opt-ins in your blog content.
For some sites, a big bold box right at the bottom of the post will see the best results. While for others, it’s smart to have that content highlighted in the top 1/3 of the post to catch readers eyes as they start to scroll.
If you offer something of interest that directly ties in with the content of your post, you’re going to snag readers. And, some of these leads are great potential targets because they saw your content and wanted more.
Always be testing
Lastly, regardless of what lead capture strategy you try for your site, be sure to track and test it.
While increasing from a 1.5% opt-in rate to a 2.25% rate might not seem like much on its face, the potential revenue from even the smallest of increases can have a positive impact on your bottom line.
Check what is working and repeat it. And once you learn what isn’t working, you can remove that from your list and focus on the strategies that are getting you results.