Entrepreneurs are turning back to email marketing to combat the downfall of organic reach on social networks. It never actually disappeared, as savvy business owners still used it with great success, but it hasn’t been center stage since social media came through the door.
Marketers have dusted off the adage, “the money is in the list” and returned email marketing to a top producer of customer conversion.
While not the only conduit of email marketing, newsletters have always been a standard and the one entrepreneurs turned to first. Therefore, it’s a good time to review how you can increase your newsletter subscriptions.
Tip #1 – Include a Newsletter Archive on Your Site
If your old newsletters have great content, then put them on your site as a teaser. People will know exactly what they can expect when they opt into your newsletter.
As an added bonus, your newsletters will also add more content to your site and that attracts search engines.
Tip #2 – Experiment with Exit Popups
I confess I hate website popups! However, there are some pretty convincing statistics regarding their success.
The top 10% highest-performing pop-ups averaged a 9.28% conversion rate. (Sumo.com)
So if someone is about to leave your website without subscribing, why not try to entice them with a special offer?
Tip #3 – Disable Double Opt-In
You lose a lot of subscribers by having a double opt-in. Sometimes as much as 80%.
Although the theory behind the double opt-in is that you want to make sure people want your newsletter before sending them anything else – the reality is that people often just forget to click the link in the email, or just can’t be bothered.
Disable the double opt-in and you’ll find your subscriber rate go up immediately.
Tip #4 – Give Away Something They Want
Give away something that the user wants in exchange for a subscription. The last part is key: Something they *want*.
Entrepreneurs often give away free eBooks with poor quality content and wonder why they’re not getting higher subscription rates. To increase subscription rates you need to actually give away something that the user genuinely wants.
Don’t know what that is? Refer to your target market research. It should answer these questions:
What’s the main problem this user has right now and what can I give away that would help them solve that problem?
Tip #5 – Put Your Opt-In Box Upfront & Everywhere
Your opt-in box should be on your front page. Hands down. It should be above the fold and it should be prominent, along with your offer.
That said, the subscription box should also be on just about every other page of your website, aside from sales pages and checkout pages.
Tip #6 – Network in Person
Trying to get other bloggers to joint venture with you or share lists online rarely works. Prominent bloggers get requests like this all the time.
Instead, network with people and meet them in person rather than online. People who like you and know you are much more likely to do business with you.
Tip #7 – Customize Your Opt-Out Page
Instead of having people just opt-out, try asking people if they want to keep getting your newsletter – Just at a lower frequency. You can often cut your opt-out rates by 20% or more by giving people the option of a lower frequency email list.
If you’re reviving your email marketing campaign, your first step is to optimize your opt-in. When you build a targeted list, you will discover that they are more receptive to your message and this increases your conversion rates.