This is how you collect a great number of email addresses for your mailing list

Why is your newsletter worth subscribing to?

Think carefully before you actually start collecting new email addresses. Why should people give you their email address? What is in it for them?

A McKinsey study brought to light that we spend about 28% of our working week on reading and answering emails. A good incentive (also called a ‘lead magnet’) offers them added value and invites them to subscribe.

Examples include:

• a discount voucher or code;
• a quiz;
• an e-book, checklist, or white paper;
• a mini course;
• an audit or free advice;
• a free gift with the first order;
• instructive content with DIYs.

Of course, you can also use a simple form without an incentive. An incentive, however, gives potential subscribers some idea of the content they can expect from you. After all, you can make a first impression only once.

Think carefully about what is important or interesting to your ideal customers. Offer them an incentive which they are willing to give their email address for.

Make sure it is also clear to them they will then receive email communication from you. Let them know what this email communication will be about and how often they will receive it.

Put your website to optimum use

Your website is more than a couple of pages informing the reader about your business.

1. Include opt-in forms throughout your website

The first place for a newsletter form is your home page. Visitors, however, can access your website via various pages, such as a blog post or a product page.

Identify the pages that are strategically important for asking the visitors for their email address. Does you reader want to be kept informed of new products? Does you reader want to be notified if new blogs are published? Does you reader want to have priority access to new collections?

2. Add calls to action to your blogs

Do you have a blog or page on which you post new content regularly? Add a call to action (CTA) to each individual blog post. It may include a link to a landing page on which you ask visitors to subscribe, or you might place an opt-in form with an incentive below your article.

3. Use an announcement bar at the top of your website to promote your incentive

A notification bar at the top of your website catches the eye and is the ideal spot to ensure your incentive gets noticed. As the bar is at the top of every page, it is not relevant from where your visitor accesses the website. You link this bar to your opt-in form or landing page.

4. Use pop-ups but without causing any disruption

Timing is everything. You do not want to annoy your visitor with pop-ups if they want to get an impression of what you have to offer in just a few seconds.

Think about the moment that offers the best chances of a subscription. ALWAYS wait until you are absolutely certain that the visitors have completed their ‘task’ on your website, for instance until they have reached the end of the page after scrolling.

5. Consult your general terms and conditions and register your customers

Under the GDPR, you are entitled to keep your customers informed of relevant information, under the condition that you have properly notified them first.

6. Offer various types of incentives to divide your visitors into groups

Not all of your visitors have the same interests. Some probably know your company quite well, whereas others are comparing various solutions or competitors.

You may consider offering various types of incentives to various target groups. On the basis of the incentive chosen, you can send them different emails.

Take a builder’s merchant, for instance. Some people are interested in construction materials, while others, who are several steps further, are looking for the right paint. On the basis of the various types of e-books, you can meet the respective needs.

By segmenting your list, you can attract new email addresses as well as send specific campaigns. This will lead to better open rates, to more clicks on your website, and eventually to more sales!

7. Offer exclusive content in special seasons

The holidays and sale periods may be golden days for your business. In these peak periods, you should do your utmost to convert as many website visitors as possible into mailing list contacts. Examples include exclusive discount codes for people who subscribe, earlier access to the sale, a limited-edition product, etc.

It is quite simple, really: make it worthwhile for your contacts to subscribe. They will get earlier or exclusive access to unique benefits, after all.

8. Think about content upgrades

In addition to using incentives, you can use smart content to collect new subscriptions. Imagine your visitor has just read an interesting blog. At that moment, he is interested. Can you come up with a follow-up by adding a link to even more exclusive content? Here is an example:

‘Did you find our article about collecting new contacts interesting? Improve your chances of success with our free checklist for the perfect opt-in form.’

Do you already have a blog? Make sure you have a content upgrade in place for the five blog posts that yield most traffic. This information is provided in Google Analytics.

Use social media for generating email addresses

Social media and email marketing will get even more interesting if you combine the two.

9. Put a call to action on your Facebook page

If you have a business page on Facebook, you will have several calls to action to choose from, each with their own link. Add a call to action to your page. In this way, your Facebook visitors can also subscribe to your newsletter.

Additionally, you can post your incentive in Facebook groups and posts. Share a highlight from your newsletter every now and then and invite people to subscribe.

10. Put share buttons on your landing page

Offer your subscribers and visitors an opportunity to share your incentive with their network. If they are interested in your offer, they might know people who have the same interests.

11. Promote your landing page and incentive via a link in your Instagram bio

In your Instagram bio, you can place a link to a website. Make sure this is a link to your landing page with opt-in form rather than to your home page. In addition, regularly promote your incentive via Instagram posts and stories. Competitions are also an ideal way to attract new subscribers.

12. Share your blogs on social media

If you have followed our tips above, you also ask your blog readers to opt in. This means you will have to attract new readers to your blogs, of course. Therefore, make sure you make the most of sharing your blogs on social media.

Your newsletter may bring in new subscribers offline too

Building an audience online takes time. However, if you also have a physical location or meet your customers personally, you need to bring out your inner salesperson.

13. Collect opt-ins at the checkout

If you have a shop, ask your customers at the checkout if they want to subscribe to the newsletter. Better still: combine it with a discount.

14. Collect email addresses at events

At network events and fairs, you get in touch with a lot of people in a short time. They may not be interested in buying yet, but perhaps they want to be kept informed of your offer.

If you give a presentation somewhere (in a digital webinar, for instance), ask your participants to opt in.