Can I interest you in signing up?
People don’t actively seek out email lists to join. They need to be presented with an opportunity and a reason to sign-up.
Where you can ask people to sign up
Opportunity arises each time someone interacts with your business. The most obvious example is when they’re visiting your website. The best results come when you place a form like this (or a link to it) prominently on every page of your site.
Other occasions include:
- Your social media pages
- Hint about the next topic in your newsletter
- Post links to your signup form
- Webinars
- When they register
- At the end of the webinar to be made aware of future similar events
- Contests
- Your blog
You should also consider natural wait times as optimal places for getting people to sign up:
- Have a paper form or iPad ready at reception, tradeshows or checkout to collect addresses.
- At registration if you’re hosting an event
- Tradeshow booths
- Ask if people would like to join during customer service calls.
- Include the link to the form on invoices and receipts and in the signatures appended to staff emails
The Benefits
So what’s the value for people to sign up? While giving people the opportunity to subscribe is important, so is selling the benefits of doing so.
Reasons to sign up for a newsletter can include:
- Hints about the next topic in your newsletter on your website of social media pages
- Incentives
- Content, like an ebook
- A Promotion or coupon code
- Information about an exclusive event
- A clear list name. Most people won’t sign-up just for “our email newsletter”, but they will sign-up for “Exclusive offers and discounts”, or “Hairstyling tips and tricks.”
Regardless what you do to get people on your list, always be explicit and honest. Doing so will ensure a lasting relationship both by email and in person.