Are you struggling to grow your email list? Are you tired of seeing little to no engagement from your subscribers?
If you answered yes to any of the questions, then email opt-in strategies are just what you need.
Did you know that email marketing has an ROI of 4,400%? That means for every dollar spent on email marketing; businesses see an average return of $44.
It’s no wonder that email marketing continues to be a top priority for businesses looking to drive conversions and build relationships with their customers.
Opt-in strategies are all about getting people to voluntarily subscribe to your email list, and there are countless ways to do it. From creating irresistible lead magnets to implementing popup forms on your website, there are tactics that can work for businesses of all sizes and industries.
But with so many options to choose from, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. That’s why we’re here to help. In this post, we’ll be sharing our top email opt-in strategies that have been proven to help businesses like yours boost their list growth and increase engagement with their subscribers.
So, whether you’re just starting out with email marketing or you’re a seasoned pro looking for new ways to improve your list growth, keep reading to learn our top email opt-in strategies.
What Is Opt-in Email Marketing and its Importance?
Opt-in email marketing is a powerful tool that allows businesses to reach their target audience directly through their inbox.
Essentially, it involves sending marketing messages only to people who have voluntarily subscribed to receive them, as opposed to sending unsolicited emails to a purchased list.
The importance of opt-in email marketing lies in its ability to create a relationship between businesses and their subscribers.
By gaining permission to send emails, businesses can ensure that their messages are received by people who are interested in what they have to offer. This leads to higher engagement rates and, ultimately, better conversion rates.
In fact, opt-in emails produce 4X more ROI than any other investment and customers who purchase through emails spend 138% more.
Image Source: Digital Strike
That’s because when people willingly sign up to receive emails, they are already interested in what the business has to offer, making them more likely to engage and take action.
Opt-in email marketing also allows businesses to personalize their messages and tailor them to the interests and needs of their subscribers. This creates a sense of trust and loyalty between the business and its audience, leading to stronger relationships and, ultimately, more sales.
But perhaps the most important reason why opt-in email marketing services are so valuable is that they are permission-based.
By gaining permission to send emails, businesses are respecting their subscribers’ privacy and preferences, which is becoming increasingly important in today’s digital landscape.
10 Best Opt-in Strategies to Reach Your Target Audience Better
There are plenty of strategies out there that you can use for better opt-in rates. Let’s take a look at 10 of them:
1. Leverage Social Media Ads, Especially Facebook
Social media has become a powerhouse for businesses looking to connect with their target audience, and Facebook is no exception.
With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook is a great platform for businesses to reach potential customers and grow their email list through targeted ads.
Image Source: Statista
By leveraging Facebook ads, businesses can create highly targeted campaigns that reach people who are most likely to be interested in their products or services.
This means that instead of blindly advertising to a large group of people, businesses can focus their efforts on those who are more likely to convert.
One effective way to use Facebook ads to grow your email list is by creating a lead generation campaign. This type of ad encourages people to sign up for your email list by offering them something of value, such as a free ebook or a discount code.
Image Source: Einstein Marketer
When someone clicks on the ad, they will be taken to a landing page where they can enter their email address and receive the offer. This not only helps to grow your email list but also provides you with a way to connect with potential customers and nurture them into becoming loyal customers.
But perhaps the biggest advantage of using Facebook ads for opt-ins is the platform’s ability to track and analyze data.
With Facebook’s powerful analytics tools, businesses can see how their ads are performing, which allows them to make data-driven decisions and optimize their campaigns for better results.
2. Create Blog Posts
If you’re looking to boost your email list opt-ins, then creating blog posts is a must-try strategy.
Why? Well, because blog posts allow you to provide value to your audience and showcase your expertise in your industry. And when people see the value you provide, they’ll be more likely to sign up for your email list.
When you create blog posts, make sure you’re writing about topics that are relevant to your target audience.
Think about their pain points, interests, and questions, and create content that addresses those things. By doing this, you’ll be providing value to your readers and positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
Once you’ve written your blog post, be sure to include a clear call-to-action (CTA) at the end of the post. Your CTA should encourage readers to sign up for your email list in exchange for something of value, such as a free guide or exclusive content.
But don’t stop there!
You can also use your blog posts to promote your email list opt-in incentives. For example, you could include a banner or popup on your blog post that promotes your opt-in incentive and encourages readers to sign up.
3. Design Attractive CTAs
Speaking of blogs and CTAs, if you want to increase your email list opt-ins, designing attractive CTAs (call-to-actions) is a great place to start.
CTAs are the buttons or links that encourage people to take a specific action, such as signing up for your email list. And if your CTAs are eye-catching and compelling, people are more likely to click on them and opt-in to your list.
When designing your CTAs, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, make sure your CTA stands out on the page. You want it to be easy to find and visually appealing. This can be achieved through the use of contrasting colors, bold fonts, and eye-catching graphics.
Second, your CTA should be clear and concise. Use action-oriented language that tells people exactly what they can expect when they click on the button. For example, instead of using a generic CTA like “Submit,” try something more specific like “Get Your Free Guide Now!”
Third, make sure your CTA is relevant to the content on the page. If you’re promoting an ebook on your blog, for example, your CTA should be related to that ebook and encourage people to sign up to receive it.
And finally, consider the placement of your CTA. It should be in a prominent location on the page, such as at the top of the page or above the fold. You can also include multiple CTAs throughout your content to increase the chances of people clicking on them.
4. Deploy Exit Intent Popups
Exit intent popups are a strategy you should definitely consider when it comes to increasing opt-in rates.
Exit intent popups are triggered when a user attempts to leave your website, and they’re designed to capture their attention and encourage them to sign up for your email list.
Exit intent popups are effective because they give you one last chance to engage with your visitors before they leave your site. By providing a compelling offer or incentive, you can convince them to sign up for your email list and stay connected with your brand.
But you might be wondering, “do exit intent popups really work?”
The answer is yes! According to OptinMonster, exit intent popups can increase opt-ins by up to 600%. That’s a huge potential boost for your email list.
Of course, the key to success with exit intent popups is in the execution.
You need to make sure that your popup is compelling and relevant to your audience. This means offering something of value, like a free resource or exclusive content, in exchange for their email address.
With Picreel, you can create customized popups using opt-in email templates that are designed to resonate with your audience. You can choose from a variety of templates, customize the design to match your branding, and even add animations or other effects to make your popups stand out.
5. Convince Using Social Proof
Social proof refers to the idea that people are more likely to take a specific action if they see others doing the same thing.
In the context of email list opt-ins, social proof can be a powerful way to convince users to sign up.
By showcasing the number of people who have already signed up for your list or highlighting positive reviews or testimonials from existing subscribers, you can create a sense of trust and credibility that makes users more likely to opt-in.
Image Source: Buffer
There are a few different ways to incorporate social proof into your opt-in strategy.
One option is to showcase the number of subscribers you already have. This can be as simple as including a line on your opt-in form that says something like “Join our community of 10,000+ subscribers.” This gives users a sense of the size and scale of your email list, which can make it more appealing to join.
Another option is to highlight positive reviews or testimonials from existing subscribers.
This can be a powerful way to create a sense of trust and credibility and show users that your email list is valuable and worth signing up for. You can include these reviews or testimonials on your opt-in page or even include them in your opt-in confirmation email.
Finally, you can also use social proof on social media platforms. Share positive feedback from your subscribers on social media, and encourage your followers to join your email list too.
6. Design Gated Content
The idea behind gated content is simple: by offering something of value that users can only access by providing their email addresses, you can incentivize them to sign up for your email list.
Gated content refers to any content that requires users to provide their email address or other contact information in order to access it.
The key is to make sure that your gated content is truly valuable and relevant to your audience. This can include things like eBooks, whitepapers, webinars, or exclusive access to certain parts of your website.
Image Source: Tim
To design effective gated content, you’ll want to make sure that it’s visually appealing and easy to access.
This means using high-quality graphics and making sure that your opt-in form is simple and straightforward. You’ll also want to make sure that your gated content is optimized for mobile devices since many users access content on their phones or tablets.
Once you’ve designed your gated content, it’s important to promote it in order to get the most opt-ins possible.
This can include things like social media posts, email blasts, or even paid to advertise. The key is to make sure that your audience knows about your gated content and understands the value that it offers.
It’s worth noting that gated content isn’t for everyone. Some users may be put off by the idea of having to provide their email addresses in order to access the content.
7. Create a Sense of Urgency or FOMO
If you have been struggling to get the opt-in rates you want for your email list, creating a sense of urgency or FOMO (fear of missing out) could work for you.
By creating a sense of urgency, you’re essentially letting your audience know that they need to act fast in order to get access to something valuable.
This can be a powerful motivator and can lead to higher opt-in rates.
One way to create a sense of urgency is to offer a limited-time promotion or discount to users who sign up for your email list. For example, you might offer a 20% discount on your products or services to users who sign up within the next 24 hours.
Image Source: Kissmyketo
Another way to create a sense of urgency is to highlight the benefits of signing up for your email list. Let users know what they’ll be missing out on if they don’t sign up. This could include access to exclusive content, early access to new products or services, or the opportunity to connect with other members of your community.
The key to creating a sense of urgency or FOMO is to be authentic and transparent.
Don’t make false promises or exaggerate the benefits of signing up for your email list – users can often tell when they’re being manipulated. Instead, focus on highlighting the genuine value that your email list provides, and create a sense of urgency or FOMO in a way that feels natural and authentic.
8. Organize Contests and Giveaways
People love getting free stuff, and the chance to win a prize can be a powerful motivator for users to sign up for your email list.
To run a successful contest or giveaway, you’ll want to first determine what type of prize you’ll offer. Ideally, your prize should be something that is closely related to your business or brand and is of high value to your target audience.
For instance, if you run a health and wellness blog, you might offer a prize package that includes workout gear, healthy snacks, and a subscription to a fitness magazine.
Once you’ve determined your prize, it’s time to promote your contest or giveaway.
Image Source: Jewelscent
You can use social media, email marketing, and other channels to spread the word and encourage users to sign up for your email list. Make sure to include clear instructions on how to enter and emphasize the value of the prize and why users should sign up for your email list.
During the contest or giveaway period, make sure to keep your audience engaged and excited. You can do this by sharing updates on social media, sending out email reminders, and highlighting user-generated content related to the contest or giveaway.
Finally, once the contest or giveaway is over, make sure to follow through on your promises and deliver the prize to the winner. You’ll also want to follow up with all entrants to thank them for participating and encourage them to continue engaging with your brand.
Read More - 13 Best Online Giveaway Tools to Get New Leads FAST
9. Ask Customers to Subscribe During Checkout
There is nothing wrong with asking customers to subscribe to your list during the checkout process.
Since customers have already expressed an interest in your products or services by making a purchase, they may be more likely to sign up for your email list at this stage.
To implement this strategy, you can include a checkbox or opt-in form during the checkout process that allows customers to subscribe to your email list. You can also incentivize sign-ups by offering a discount or other special offers for customers who subscribe.
Image Source: Infusedaddons
When asking customers to subscribe, it’s important to make sure the process is as seamless and easy as possible.
Keep the opt-in form simple and straightforward, and avoid asking for too much information. You don’t want to overwhelm customers or make them feel like they’re being forced to sign up.
10. Keep A/B Testing
A/B testing is a powerful tool that can help you optimize your email opt-in rates over time.
By testing different variations of your opt-in forms, CTAs, and other elements, you can identify what works best for your audience and continually refine your approach.
To get started with A/B testing, you’ll need to come up with a hypothesis and a plan for testing it. Looking at it from an opt-in form example’s perspective, here you might hypothesize that changing the color of your CTA button will result in more clicks and higher opt-in rates.
Image Source: Towardsdatascience
Next, you’ll need to create two variations of your opt-in form: one with the original color CTA button and one with the new color. You’ll then randomly show each version to a portion of your website visitors or email subscribers and track the results to see which version performs better.
The key to successful A/B testing is to be patient and persistent.
It can take time to see meaningful results, especially if you’re only making small tweaks to your opt-in forms. However, over time, even small improvements can add up to big gains in your opt-in rates.
When it comes to A/B testing tools for optimizing your email opt-in rates, Picreel is definitely one of the best options out there. It is a powerful conversion rate optimization platform that allows you to create and test a wide variety of opt-in forms, popups, overlays, and other elements, to see what works best for your audience.
Three Opt-in Email Marketing Software
There is no shortage of options when it comes to selecting opt-in email marketing services & software. Let’s take a look at 3 of the best ones:
1. Picreel
When it comes to opt-in email marketing software, Picreel is definitely one of the best options available on the market today. This powerful platform offers a wide range of features and capabilities including opt-in email templates that are designed to help businesses boost their email opt-in rates and grow their email subscriber lists.
One of the key benefits of using Picreel as your opt-in email marketing software is its wide range of customization options. With Picreel, you can create and customize a wide variety of some of the best opt-in forms, popups, overlays, and other elements, so you can tailor your opt-in messaging to your specific audience and improve your conversion rates.
Another benefit of using Picreel is its powerful analytics and reporting features. With Picreel, you can easily track and analyze the performance of your best opt-in forms and campaigns, so you can quickly identify what’s working and what’s not and make adjustments to improve your results.
Pricing: Starts at $9.99/month with forever-free plan.
2. Mailchimp
Mailchimp has been around for over a decade and has established itself as a trusted and reliable tool for businesses of all sizes looking to grow their email subscriber lists.
One of the key benefits of using Mailchimp as your opt-in email list building and marketing software is its user-friendly interface and ease of use. Even if you have no experience with email marketing, Mailchimp makes it easy to get started with its intuitive drag-and-drop editor and pre-built templates, so you can create professional-looking and some of the best opt-in forms and campaigns in minutes.
Another benefit of Mailchimp is its advanced targeting and segmentation capabilities. With Mailchimp, you can segment your email list based on a wide range of criteria, such as behavior, location, interests, and more, allowing you to deliver more personalized and relevant messaging to your subscribers and improve your opt-in rates.
Pricing: Starts at $11/month.
3. GetResponse
GetResponse is a platform that stands out for its comprehensive features, flexibility, and affordability. This tool has been around for over two decades and has helped businesses of all sizes to grow their email subscriber lists and boost their marketing efforts.
One of the key benefits of using GetResponse as your opt-in email list building software is its user-friendly interface and ease of use. GetResponse offers a wide range of pre-built templates and a drag-and-drop editor that makes it easy to create professional-looking opt-in forms and campaigns without the need for any technical skills or design expertise.
GetResponse also offers advanced targeting and segmentation capabilities that allow you to deliver highly personalized messaging to your subscribers based on their behavior, interests, and other criteria. This helps to increase the likelihood that they will opt-in to your email list and stay engaged with your content over time.
Pricing: Starts at $15.58/month.
Read More - Top 35 Website Engagement Tools to Uplift Your Business in 2023
3 Best Opt-in Email Examples
Let’s take a look at 3 of the best opt-in email examples:
1. Wrike
Why Does This Work?
- It offers plenty of details about the product beforehand.
- It offers resolution through a clear Call to Action button after piquing the user’s curiosity.
- It promises to keep all private information safe with a link to the brand’s privacy policy.
2. Kapsul
Why Does This Work?
- The copy offers exclusivity, a perk that almost always appeals to the masses.
- It has a minimalist design with only the important bits highlighted. This makes the process transparent, and the users know exactly what they are signing up for.
- The steps are simple, easy to follow, and clutter-free.
3. ThePeachBox
Why Does This Work?
- The layout is simple and catchy, with an image that helps the user visualize the reward as a tangible item.
- The offer is displayed prominently while keeping the condition/catch relatively obscure.
- The effort it would take to subscribe on the users’ part is made to seem minimal compared to the potential reward.
Read More - 36 Types of Website Popups to Use in 2022 (the Ultimate Guide)
What Are the Best Use Cases for Opt-in Emails?
Opt-in emails can be used for a wide range of purposes, depending on the goals of your business and the needs of your audience. Here are some of the best use cases for opt-in emails:
1. Lead generation
Opt-in emails are a powerful tool for lead generation because they allow you to build a list of interested prospects who have given you permission to communicate with them. To effectively generate leads with opt-in emails, you’ll need to offer a valuable incentive in exchange for an email address. This could be a free guide, eBook, or other content that your audience finds valuable.
2. Nurture campaigns
Once you have a list of subscribers, opt-in emails can be used to nurture those leads and move them further down the sales funnel. This typically involves sending a series of automated emails that are triggered by specific actions or behaviors taken by your subscribers.
Let’s say you send a welcome email to new subscribers, followed by a series of educational emails that introduce your brand and products, and then transition into promotional emails that encourage subscribers to make a purchase.
3. Promotions and sales
Email opt-ins are also a great way to promote sales and special offers to your audience. By sending targeted messaging and promotions to your subscribers, you can increase conversions and drive revenue for your business. To give you an opt-in form example- you might offer a limited-time discount or bundle deal to your email list or provide exclusive access to new products or services.
Deploy the Best Opt-in Strategies and Improve Conversions
Building a strong email opt-in list is crucial for the success of any business or organization. The top 10 email opt-in strategies we’ve discussed in this blog post offer a range of tactics to help boost your list growth and increase your overall reach and engagement with your audience.
It’s important to keep in mind that no single strategy will work for everyone, and it may take some trial and error to find the right combination of tactics for your particular audience and goals. However, by staying focused and committed to testing and optimizing your approach, you can make significant gains in your email list growth and engagement.
Also, there are many tools available to help you implement these strategies; one of the best is Picreel. Picreel offers a variety of tools and features that can help you create effective exit-intent popups, design attractive CTAs, and even run A/B tests to improve your opt-in rates.
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