20 Tricks That Can Double Email Subscriber [Infographic]
Why is a bigger and better email list important? Your email list is the biggest source of recurring traffic according to Neil Patel. I also think your email subscribers are the ones who believe you can deliver. I look at the email list as a list of trust and relationship. Here are some cool tactics you can use to increase email subscribers exponentially. Neil Patel, Brian Dean, Brian Harris, Blog Tyrant (Ramsay Taplin) and the BufferApp team have some of the best tips going around and have been included in this Infographic. One last thing, email converts better than any other form of online marketing.
You can use any of our Infographics in your site with a link-back to us.
1. Use Your About Page to Collect Email Addresses
If your content is of good quality, people would naturally want to know more about you. This is why it is important to have an email sign-up in your about page. Have a brief description about what your blog is about and what viewers can expect to get out of leaving their email address.
Brian Dean from Backlinko increased his about page email opt-in rate by 5.8%.
2. Ask Viewers to Opt-in when they Comment
People who comment are action takers and there is a better chance they will leave their email address. If they are commenting, it either means they like your content or they disagree with you. Either way why not throw the dice and find out?
Brian Dean increased his email subscribers by 214 in a few weeks.
3. Avoid Double Opt-in Pages
Double opt-in is where a website has two pages to collect email addresses; one page to enter user details and the other to confirm their details. This is not the same as sending a confirmation email. In fact, it is recommended to use a single opt-in page and use a confirmation email to verify subscription.
Avoid losing 25% of subscribers on double opt-in pages.
4. Use a Page Specific Pop-up
In a post about how to increase your email subscribers you could have a pop-up saying ‘get my free report on how to get 1,000 subscribers in less than 30 days’.
Brian Dean achieved 65% increase in opt-in rate.
5. Opt-in for Bonus Content
Provide page specific bonus content like a check-list or additional tips to collect email addresses. This will also help you build a bonus content area one item at a time.
Brian Harris from VideoFruit increased his email opt-in rate by 12.2%
6. Ask Viewers to Opt-in via Author Bio
Having a call to action in author bio is very powerful and you could use this space to remind your viewers to join your mailing list.
Brian Harris achieved an email conversion rate of 0.6%
7. Opt-in at Exit
When the user hits the dreaded ‘x’ button on their browser, you can ask to see if they want to opt-in. When a user wants to exit your site – either they did not like/find what they wanted or they have finished going through whatever you had to offer. This is like the last throw of the dice. Some like this idea and some don’t. It is up to you to decide.
Brian Harris achieved an email opt-in rate of 3.3%
8. Contest or Give Away Opt-in
Collect email addresses to participate in a contest. Give away something to a winning participant like advertising space for a limited time on your website, free theme, plugin or hosting.
Brian Harris achieved an email conversion rate of 39%.
9. Sell the Opt-in Benefits
If you simply put an opt-in box and wait for users to sign-up, it may take an eternity to fill in your autoresponder list. You have to ask people to sign up and sell the benefits. Do you give away an eBook or do you have bonus content? What is included in the giveaway? Tell users all the benefits and ask viewers to sign-up via your post once in a while.
Blog Tyrant aka Ramsay Taplin achieved 10,000 email subscribers.
10. Guest Blog to Promote Your Brand
When you are starting out no one knows you or your blog exists (in the blog sphere). So the best way to get the word out and build your brand is to guest blog. Don’t think all the viewers are already hooked on to another authority blog. If you present something interesting and unique, you will get noticed.
Blog like a Tyrant to a bigger mailing list.
11. Home Page Opt-in
This is a simple strategy that is used less frequently. Have you seen sites that dedicate their home page to collect email addresses? It is because this strategy works and converts. You don’t have to use your home page completely for this but at the least ensure you have an opt-in box in the home page.
Ramsay to 10K mailing list.
12. Thank You for Commenting Page Opt-In
Send new commenters on your site to a thank you page using a plugin. Have an email opt-in box in the thank you page along with related or popular posts.
Tap your way to a huge email list just like Taplin did.
13. Stand Out with Your Opt-in Box Colour
Change your opt-in box colour and make it stand out, in a good way that is. Try changing the sign-up button colour or text to something funky – “Let’s Go”. Test and see what works and converts better.
You already know his result; he is just saying – “dude just stand out from the crowd”.
14. Slide Up Opt-in box
This is my favourite and I have implemented it. I know what experts say about pop-up boxes “they convert”. I don’t like pop-ups; there I’ve said it, it annoys the hell out of me. Which one you choose is up to you.
BufferApp team gets 400 new sign-ups each week.
15. HelloBar for Sign-up
Have you seen a sign-up bar at the top or bottom of websites? They are HelloBar. The cool thing about HelloBar is that you can design many versions and test which one works better. So if you have two designs on your site; every second vistor to your site will see the 2nd design – it is that simple. You can then collect some email addresses over time and see which design performs better. This is also called split testing by the way.
BufferApp team gets 350 new sign-ups each week.
16. Email Sign-up on Sidebar
This is a simple old school technique that still works. Why? The sign-up area is always visible and accessible in all pages.
BufferApp team got 149 new sign-ups per week.
17. Team up with Other Bloggers to Expand Your List
Another way to grow your mailing list fast is two bloggers promoting each other to their mailing list. The issue with this tactic is that you need a decent mailing list so you can promote somebody else. Be careful who you promote and make sure you are promoting because you believe in them and not for the sake of growing your list.
18. Use Facebook Email Sign-up Button
Do you have a Facebook fan page? If not, create one. There are many benefits to having a Facebook fan page and one of them is using a sign-up button to collect email addresses.
19. Make Your Sign-up Box Prominent, Unique and Non-Intrusive
Your footer is not necessarily a good place for your sign-up box; the footer is more like an unwanted child. Make sure your sign-up box is prominent where ever you decide to place it. Make your sign-up box design unique, colourful and non-intrusive.
20. Use a Combination of the Above
This is the best tip; you have to use a combination to get the best results. Don’t just have a pop-up or use the side bar and hope people will sign-up. Sell the benefits of your list. Include the sign-up box in your home page and about page. Use a slide-in box or HelloBar. Pick and choose what suits you and test what works.
Conclusion:
Don’t just use one of the above tactics, use a combination. As they say one tip can give better results and implementing many will give exponential growth to your list, as if your list is on steroids. Split test and see what produces better results.
Build a massive mailing list; it’s your turn – go for it. Please don’t annoy or spam people. Good luck collecting…
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References:
- Get More Email Subscribers: How We Doubled Email Signups – BufferApp.com
- How to Get Your First 1000 Blog (Email) Readers – QuickSprout.com
- Get More Email Subscribers – BlogTyrant.com
* Special thanks to Zac Johnson for collaborating on this project.
