About a month ago, in mid-May, we decided to write about three quick newsletter marketing tricks. In that post, we mentioned a tip that will encourage users to subscribe to a mailing list, a tip that will get them to open your email and a piece of advice on how to get you the brand deal of your dreams (if you are a blogger).
Today, we decided to write about tips that will help you fill up your email list, no matter if you are an e-commerce website owner or a blogger. These six tips are pretty quick and genius (if we may say so) and will undoubtedly, give you the results you desperately need.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Disclaimer: Themes Kingdom team is not affiliated with any of the mentioned tools in this post nor do we earn a commission if you end up using and/or purchasing any of the tools and plugins through referral links in this blog post. We merely wanted to name some services that can help you get more newsletter subscribers.
Tip #1 一 Add a pop-up to your website
Sounds familiar? Adding a pop-up to your website is one of the oldest “subscribe to a mailing list” tricks.
Although this trick is pretty old, it does not mean it’s the easiest to complete. In fact, adding a pop-up is similar to building a house of cards 一 it could go extremely well, or it could backfire and leave everything in ruins. This is the reason why we would recommend you to be careful when creating a pop-up.
If you want to add a pop-up that will increase the number of newsletter subscribers, be sure to go through these three steps:
1. Think about the placement of your pop-up and where users would not have a problem seeing it.
2. Think about the design of the pop-up.
3. Come up with a pop-up copy.
Bonus tip: To create a pop-up, you can use plugins like Popup Maker or Popup Builder. Both of these tools allow you to customize the pop-up, set animation effect, and define a pop-up location. If we had to pick one of these, we would say go with the Popup Maker, as it is a bit more reliable.
1. Pop-up placement
Before you start thinking about the pop-up placement, write down the goal of your website. By doing this step, you will remind yourself, what the ultimate goal is, and what results you want to see in the next period.
So, what is your site’s ultimate goal?
On the one hand, if you are an e-commerce website owner, it’s pretty clear that your site’s goal is to raise the sales numbers, get new customers, and keep satisfied the returning ones. On the other hand, if you are a blogger, you probably want to get recognized in the blogging community and get more followers.
Now that you are goal-oriented, you can start thinking about the pop-up placement.
If you have an online store, we would advise you to include a pop-up on the checkout page. The pop-up should contain some sort of a reward or special offers, like discounts and coupons which will be delivered to users’ inboxes as soon as they subscribe to a mailing list. If you want, you can even place the pop-up on the homepage, so users can see special offers as soon as they get to your website. Just make sure that the pop-up floats around the page rather than making it in-users’-face and annoying.
Bonus tip: If you are not into adding a pop-up on the checkout page, you can add a subtle, email signup checkbox which users can check or not. It’s up to them.
If you are a blogger, you can make the pop-up appear as soon as your blog visitors finish reading a post or, for example, when they scroll 60% of a page. Buffer did the trick with 60%, and it doubled their email signups.
2. Pop-up design
When it comes to pop-up design, we have no universal tip.
The pop-up design depends on so many factors 一 what color scheme and typography you used on your website, who your target audience is, what the goal of the pop-up is, etc.
If we had to give you a couple of tips on the pop-design, it would be to use the same color scheme you used on your website and don’t forget to include a logo. Additionally, you can never go wrong with some beautiful, relevant imagery.
If you need some inspiration on the pop-up design, be sure to check out the post on OptiMonk on twenty pop-up examples or pop-up designs on Muzli.
3. Pop-up copy
A pop-up copy is an essential element of a high-converting pop-up.
Here are some tips on how you can write a compelling pop-up copy:
- Before writing the copy, be sure to remind yourself who your site visitors are and what their problem is.
- Keep in mind that when users see a pop-up, they expect to read that you are offering some exclusive deals or benefits they will get when they subscribe to a mailing list.
- Make the text clear since the beginning, by providing the benefit explicitly for the user. For an e-commerce site, you can write something like “Get 30% off…” or “Get the tees of your dreams! Subscribe and get 30% off your next purchase!”. As a blogger, you can offer your newsletter subscribers a chance to participate in a giveaway or a free e-book.
- If you are a blogger, be sure to mention how often you will be emailing your subscribers. As a fashion blogger, you can mention something along the line “I’ll send you up to two emails each month. No spam, just the most exciting #ootd’s, and latest fashion trends.”
- You can add social proof. If you want new visitors to subscribe to a mailing list, mention how many subscribers you already have. Just be sure to test this trick because, in some cases, this move can actually lower the number of newsletter subscribers in the long term.
- You can include a testimonial in your pop-up copy, as well. If you are having trouble finding testimonials to include in the pop-up text, you can browse through the comment section of your blog posts or products.
Tip #2 一 Rename your newsletter
This tip sounds pretty basic, doesn’t it? Well, guess what? It works and here’s why.
In this day and age, when every site is bombarding its users with newsletter signup pop-ups, a newsletter is a synonym for “spam”. As soon as your users see “Sign up for a newsletter”, they automatically think “If I do this, I’ll get the inbox overflow. No, sir.”
To avoid this negative connotation and encourage users to subscribe to a mailing list, the quickest trick you can do is renaming your newsletter into a “weekly journal”, “digest”, “monthly wrap-up” or whatever you feel like goes well with your brand. You can even change the signup form text from “Sign up for a newsletter” into “Get the latest news” or “Get free updates”.
Tip #3 一 Add a newsletter signup to the comment section
When users decide to comment on your blog post or product, they are required to leave email addresses before they can get to writing a comment. This step serves as spam prevention.
If you think about it, hundreds of emails that go to waste. So, why don’t you use those emails and turn them into newsletter subscribers?
To do so, you can add the “sign up for a newsletter” or “subscribe to a mailing list” checkbox inside the comment section. This trick works amazingly for users that have strong positive feelings about your post or product. A product fan or a blog follower can turn into a subscriber in the blink of an eye.
Tip #4 一 Play around with the signup form placement
If you checked out our WordPress themes‘ designs, you know that we decided to place signup forms in the footer and, in some cases, under the blog posts. These are the most common places in which you can find a signup form. The good news is that you can choose where to put a sign up for a newsletter form.
You can place the form in the header, at the top of the sidebar, on the About page or on the side of each blog post. Just be sure to test out what placement works for your blog or e-commerce site the best.
Tip #5 (for bloggers) 一 Use the power of your Author bio and About page
As a blogger, you shouldn’t neglect your author bio.
If you don’t want to push pop-ups in your blog visitors’ faces, you can encourage them to subscribe to a mailing list by including a simple call to action in your author bio, below each blog post.
So, change your bio by adding something like “I send out free tips on how to _____ (your expertise) to help you _____ (name the benefits users will get after receiving your newsletter)”. Be sure to link “send out free tips”. After that, all you need to do is stand by and watch your email list fill up.
You could add the same call to action at the end of your About page copy.
Bonus tip: You could apply the same trick to your Twitter bio. The only difference is that you’ll need to add a link to your newsletter subscription. You can use Bit.ly or other link shorteners (so the link doesn’t take too much space of your bio).
Tip #6 (for bloggers) 一 Use the content locking method
This is one of the dirtiest tricks in the book.
Have you ever come across a site or a blog filled with useful and compelling content you are excited to read? You decided to browse through the posts and read one of them. You begin reading, slowly scrolling down the page and just when the post got exciting, you realize you are not able to read it anymore 一 the content is “locked”. To unlock it, you have to subscribe to their newsletter or create an account. Bummer!
You could use the same trick on your website.
The only problem we have with this method is that users can feel annoyed when they realize you included this option. This is the reason why we would advise you to lock the super exclusive content, like an in-depth guide or a hundred tips on how to do something. Just be sure not to do this step if you are new to your blogging community because you won’t be able to reach as many users as you would if you offered “unlocked” content.
Just like all the previous tips, be sure to test this one, as well.
Bonus tip: If you are in search of a plugin that will enable the content locker feature, be sure to check out the Opt-In Content Locker for WordPress. This tool will display important content on your for subscribed users only. The reasons why we love this plugin so much is the option for making content to be visible for the search engines and locked for users. The tool also supports MailChimp.
What tips do you have up your sleeves?
And that’s all, folks!
There are all the tips that can encourage visitors to subscribe to a mailing list.
Are there any tips we haven’t mentioned? Share your tips in the comments down below.
Are you seriously suggesting to add a pop-up? Mate, pop-ups are one of the worst things on the Internet. They are great if you want to piss off your users. Just provide proper content and you will get people to subscribe. Cheap tricks like pop-ups may work short term, but in the long term, you wont get solid leads from that.
Hey, Peter!
Believe it or not, I thought the same thing before I started researching to write the article.
My mind changed when I read that exit-intent pop-ups can save up to 35% of the visitors. Additionally, pop-ups seem to work pretty well if you wait for users to browse the site a bit, and approach them when they are thinking about staying on a website (and buying a product) or leaving. Cool design and interesting CTAs also play a huge role in pop-ups’ success. Trust me.
Who knew, ha?!