We all know that email marketing is a key activity for any business. If you’re still not completely convinced then take a look at these stats:
In 2017 the total number of business and consumer emails sent and received each day was 269 BILLION (and this figure is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 4.4% over the next 4 years). Source: Radicati Group
Email marketing has a median ROI (Return on Investment) of 122% – over 4 times higher than other marketing channels including social media, direct mail and paid search. Source: The DMA & Demand Metric
Marketers have seen an increase of 760% in email receive from segmented campaigns. Source: Campaign Monitor
Ensuring you have a consistent stream or new subscribers to your list is critical to make email marketing work for you but so many businesses overlook the first part of the customer journey – the subscribe form.
With GDPR now in full force (if you need some guidance on how it affects email marketing take a look at one mom my previous blog posts here) transparency between businesses and their customers is now more important than every.
It’s vial that your signup form actually makes people want to subscribe to your list, whilst of course being GDPR compliant. You need to have the perfect balance of a sexy CTA (Call to Action) and boring legal jargon.
Here are some things to think bout when reviewing (or starting) your email signup process.
Placement
Where is the signup form on your website? In the footer right at the bottom of the page? Buried deep in your website on a page that doesn’t get much traffic?

Research done by Holistic Email Marketing and Pure 360 found that 87% of brands put their signup form “below the fold”. Below the fold is a term used by newspapers and means any content that is below the middle of the newspaper. It’s considered less important and less likely to be seen.
Potential customers can’t subscribe to something if they can’t find the signup form!
Make sure you put yours somewhere that gets noticed IMMEDIATELY – either the header banner or the top half of the page.
SOCIAL MEDIA
So now people can actually see your signup form the last thing you want to do is distract them – your ONLY objective is to get them to press that big red button (it might not be red, but you get my point 😀).
You might this it’s a good idea to give people a choice, but usually when faced with options people either take the first one, or none at all.
What would you do when seeing this signup form?

Another thing to bare in mind here is whilst a Facebook like or Twitter follow is good as it gives your brand social proof that you’re a good company to deal with, you don’t actually own any of that persons information.
You’re at the mercy of the social platforms algorithms deciding when (or even IF) your message gets seen.
If you have a persons email address you can communicate to them DIRECTLY straight into their inbox.
INCENTIVE
While your potential customers may be a little more comfortable handing over their email address post GDPR (sorry I mentioned it again!) you still need to give them a compelling reason to do so – “Join our Mailing List” is a conversion killer if ever there was one.
Think very carefully about what you can offer your potential subscribers in exchange for their email address, you want to add value wherever possible.
Sell products? Maybe offer a discount on their first order or free shipping.
Provide services? Show your expertise by giving a free consultation, downloadable guide or review.
People don’t want to subscribe or sign up – they want to save, they want first access, they want to earn reward for that email address they’re providing you. Demonstrate that reward.
FORM FIELDS
Knowing everything you possibly can about your potential customers will help you to provide the right information to the right people at the right time but the signup form IS NOT the place to ask for it.
Would you really fill this in?

If you do sell shoes then knowing all of this information is an absolute must if you want to send specifically tailored emails to help increase your conversion rates. But how do you get it if you don’t add it to the signup form?
Use Progressive Profiling.
Think of it a bit like dating 😀. You wouldn’t get down on one knee on the first date so start building the relationship and finding out more information as you go along.
Possible options can be redirecting them to a profile page once they’ve hit the subscribe button or sending out a welcome email with a hyperlink in it to an “Update your preferences” page.
BUTTON TEXT
Unless your name is Anastasia Steele most people aren’t that keen on submitting. Does your signup button use “submit” or another S word like “sign up” or “subscribe”?. Not very enticing is it?
Think outside the box (literally!) and using something sexy and engaging thats in line with your brand language and makes people desperate to hit that button.
GDPR TEXT
Whilst you need to comply with GDPR regulations you’re just going to put potential subscribers off if you fill your signup form full of legal jargon.
Include a link to your Privacy Policy so people can access it easily if they want some sleep inducing bedtime reading, and a checkbox for them to confirm that they actually want to hear from you.
If you’d like more tips and advice straight into your inbox to get your website more visibility in google’s search results sign up to the dm fairy flyer.
We promise never to spam (you can unsubscribe at any time) and we might even make you giggle 😂