How to increase opt-ins and build a quality marketing contacts list

What actions you carry out, to increase your opt-ins and build a quality marketing contacts list, is really a trial and error process. This is because visitors to your website or blog want different things, based on what you are offering.

If you are more business advice orientated site, then overlay pop ups are going to more than likely frustrate visitors who have to click off them to view the actual content, however if you are a retailer and offering discount in this overlay, as long as the user signs up to your newsletter, you could see more positive results. It’s a case of experimentation, you might have to take a hit on your engagement numbers but you could significantly increase your conversion amount, as this experiment found.

Do your research when it comes to the type of marketing you wish to conduct, do you want to go for solely email based, newsletter type content or go with a mobile messaging service provider, such as Global Messaging, and have personal text messages sent out to your visitors?

Here you’ll find five great ways to increase your opt-ins and that ever-important contact list:

5. Headlines

Think like a national newspaper and get creative with your link headlines. You want something catching and appealing to your visitor, are you offering a service or solution? Discount on products? Something beneficial for free if they sign up?

Phrases such as How I can Help you Succeed, Find Out the 7 Things you Need to Know and Limited Offer Get 50% Discount, are all headlines that should catch the attention and interest of visitors. Limited offers instil a sense of urgency and you should see opt-ins increase quickly over a short space of time. Of course, you need to give up the goods for this to work, so make sure your offer isn’t unrealistic.

4. Use your homepage

If you aren’t using an overlay pop up (we’ll come to these later) then your landing page is the first thing that visitors will be interacting with. Make sure the option to opt-in is clearly visible on here; most people do this by creating a form with a catchy headline and a short list of benefits outlining why people should be signing up.

Be sure to include your social media stats on your home page, if you are trying to build up a contact list you want to look reputable and well liked online so these new visitors also want to be a part of the action.

3. Install a Hello Bar

A Hello Bar is a simple drop down bar, which displays itself every time your user clicks onto your website or goes through to a new page on the site. It’s not too obtrusive so usually gets a good response, but because it isn’t as in your face it can be missed. Go for bold colours and we’ll say it again…a catchy headline to encourage visitors to click through and opt-in.

2. Blend with content

If you provide advice or informative pieces on your blog or website always make reference to your readers being able to receive more information or posts like the one they are reading first if they sign up to the newsletter. If visitors enjoy your content and feel like they might benefit by reading more this should work out as an effective method.

1. Overlays

Overlays are a bold move to make, they pop up when your user clicks through, usually after around 7 seconds so the page has time to load in the background and encourages visitors to sign up there and then. It’s risky because a lot of people will simply click the cross at the top to get to the main site without really reading, but if you include the option to opt-in on the homepage as suggested above you’ll catch them again without being so obtrusive, but the idea has already been planted.

With all these tactics in place you can simply sit back, relax and watch a quality contact list grow, full of eager site visitors, ready for you to send your marketing information out.

Published by Kidal Delonix (1200 Posts)

Kidal Delonix is a contributor to Mr. Hoffman's blog. The views and opinions are entirely his/her own and may not reflect Mr Hoffman's views.