I had an interesting experience in a local shop that sells greeting cards, small gifts organizational decor that makes my heart skip a beat. The shop was collaborating with a nearby tea shop in a way that was smart but missed the mark.
The promotion was quite simple. They had postcards with a discount for the tea shop at cashiers desk and samples of tea at the front. When making my purchase, the cashier politely told me about the offer, pointed to the discount card in front of me and to the tea samples at the front. I happen to like the tea shop, but my brain quickly processed the effort and time it would take to go over there. In my mind, I already said no. However, I think that if they had simply placed additional samples at the cashier, I would have been much more likely to try the tea and if I had really liked it, I may have reconsidered. Without anything truly drawing me in on an emotional "feeling" level, my rational and logical brain took over.
My early career was in visual merchandising for fashion retail brands and I'll forever be intrigued by how small adjustments in layout can make big changes from a sales and service perspective. This small miss in placement at the greeting card shop made me think about how it translates in the digital space. And the place my brain went to first was with an email signup form.
Building an email list is one of the most important things you can do for your long-term marketing strategy. Even if you aren't ready to launch a consistent email campaign, start growing your list - today.
I know many businesses are doing amazing things selling via social media. Don't get me wrong, depending on your business, selling on social is a real thing and another important part of the puzzle. It's just not something I would ever want you to rely on as your sole marketing vehicle. Although someone may follow you on social media, you never really know when and how often they will see your content due to ever-changing algorithms and you never know what could happen to that platform in the future.
With email, you'll have a direct line of communication to your tribe. Obviously, there are best practices to avoid the dreaded spam filter, but otherwise, it's in your hands to craft a great subject line and provide value in your content. For a quick jump start, I wrote a blog post called, Get People to Read Your Content. It was written with blogging in mind, but the advice works the same for crafting emails. Instead of the blog headline, think subject line.
When it comes growing your list, be sure you have a way for your website visitors to signup for your email newsletter. For some advice on designing and placing a winning email signup form, I reached out to a friend and collaborator Ariana Kamar, Designer and Strategist behind The Design Executive. Ariana works with clients to grow their businesses by creating a better user experience on their website.
To increase your odds of your website visitor to sign up to receive your newsletter, I’ve asked Ariana for her top five tips for making the most of your digital real estate.
Ariana:
Just like Arica’s example of the lack of visual merchandising, that failed to connect her to the tea shop, a poorly placed emailed sign-up can mean a make/break difference! So consider these as you think about where and how you’re placing your email sign up.
To pop-up or not to pop-up: Pop-ups for newsletter sign-ups are easily disregarded. So unless you’re offering a discount, download, or exclusive content, your pop-up will likely fall on deaf ears (or in our case, eyes).
Your website header or footer is where email sign-up forms go to die. It’s the easiest place to stick it, but unless you have the catchiest copy, color and font choices, you may as well forget about it. Add it to the middle or end of blog posts or About pages to grab people while they’re already engaged with you and want to know more.
Keep it short: From your Call to Action to the form itself, shorter can be better. Don’t create “form friction” by asking for too much info upfront!
But don’t be too short: Don’t rely on a “Sign Up” header and “submit” to get you far. Branded, clever Call to Action text can go a long way to attract people to join in.
Use your data: Looking at how many people sign up using difference Calls to Action and different placements is the only real way to know what’s working. So try it out, wait, and adjust!
Thank you, Ariana! Be sure to check out The Design Executive website and follow Ariana on Instagram at @thedesignexec for great tips on designing a website with intention.
As mentioned earlier in the post, even if you aren’t ready to begin regularly emailing your list, start building your list today by simply adding or revamping a signup form to your website.
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For more tips on email marketing and list generating ideas, be sure to join our list below.
