One of the most important decisions you can make as a business owner is to grow your email list. And by extension, that means your website should have a manner of collecting email addresses from anyone who lands on your website.
Sure, you can grow your email list through social media and you can even use events and trade conferences to gather the information which you will import into your email list. But, none of those methods beat your website.
Here are three reasons why opt-in forms are a must have on your website.
1. More Targeted Approach
By using opt in forms on your website, you can take a far more targeted approach to growing your subscribers. The best way to go about this is to forego the regular popup forms and forms that float in your sidebar or below your posts.
Instead, you can focus on offering a 2 step opt in form. The way they work is that they only show up after a visitor clicks a link in your content. The best part is that you are now offering targeted content that is directly tied to the topic your visitors were reading about. This allows you not only to offer more specific content which dramatically boosts the chances of them signing up, but also to segment your list in a very powerful way and send your email subscribers even more relevant content.
You cannot do that on social media where you are limited to only one call to action. Usually, that call to action is very general and doesn’t go well with all the content on your website.
There are a number of ways to use 2 step opt in forms. Aside from offering more content on the topic at hand, you can also offer them discounts to certain products in your ecommerce store or offer printable coupons which they print and bring to your physical store to get a discount.
Additionally, you can use them to offer access to a members only content, or area that isn’t available to anyone else.
2. They Help You Build a Personal Relationship with Your Audience
Having a large number of social media followers and daily website visits is nice, but it doesn’t mean much if those people aren’t engaging with your content. To turn leads and visitors into customers, you need to establish a personal connection with them – which is harder to do online than it is in offline.
One of the best ways to establish a personal relationship is to grow your email list. And when you use opt in forms on your website, you are increasing your chances of people signing up for your email list.
You then have a complete access to their email inbox where you can start building the relationship. You can lead them through a welcome sequence which introduces them to everything you as a business have to offer.
You can then funnel them through your sales sequence while educating them and helping them solve their problems, either with specific tips or by pointing them to content you’ve already written on the topic.
You can also invite them to reply and engage with you as well as send them targeted emails for their birthday or any other important even in their lives.
3. You Own Your Email List
Finally, the most important argument for opt in forms on your website, is the mere fact that you own your email list. Nobody can take that away from you. You are free to export it to another provider and to get in touch with your subscribers when and where you please.
On social media, you don’t have that luxury. You’re dependent on the social media platform to stay popular for as long as you’re in business. This equates to putting your business under someone else’s control and hoping it’s a smooth sail.
You’re also at the mercy of various algorithms that determine when and if your social media followers even see your content.
But your own email list? You own it. You control it. It’s your most valuable business asset. Treasure it.
Final Thoughts
There is no better way to finding quality leads than growing your email list. The visitors who subscribe are already interested in what you have to offer and will be a lot easier to convert to paying customers and clients. But you won’t be able to get those quality prospects without finding a way to gather their email address. The most effective way to do that is to implement optin forms throughout your website.
Do you have optin forms on your website? Which optin forms convert the best for you? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!