Seven changes you can make so they subscribe and stay
Last week I wrote about the people who leave your list. This week is about the people who join it, and what you can do to make that an easy decision.
- Tell them what they’re getting. “Subscribe to our newsletter” tells a stranger nothing. Say what the emails contain and how often they arrive, right where someone signs up. A stranger should be able to decide in five seconds.
- Put the signup where interest is already high. Use the end of a blog post, the confirmation page after an event registration, or a QR code at the event itself. A link in the footer is the weakest placement you have.
- Ask for an email address and nothing else. Every extra field costs you signups. You can learn the rest once they’re reading.
- Show a sample. Link to a past email or an archive. People commit to what they can see.
- Make the welcome email do the work. It will get the highest open rate you ever see. Use it to confirm what they signed up for and give them something useful right away.
- Give forwarded readers a way in. Someone who receives your email from a friend is as warm a prospect as you will find. Put a signup link in the email itself. This is where “is it shareable?” starts to pay off.
- Let people choose their list. If you run more than one, offer the choice on the signup form so each person is segmented from the first email.
I’m personally still working on executing on tips 5 and 6—which makes them a little awkward to recommend—so consider this my public deadline. I’ll have them done by the end of the year!
Have a great weekend, friends.
Go disrupt something,
Christen
