Opt-ins are a tool that collect a subscriber’s name and email address via input fields so you can communicate with them through email. Your web visitors can “opt-in” to receive content or a lead magnet like newsletters, a video series, or an eBook. These offers typically educate or entertain about a specific area of interest. Your opt-in form should be contextual, relevant to the user’s experience without feeling intrusive. There are several types of opt-ins, including floating bars, sliders, inline, footers, headers, sidebars, welcome mat, gamification, and different kinds of pop-ups.
- You should have an opt-in form on every page of your website in the footer or sidebar.
- No matter where someone is on your website, they should be able to subscribe to your email list.
- The offer on your opt-in form should appeal to all your visitors, even if they have different interests.
For example, use an opt-in page to request an email address in exchange for subscribing to your newsletter for the latest tips, tricks, and best practices.
Pop-ups are a very popular type of opt-in form. For example, there are time-delay pop-ups, scroll-delay pop-ups, exit-intent pop-ups, and two-step pop-ups. A pop-up is a graphical interface offer with a display area for visitors to enter their name and email address, which suddenly appears in the website’s foreground. Consider adding pop-up forms to your homepage or other high-traffic pages to capture as many visitors as possible.
- Use your Google Analytics to identify high-traffic pages on your website.
- Promote your main incentive or lead magnet with the pop-up.
- Use pop-ups on related content pages within your blog too.
Some email marketing solutions, such as AWeber.com, offer the AWeber Sign Up Form Builder to create pop-up forms and customize the display settings. Or integrate a third-party service like OptinMonster, MailMunch, or HelloBar with AWeber.
If you want to launch a marketing campaign to sell a product or register visitors for an event such as a webinar, a landing page might be the best option. On a landing page your target audience takes direct action and accepts an offer. This could be signing up for a free trial, enrolling in courses, registering for a live event, buying a product, or making an appointment.
The people who are coming to your landing pages are grazing for solutions. For your landing page to be the thing that makes them feel like you are the answer, you need to do a few simple things. First, make your page easily scannable. Your main point must be in your headline. Use your subheading to reinforce or explain your value proposition. Use bullet points to share the benefits. Feature great artwork and use various fonts and colors to drive your visitor to take action. I know this sounds like a lot of work, don’t forget this just is step one to get your web visitor engaged with your brand.
We’ve all clicked through an interesting ad on Facebook looking for more information only to find yourself on a lame landing page that you abandoned. Maybe it was poorly done, offered an outrageous result, had too little information, or a confusing call to action. I don’t want you to represent your brand this way. So if you need sales, pay close attention. Start with these areas of concern:
- Determine Your Conversion Goals. The first step for any great landing page is to determine your goals. What are you trying to do? Build a list? Sell subscriptions? Build your sign-ups for your newsletter? Build an audience for an eBook? Build a survey audience? It’s important to define conversions goals before you get started.
- Check Out the Competition. Success leaves clues everywhere. Pick out three business brands that target the same audience as you. Review their website, landing pages, and special offers. Notice how they are positioning themselves? How can you duplicate their success? If your competitors are doing something that works, you should do it too.
- Determine Your Audience. Who is your target customer? What are they struggling with? What are their hopes, dreams, and aspirations? The better you understand your audience, the more you can position yourself as their best solution. Focus on their wants and needs so that your copy can demonstrate empathy with your audience.
- How Will Your Prospect Find Your Landing Page? It might be beneficial to change your message depending on where your visitors come from – a different message might be appropriate for users who arrived at your landing page coming from a Facebook Ad vs. a Webinar. Ideally, you want to tailor your landing page content for each group. Start with one custom landing page first, and then add others once there are more resources. Personalization will build trust that much faster. Strong landing pages are focused, relevant, and persuasive.
11 Places to Promote an Offer on Your Website
I will share all the places to put your opt-in or lead magnet offers on your website. It’s all about being strategic because, at the end of the day, you don’t need readers; you need buyers. You need buyers, but buyers won’t buy if they don’t know what you offer.
And buyers won’t know what you have to offer if they don’t enter your carefully planned, super helpful sales funnel. And that means placing your opt-in on your website in a tasteful but obvious place to remind your web visitors that you have great things to offer.
The goal here is to get sign-ups without interrupting the user experience. You do not want to be intrusive.
#1: IN YOUR HEADER A great way to showcase your lead magnet is by placing it prominently at the top of your page in the header of your website.
#2: IN THE FOOTER A footer is another great place for an opt-in or lead magnet. A footer opt-in is usually a longer rectangle size, and I like to add a call to action like “before you go…” and add a different form of copy than the earlier opt-in. You can also just use a text-based navigation link.
#3: IN THE SIDEBAR If your blog uses a sidebar, the best option is a square image showcasing your opt-in. This is a great place to put an offer to sign up for your newsletter.
#4: WITHIN A BLOG POST, IN-TEXT ONLY Don’t underestimate the value of adding some text within the blog post to mention your opt-in organically. For longer posts, you could mention the opt-in twice where it makes sense within the copy.
#5: WITHIN BLOG POST AS AN IMAGE I use images in most of my posts, and I embed the image with a link to the offer or an opt-in. I also add a catchy headline just before the image to draw a bit more attention to the image.
#6: WITHIN THE NAVIGATION BAR You can add the opt-in to your navigation. The nice thing about this placement is that readers naturally spend time looking at the top of a page. Use the Hello Bar plug-in in WordPress, or you can also simply include a text-based link in the top navigation area.
#7: ON A SLIDE-IN A slide-in pop-up offer is a more stylish way of using a pop-up, and it is less intrusive. It can make the pop-up less jarring for your readers. You can also set it to a time delay so that it comes in 10-30 seconds after the reader has been on your page.
#8: AN EXIT-INTENT POP-UP
This pop-up is the exit intent pop-up. It only shows up when the viewer tries to use the back button or close the page. It’s one last chance to get their attention and remind them to sign-up before they go.
#9: USE A WELCOME MAT
A welcome mat pop-up covers the whole page with your offer immediately when a prospect lands on your page. It leaves them no navigation option but to sign-up or opt out. Some people use a guilt-inducing opt-out copy like “no thanks, I don’t need a 20% discount” or “no, I’d rather miss out.” You can also create a homepage that is ONLY your opt-in. Be careful with this option. You can turn off new visitors with this kind of mandatory offer.
#10: ABOUT ME PAGE
The About Me page is a fantastic place to showcase your opt-in because people are there looking for more information about you, and that means they are coming to the page already interested. Share your best lead magnet here. Make sure the copy is relatable; you want them to feel like you are just like them or relate to them.
#11: CONTACT US PAGE
If they have landed on your contact page, it’s because they want to contact you. So, make it even easier for them but offering another opportunity to sample your brand and get on your contact list. Create a graphic, insert a link, add some brief text reminding them about your offer.
Remember, be strategic and use all of the real estate on your website to maximize your building your email list or making sales. People can only sign up if they see your offers, and most people need to see an offer several times before taking action. If you need help getting your email marketing efforts together, check out my new course, The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing over on www.smallbizladyuniversity.com
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