How to Compel Your Customers to Opt-In: Top 5 Proven
Strategies for Email Conversion Optimization
It’s pretty tough building relationships and engaging with fleeting customers.
They visit your site, the numbers are there - but how do you capture their
attention long enough to make a sell?
Enter email marketing. With the power of a freight train and the warmth of a good
friend’s touch, email marketing places your business in one of your customer’s
most frequented and intimate locations, their inbox.
How you go about optimizing your email opt-in page for conversions should be
treated as a science. Don’t blow your chance to make a great first impression by
making random decisions or by operating on a gut feeling. According to Kim
Garst, CEO and Co-Founder of Boom Social! Social Media Marketing, the single
most important action to increase conversions is consistent and thorough A/B
testing.
Anne Holland’s WhichTestWon, the top weekly online publication in conversion
optimization, states that “90% of marketers conducting tests report gaining
moderate to big results from them”.
It is important to test how each element of your page affects conversions. Your
business is unique in every aspect from reaching new customers, daily
operations and accounting, budgeting, etc. – so, why should your website be any
different? In order to find the perfect solution to convert your visitors to loyal
customers, you will need to test, measure and improve.
Prominent Headline
Unbounce claims that the headline is one of the most important tests to run and
the first areas visitors see.
Your headline is the first line of text that your consumers will read. It should grab
their attention and compel them to take action. Headlines should also be benefitoriented.
In one case study, Reebok increased email opt-in conversions by 40% with a
simple text change. Is your headline causing you to miss 40% of your
conversions? Fortunately, the headline is a simple change that you can easily
make, most times, without even using the help from your programmer or tech
support team.
You can test different headlines and evaluate your visitor’s response. Support a
strong headline with an explanatory paragraph to describe your page. Be sure to
emphasize the benefits of your email subscription within the headline.
Make a Compelling Offer
The bottom line for your customer will always be “What’s in it for me?” Don’t
make users search for the benefits, cut to the chase and highlight the benefits
prominently on your email opt-in page.
Austin McCraw of the Marketing Experiment Blog state that the Value
Proposition, or what you are offering your customers, is the foundational element
marketers should test using PPC ads.
Give your consumers a reason to be excited about subscribing to your email list.
Make them an offer they can’t refuse by providing an exciting incentive that they
are interested in, in exchange for their email subscription.
Rob Cornish Doubled His Email Opt-Ins By 167% With An E-Book
When Rob Cornish of Gain Higher Ground set out to boost his email opt-in
conversions, instead of the video he had previous been using, he began offering
an e-book called “101 Profitable Niches Analyzed”.
With a simple change to his opt-in form, Rob began to capture double the
amount of user who otherwise would have just fallen through the cracks. Instead
of his previous video offer, Rob chose an image of his e-book, which by title was
already extremely relevant to his ideal customer - the online entrepreneur.
Instead of this non-scannable, unknown video, Rob pumped up the benefits with
a downloadable e-book of clear interest and doubled his conversions from 5.4%
to 11.3%.
A person’s email address is highly guarded information. In order to gain their
email address, you must prove your website’s trustworthiness and credibility.
According to Marketing Sherpa, “Tactics that deliver value to the customer such
as purchased products, downloaded material and webinars develop trusted
relationships which enable customers to share email addresses and contact
information.”
There are numerous ways you can provide apparent value to customers in
exchange for their email addresses. However, when you know and understand
what it is that your customers want, you can easily discern which incentives will
be most effective when it comes to your audience.
Squaw Valley Ski Resort increased email conversions to 30%
with a relevant Facebook contest.
In another case study provided by Inside Facebook, they utilized the power of
social media to reach a young, mobile audience. By promoting a Facebook
giveaway contest to their already engaged and somewhat interested Facebook
following, Squaw Valley Ski Resort was able to capitalize on the timing of the
2014 Winter Olympics to drive a 30% conversion rate.
For your business, the incentive should be totally unique and customized to the
passions and interests of your target audience.
Farmer’s Market Built An Email List With 20% Conversion Rate
in a Small Community with User Buy-In
When one of the Farmer’s Market’s major clients closed a deal with only 5 days
notice, Farmer’s Market initiated a revolutionary email campaign that focused on
the passions of their potential customers and established them as a caring,
supportive, community-based business. They managed to build an email list with
20% conversion rate. Here’s how they did it:
They created a program “Farmer’s 4 Good” in which they donated up to 10% of
revenue towards a charity of the customer’s choice, making customers feel their
shopping was for a good cause.
Case studies such as these go to show that when you pay attention to your
customers, whether it is through complex marketing analytics or simple customer
service observations, you will find innovative ways to connect with your
customers in a genuine way.
Call to Action
The Call to Action is similar to the “point of sale” at the checkout counter. You
want the user’s experience to be seamless. All the convincing and persuasion
has gotten them this far, and the last thing you want to do at this place – is to
frustrate or deter consumers from sealing the deal.
Conversion XL lists the Call to Action among the 20% that makes 80% of the
difference in conversion optimization. The results are indisputable.
E-Commerce Site Increased Conversion By Over 35% With Color
Change
Simple details such as text and color can make a tremendous difference. A
European e-commerce site that sells handmade porcelain garnered a 35.81%
increase in conversion with a simple color change to their call to action button.
NatureAir Increased Conversions By 591% By Re-Positioning
The Call To Action.
NatureAir was a traveling site with 17 landing pages designed to push customers
to book their reservations. By placing their call to action within the text
description about the destination, they boosted conversions from 3% to 19%,
placing their revenue at an all-time high even in the middle of a recession.
Another important consideration for the “Call to Action” is the verbiage that is
used. A Scandinavian gym increased conversions by 68% by changing the text
on the “Call to Action” button.
Why did this work? The more relevant your call to action is, the better.
Form Fields
Another ultra imperative factor near the call to action is the amount of information
that is required from the user. Be sure to keep the information at a minimum,
however, test which fields convert the highest.
Evergage places form fields as number one on their list of the most important
elements to boost conversions.
While a general rule is to keep the number of form fields to a minimum, for some
businesses, a higher number of required form fields can present a level of
credibility to potential consumers and drive more subscriptions.
Such is the case of TruckerReport.
TruckerReport converted 13.56% more visitors by increasing the
form fields.
TruckerReport is a website that truckers go to in order to find jobs as well as
connect with other drivers. An email only form field, in this case, would appear to
be “spammy” and was proven not to convert as well as the multiple field form.
While the public voice may declare that fewer form fields convert at a higher rate, the
results will vary from business to business. Not convinced?
Kindercare, national childcare center franchise, tested two forms with a shorter length
and longer length:
It turns out (drum roll, please!) that the longer form converted at a higher rate and led to
higher quality leads than the shorter form.
Now, don’t run and add more form fields to your opt-in page. Too many irrelevant form
fields will only annoy visitors and deter good leads from signing up. Request the
necessary information and test, measure and improve upon each format.
Now, let’s take a look at the flip side:
Flying Scot improved form completions by 35% by reducing the
number of form fields on their site.
They went from this:
To this:
The form that you’re using should be relative to the type of services and benefits
you are offering. If you’re offering a free e-book, and requesting the person’s
name, address, phone number and other information that isn’t really needed, you
can potentially avert customers from signing up for your offer.
Add Social Proof: Asserting Your Website’s Credibility and
Trustworthiness
“Trust on the web is huge” claims Kissmetrics blog when discussing the most
important elements to boost email opt-ins.
Adding a few logos of acclaimed newspapers or businesses will show potential
customers that your business is trustworthy and reliable. Often overlooked,
adding social proof can dramatically increase your conversion rates.
The Conversion Rate Experts shared a case study, in which they optimized their
email conversions by adding social proof to their website. Top Cashback was
soon celebrated as the 5th fastest growing company in the UK.
How did they do this? They first examined what was causing their nonsubscribing visitors to drop off. The Conversion Rate Experts used a survey to
determine the areas of improvement. Top Cashback is a company that offers
rebates to their members who shop online and buy from their affiliates, but upon
research, they discovered why they weren’t converting.
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People didn’t understand how it worked.
Some people thought they wouldn’t get their cash back.
Some people figured that it was too good to be true.
Others thought there would be barriers to collecting their cash.
Customers were having a hard time deciding that they could trust this website.
So, they added social proog.
CRE discovered that Top Cashback had been featured in several well-respected
sources like The Guardian and the Independent. So, they proved their credibility
by placing the words “As Featured In” with well-known business logos near the
“Join Now” button. This alleviated the customer’s fears that it was “too good to be
true”.
The Conversion Rate Experts were able to reduce drop offs and improve
conversion rates by 74% by establishing a greater trust level with their audience.
Which Opt-In Format Is Best?
According to eConsultancy, overlays are the most powerful way to gather email opt-ins
from new visitors, earning up to 400% more subscribers than inline forms.
With a squeeze page, conversions are optimized because it allows you more
space to sell your benefits.
Michael Port increased his email opt-in conversion on his business blog, Book
Yourself Solid, by 167% by switching from an email opt-in box to a squeeze
page.
Before:
After:
Squeeze pages have the advantage of providing clear, focused directions for the
user as well as giving you the space you need to lay out the benefits to the
consumer.
The Power of Testing
There is no secret formula, you have to create your own. By consistently testing
different strategies, you are guaranteed to steadily improve and learn more about
your customers and boost your conversion rates.
You may be surprised at how the simplest changes can make the largest
difference in your email opt-in conversions. Whether you are using an inline form
or a squeeze page, test every detail of your email opt-in page. One thing is for
certain – assume nothing, test everything!
Sources:
http://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/design-call-to-action-buttons/
https://econsultancy.com/blog/62406-how-to-raise-your-email-opt-in-rate-threecro-case-studies-on-overlays
http://conversionxl.com/case-study-how-we-improved-landing-page-conversion/
http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/split-testing-blog/career-advice-and-ab-testing/
http://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/how-to-write-a-call-to-actionthat-converts-with-case-sudies/
http://www.conversion-rate-experts.com/voices-case-study/
http://moz.com/blog/lessons-learned-from-21-case-studies-in-conversion-rateoptimization-10585
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/marketer-builds-email-list20#
https://econsultancy.com/blog/62406-how-to-raise-your-email-opt-in-rate-threecro-case-studies-on-overlays
https://kimgarst.com/7-steps-to-a-highly-converting-opt-in-page
http://whichtestwon.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/10/StateOfOnlineTestingReport.pdf
http://www.evergage.com/blog/most-important-elements-your-online-formsboost-conversions-and-revenue
http://blog.kissmetrics.com/guide-to-optimizing-funnels/