If you're looking to market your product to a large audience, you need a responsive opt-in email list. A large list doesn’t necessarily mean you make more sales. A “lead generation” plays a large part in email marketing, and so does your “autoresponder” as well as your “email swipe”. They allow you to reach a large audience with minimal effort on your part - and it’s a great way to build relationships with your customers. But hold on a minute. What are all these jargons? What is an opt-in email list? This article will explain.
What Does “Opt-In” Mean In Email Marketing?
An opt-in in email marketing does not mean any differently from the terms that we generally use - “opt-in, opt-out”. When they opt in, they agree to receive your marketing emails or newsletters. That’s all it is.
Your site visitor arrives at your lead capture page (where they’re asked to sign up with your newsletter). They are asked to at least fill in their email address, sometimes their name, full name, phone number or more. If they fill in the form and click OK, then that’s an “opt-in”.
What Is An Opt-In Email List?
To have an email list, you need to sign up with an email marketing service provider and connect the service to the lead capture page of your website.
Each time your site visitor signs up (opt-in), their email address will be automatically saved in your email marketing service.
To rephrase it, an opt-in email list is a type of email list where subscribers are asked to sign up in order to receive emails from the sender. And the email list is safely held for you by your email marketing software.
These types of email lists are typically used to send information that is of interest to the subscribers, such as new (affiliate) product updates or blog posts. Opt-in email lists can also be used to send marketing messages, such as alerts about sales or upcoming events.
Why Would You Want To Create An Opt-In Email List?
There are a few reasons why you may want to create an opt-in email list.
- To Make Money - The most common reason is to market your products to a specific group of people. You can use an opt-in email list to send out promotional emails, update customers on new products, e.g. to make sales.
- To Get Feedback - Another reason to create an opt-in email list is to ask customers for feedback on your products or to get feedback on new ideas for your business. If you run a blog, you can also use opt-in email lists to collect reader feedback.
- To Provide Useful Information - Your leads have taken the time to show their interest by signing up with you. So they have the right to receive something valuable in return. You can provide information that’s related to your industry, free gifts, discount offers, local information, events, etc.
Creating an opt-in email list is an easy way to increase the reach of your marketing efforts. It’s also a great way to connect with potential customers and build relationships with them.
Create A Simple Lead Capture Page That Sells
Your lead capture page is the first step in your lead generation process (which means getting your site visitors to opt in), and it's essential that you design it correctly if you want to generate leads and sell products.
How To Create A Lead Capture Page That Works
Creating a lead capture page is an important part of your online marketing strategy, as it’s the way to collect leads and eventually sell products. There are a few things you need to keep in mind when creating your page:
1. Choose Your Platform
Before you can begin creating your lead capture page, you first need to decide which platform to use. There are plenty of options available, including WordPress, Google Forms, and ClickFunnels. Ultimately, which platform is best for your business depends on the features and capabilities that are important to you.
2. Design Your Page Layout
Your lead capture page should look professional and inviting. To achieve this look, use an updated landing page builder such as Thrive Article. High-quality design elements are vital parts that will draw in your visitors.
3. Connect You Email Marketing Service
Your email marketing service software will tell you step-by-step to connect your service with your lead capture page. It’s pretty straightforward as it’s usually copying and pasting their code.
4, Headline
The first thing you need to do is create a headline that will catch the attention of potential customers. Make sure it is catchy and tells your potential customers what you have to offer.
5. Sub-Headline
Next, briefly explain what the emails you are sending out are all about. Make sure you include all of the information potential customers need to sign up for your mailing list but it’s important to make your sentences concise.
6. Include Visual Information
Finally, make sure you include an image and/or a video clip to help illustrate your products. This will help potential customers understand what they are getting themselves into before they opt-in.
How To Create An Opt-In Form Using Thrive Architect
Thrive Architect is a visual page builder that works on WordPress, and it lets you add a great, professional-looking opt-in form within seconds. All you do is connect it to your email marketing service either via API or by copying & pasting the HTML code provided by the service. It won't take a few minutes to create it. Here's how to do it.
Step 1: Choose a Landing Page
Unless you already have your own page, you can choose a landing page from hundreds of templates. Installing will only take a matter of seconds.
Step 2: Drag a Lead Generation Icon
From the side menu, drag a "lead generation" icon to wherever on your page you want to add an opt-in form. This is a ready-made opt-in form. Again, you'll be shown a lot of different form templates to choose from.
Step 3: Copy and Paste Code
Go to your email marketing software and get a code - it should be provided within the "opt-in form" section. The image above is and example from AWeber.
And paste the code here, and click the green button "Generate Form". Your website should be connected to your email marketing service.
It's super-easy, isn't it? If you are a WordPress website owner and wish to add an opt-in form that has more striking design than any other conventional form, Thrive Architect is a good choice. Take a look and see if you can make use of this great software.
Be Clear About Your Offer
In order to get your site visitors to opt in, it's important to be clear about what people can expect in return for their time. So you need to be clear about what your promotional materials are so that you'll be able to convert more potential customers into actual ones!
Offer A Good Incentive - Lead Magnet
One way to get visitors to opt-in is to offer an incentive, called a “lead magnet”. It means offering something of value to your visitors, and you're likely to get them to sign up for your email list.
Here are typical examples of a lead magnet;
- Free ebook or report to download
- An email course
- Giveaway tickets to an upcoming event
- Free access to a webinar class/tutorial
- Discount offer of your product (affiliate product or your own product)
- Special access to your exclusive, “members only” blog content.
When offering an incentive such as the above, make sure to mention its benefits of it and what subscribers will get in return for opting in.
There’s also a disadvantage of offering an incentive - some people are just freebies takers. They opt in, take your offer (e.g. download your ebook), and immediately opt-out. Or they may stay as your leads but never read your follow-up emails.
Make Your Opt-In Page Simple
Make it easy for subscribers to sign up. Your opt-in form should be easy to follow and should require minimal input from visitors. Because too many details may confuse them and too many texts may overwhelm them, bore them, and make them leave the page. By making your opt-in page simple, you’ll ensure that they are comfortable signing up and will not feel pressure in order to do so.
Don't Buy An Opt-In Email List
One of the most eyebrow-raising tactics is purchasing opt-in email lists from others. There is every reason not to, such as;
You May Be Marked As A Spammer
A large number of emails imported into your email marketing software will make the service company suspicious.
It May Be A Bot Traffic
People sell a list of email addresses because it’s not useful for themselves, so they might as well pass it on to others to make money. The majority of the email addresses are likely to be outdated (no longer in use) or even bots.
They Are Not Your Target Audience
Even if the emails are not bots but real humans...whoever’s trying to sell a list will say that the email owners are all “perfect for your niche”. That’s very, extremely unlikely true. They don’t research your niche and pick a list of your target audience, especially for you.
You’ll Be Required To Send A Confirmation Email
When you’ve imported your purchased opt-in email list, most email marketing service companies will require you to send a confirmation request email to the new subscribers. It’ll be their choice to opt-in or out, and it’s likely that most of them will ignore your confirmation request.
Already Bought By Many Others
And even if you are NOT required to send a confirmation request…
People who try to sell a list of opt-in emails may have already sold the same list to multiple beginner marketers. This means - imagine your own email address is included in the list. Somebody has obtained your email address from somewhere and sold it to multiple spammers. All of a sudden you start to receive so many unsolicited emails every day. Would you open any of them?
So don’t buy a list of opt-in emails no matter how a seller sounds like a trustworthy person. A purchased list is useless.
For $299/year or $99/quarter
Thrive Suite Includes:
Very informative article! Infact I am using a tool called Leads2List for lead generation in email marketing. It easily & instantly deposits unlimited Facebook leads straight into your autoresponder.
That sounds like spam software, it’s a problem if it “deposits” leads without the user’s consent. Even we cyborgs would avoid that kind of thing at all costs.