Sign Up Success: Your Guide To Grow Email Contacts

The internet subreddit and LinkedIn business forums of the world are replete with debate on acquisition strategies, and “how to grow your contact list” is certainly a lightning rod in that realm. Still, the emphasis on your historical contact data is paramount to leveraging the equity of your business in a formal evaluation, but many businesses may overlook this, particularly if it’s not in your immediate purview early on.

Additionally, some may have concerns about poor user experience or site-speed lag that could negatively impact conversion rates, but the upside is worth it. In short, it’s not what you know; it’s who you know… and you can’t get to know your customers, if they don’t know you. So let’s take a look at what your business can do to make new friends.

Sign ’Em Up!

Dive into this brief breakdown of the advantages with signup forms, when your company is ready to get serious about growing your book of business.

Make the First Move

Forget the burden—use your pop-up as best-in-class real estate to promote coupon codes and loyalty incentives to active site visitors. Not only does this qualify inbound traffic (and prospective contacts) by intent, but it serves as an invitation to solicit a shopper researching your products. That’s prime time for any business looking to greet their guests at the front door.

Let It Make Cents

Cost per acquisition is a vital metric in most cash flow equations, so earning customer contact information effectively grants your business the right to market to a shopper carte blanche in the highest ROI vertical in modern marketing: their email inbox. Don’t fret about immediate conversions either; it’s a numbers game, and no matter what, the more contacts you have, the more conversions you’ll earn overtime… as long as your correspondence is strong and consistent.

Forever Ever

Collecting email addresses increases customer lifetime value of your clients and enables your business to continually capitalize on repeat buyers, but it also allows you to home in on your most ardent supporters. These perks can serve as critical talking points in casual conversation, resulting in increased referrals and expressive brand loyalty. That’s a win/win no matter what.

Permission Granted

Marketing consent allows campaign operators the ability to capture buying behavior through cart automations and proxy log-in credentials. Missing out on the opportunity to cash-in on this low-hanging fruit would be remiss for any business hoping to bolster their target audience.

Trust the Process

If you’re still reading, it’s safe to assume you’re at least partially sold on leveraging signup forms for your business. Great, but now let’s analyze different types of signup options to align them with a winning strategy to capture more contacts.

Signup Form by Type

Before developing your strategy, you should understand the different types of signup forms listed below that you can leverage on your site.

Teaser Forms:

If you’ve made it this far, let’s talk about teaser forms. A teaser populates after a user exits a signup form without providing their email. (Oops!) We typically recommend using this tactic with a small circle or rectangle on the side of the screen that users can click on to bring the form back up. (SOS!)

The teaser is a very valuable addition to your signup strategy. Some users exit the form but realize after browsing the site that they actually do want to hear from you, typically after plunging further into the internet. If you offer a discount within your form, use that in your teaser as well for a solid one-two punch.

Don’t Discount Your Timing

Most business-driven signup forms incentivize users with a discount. (Obviously.) Whether or not you choose to include one is a business decision to make based on your margins and sales goals, but if growing your contacts is a priority, it should strongly be considered. Not only does it increase your submit rate as well as conversions attributed to your welcome series, but moreover, it’s the cornerstone of any customer lifetime value assessment—meaning you can market ancillary product bundles to increase average order value and shipping incentives or anticipate restocks with current clientele.

Marketing Misers

Choosing not to offer a discount incentive doesn’t disqualify your website from participating. These other options grab attention and garner more contacts:

Double vs. Single Opt-In

Another frequent question is whether we should use double or single opt-in for subscribers. First, what’s the difference?

Double Opt-In: The subscriber signs up via form or checkout. They get an email asking them to confirm if they want to receive email communications. If the user marks yes, they get funneled into the email list and receive a welcome communication. If they do not interact at all, they will not enter the email list.

Single Opt-In: The subscriber gets funneled into the list and the welcome series queue as soon as they fill out the form. No further action on their part is required.

You may want to use double opt-in if you are just starting your email marketing journey or have a low sending reputation. The users who take the time to complete the second step are far more likely to be engaged subscribers (re: valuable), which will help strengthen your sender’s reputation.

When deciding which avenue to take, prioritize your sender’s reputation. If your benchmarks are good, consider switching your signup forms to single opt-in to further flesh out your contact list.

Set It and Forget It

The best way to know whether your signup form is successful is to monitor the submit rate actively. A strong submit rate is 2.5% of users opting into your communications. If you see a low submit rate, especially under 1%, you’ll want to recalibrate your strategy and implement further AB testing.

Know Before You Grow

Now that we’ve reviewed signup form options and best practices, you’re ready to grow your list and see your email strategy take off. Remember that the success of your signup form is the first valuable step in a strong email marketing strategy.

If your business is finally ready to sign up more site visitors and leverage the equity in your current acquisition strategy, reach out today for a complimentary campaign review and account audit from our email marketing experts to learn about hidden opportunities for your company.

Rachel Cahill, Manager of Email Marketing Strategy Operations

Rachel Cahill is the Manager of Email Marketing Strategy Operations, where she oversees strategy customization opportunities to capture awareness and leverage demand for our clients. In her six years at LP, she’s worked with clients in nearly every business vertical to help them develop winning online acquisition strategies. In her free time, she enjoys literature and theatre to exercise her zest for life.

Logical Position, an Inc. 500 digital agency supporting 5000+ clients across North America. LP is proud to be the reigning recipient of Google’s Lead Generation Premier Partner of the Year award! The award-winning agency offers full-service PPC management, SEO, Paid Social, Amazon and Creative Services for businesses large and small. As a Google Premier Partner, Microsoft Elite Partner & Meta Business Partner LP is in the top 1% of ad spend managed across platforms.