How To Gain More Newsletter Subscribers

Let people know it exists

You know what won’t get you more subscribers for your newsletter? Having one little section at the very bottom of your website that says “Subscribe to our Newsletter.” You probably have a better chance of being struck by lightning than by getting someone to sign-up using those ‘tactics.’ Here are some better ways to let users know you have an amazing newsletter.

1. Hello bar – A top bar, slide-in and exit pop-up are all perfect for grabbing visitor attention. Hello bar has all the tools necessary to create all three of these for free with some limitations. The top bar is a horizontal bar at the top of your website that stays out of the way, but can always be seen without interrupting site exploration. The slide-in ad can appear from the left or right sides of the screen and barley covers 10% of it. Exit pop-ups are the perfect alert when someone is about to leave your site. It immediately drags their attention back to the website.
2. Promote in blogs – In the middle, at the end and/or along the right side of your blog page, promote your newsletter to anyone reading it. You can also add a section in the author’s bio that promotes the newsletter.
3. Make cleaver lead magnets – Take your popular blog posts and turn them into lead magnets. All you need to do is convert your most popular blog into a PDF file, then offer it to visitors who sign up to your newsletter.
4. QR Codes – Place QR codes in random locations. Hide them on your website, in a video, on your car or make a sticker and place them in strategic nearby locations. Create a page that tells them what your email will offer or just take them straight to your website.
5. Email Signature – Simple! Put a link to subscribe to your newsletter in your email signature. You’ll be surprised how many people will click it.
6. Comment Checkbox – Add a newsletter signup checkbox when visitors leave comments on your blogs.
7. Free! – Simply adding the word ‘free’ when advertising your newsletter increases the chance of a signup. What sounds better: “Signup for 10 New Tips” or “Want More Tips? Get 10 More Free!”
8. Social Media Bio – Mention you have a newsletter in your social media bio or add Linktree and include several links to your website including your newsletter signup page.

Adjust CTA layouts and buttons

Sometimes the reason why users are not willing to just hand over their emails is because your Call-To-Action is terrible. You can have all the pop-ups, promos, and lead magnets in the world (which is probably a bad idea), but if your CTA does not fulfil a need, then you simply won’t get clicks. People want things, so give them what they want. Review your buyer personas and step into their shoes to figure out what will make them click. If you don’t have buyer personas, here is a tool from HubSpot that can help you build your ideal customers.

Once you build your personas, you can finally understand what might attract and convert your users into subscribers. Let’s get started on those crucial A/B tests.

A/B tests are experiments where you split your audience and test several variations of a subject to find out what performs the best. Tests can range from moving your CTA to slightly changing the design or color. Present your existing design to one half of users that see the button and the slightly new design to the second half. Once you’re done, you can view which CTA leads to more email subscriptions. A/B tests can work for everything on your website and can improve web traffic, conversions and possibly lower bounce rate. This step-by-step checklist from HubSpot is the perfect guide for leading you in the right direction.

Be more social

Social media engagement is the key to creating a real relationship with your customers. Responding to comments, sharing, liking and sometimes following other users will gradually lead to more engaged followers. Once you build up that following, let everyone know you can get them the most recent deals, blogs and news through your newsletter. Promote it across all social media and really emphasize what you can offer them.

Remember, social media is a space where you post interesting content and interact with others. Do not bludgeon your followers with posts forcing them to subscribe to your newsletter (unless your goal is to lose followers and gain a bad reputation). Let them know once a week when a newsletter sends.

Conclusion

Don’t buy or search the internet for emails! A good open and click ratio comes from interesting content and ethical newsletter promotion. If people actually want what you’re offering, they will sign up. If you buy those 5,000 emails, you’ll quickly get a lot of unsubscribes and plenty of angry “Unsubscribe me!” emails. Not only can this affect your relationship with a potential customer, but your reputation can take a hit. By simply following best practices, you will gain real subscribers and eager customers.