If you’re looking to wow your customers with a great email experience, you need to start at the beginning.
How do your customers end up on your list in the first place?
I’m not going to waste time talking about buying subscribers or email lists—if you’re doing that, I can’t help you. This is goodbye.
Now that we’ve established you’re not some evil spam lord, let’s dig in.
Getting people to part with their email addresses is a big lesson in trust—we all get enough crap landing in our inboxes every day, so you need to earn your place. Your potential subscriber has got to know you’re the real deal.
As a copywriter and copy coach, I’ve written and reviewed hundreds of websites, and I’ve seen my fair share of great and not-so-great examples, and the big secret to getting subscribers to trust you is…
There isn’t ONE BIG SECRET.
Rather, it’s a huge number of little things that, when added up, tip the balance in your favour.
It’s important to pay attention to all these little details, though, as just one misstep is enough to break that trust and send your potential customer running—often into the warm embrace of your competition.
So, let’s take a look at some of those small steps and see what turns your website into a trust-building—and highly converting—machine.
First Impressions Count
You’ve got to make an impact.
If your site loads at a snail's pace, or your page just looks a disgrace, you’ve had it. Your visitors will write you off and bounce.
If the minute they land on your page, a full-screen pop-up scares the bejesus out of them, they’ll be clicking that big X faster than you can tell them about your views on cookies.
No, you’ve got to take your time.
Let them look around a little. Court them. Impress them.
And what’s the very first thing they’ll see?
Your headline
Does it promise a big benefit of using your product or service, or does your brand name dominate the page, taking up all that valuable real estate?
You worked hard to develop that brand—and probably paid someone a handsome sum to help you come up with it, so you’re proud and want to display it front and centre.
But it’s the equivalent of stunning designer clothes with their label scrawled across the front—a little trashy.
Let your brand speak for itself… and let your headline speak to your customer.
Tell them how you can make their lives better.
Grab their attention—don’t ramble on with self-serving, jargon-filled buzzwords.
So let’s assume you’ve made a good first impression and your customer has seen something they like on your page.
It’s now time to seal the deal and get them added to your list.
It’s time for your Pop-Up to get to work.
Pulling the trigger
There are three main pop-up triggers to choose from, and each of them is useful in its own way.
Timed pop-ups are the most common, and as their name suggests, they appear after the user has spent a certain amount of time on your page.
But how long to choose?
Fire off too quickly, and your potential customer hasn’t had a chance to look around and get to know you. Too slow, and they may leave your page before it even appears.
I’d normally suggest more around 90-120s, but this depends on what you’re selling and how complicated your product is.
The best bet is to test a few different times and see where the sweet spot lies.
Scroll-based pop-ups are the next most frequent—they are triggered when someone has scrolled down your page by a certain amount.
Of course, you need someone to actually scroll for it to appear (see headlines above), but at least you know the people who see it are pretty interested in your product.
Again, it’s best to test how much of your page you want folk to read first.
The final option is an exit-intent pop-up, which will fire when your potential customer looks like they’re about to cut and run. The mouse moves towards the X in the browser bar, and up it pops to tempt them to stay.
This is really a last-chance saloon here, so you really need to make a compelling reason to stay for it to be effective.
Once you pop…
So you’ve got your pop-up picked, but what’s the bait? What will it take to get your potential customer to part with their email?
Well, you need to exchange it for something that they will value.
“News and offers” or “Keep up to date” just won’t cut it—I mean, sure, some folk will sign up, but to really move the dial, a little reciprocity is key.
So what will it take?
The usual choice is a discount—10% or the like, but that’s not always the best option as it has a direct impact on your profit margin.
Is there a guide to using your product you can give away? Or maybe a quiz, so customers know the best product to choose.
Whatever you choose, just make sure it’s something that your customer wants that doesn’t cost your business the earth.
Second Chance Saloon
No matter how well-timed your pop-up is, many people will shut it down without reading it—and usually as they weren’t ready to commit just yet.
But once they’ve had a chance to look around, they want in on the sweet deal you were offering.
Is there another way to get in on your pop-up offer?
Most people know they just need to open up a private browser session to get back what they once had, so don’t be a d*ck about it.
Stick a footer signup at the bottom of your page.
Customers may not be wowed over by your generosity, but as I said earlier, it’s one of the many things that go towards building a great relationship with your brand.
If they have to put in the effort to get the deal you were offering, it could be one step too far.