💬 Driving email acquisition is a big part of TOF/demand gen efforts for SaaS/B2B companies - however, in a 'more competitive' world where consumers/visitors are getting tired of the standard 'pop-ups' across sites, getting the cut-through to acquire emails is becoming more challenging.
Whilst this checklist doesn't specify tactics per se around email content strategy, as the topic/value you present certainly matters a lot when it comes to the decision-making process for someone to consider signing up (don't worry, I've got another checklist that shares growth strategies that can help spark content ideas for your context), this resource can help with ideas and optimisations to make the most of your promotional efforts to collect more emails.
💬 Many of these strategies/tactical optimisations below incl. both 'quick wins' and even cost-effective A/B split tests that you can run - plus, it's not an exhaustive list of tests, but I'm hoping it can spark new ideas that you can apply for your context and goals.
One of the more important components to optimise (and create one if you don't), is having a dedicated landing page for newsletter opt-ins.
I've seen many brands do the footer newsletter opt-in box, blog CTA embeds, or utilising the likes of exit-intent pop-ups, and whilst all of these are critical to do, there's only so much real estate you can show off in terms of communicating the value of the newsletter you run.
And this where a newsletter landing page can really help with conversions of subs.
In terms of opt-in forms I mentioned above (and others I mention in this checklist below), incorporate social proof elements where you can (and where they make sense).
For instance, adding total sub counts (e.g. 10000+ subscribers get this newsletter each week), to quick review snippets, star ratings, faces, etc.
As mentioned in the first checklist point and in conjunction with the one above, adding a newsletter opt-in form in the global footer is a good way to remind new visitors/prospects to signup.
Exit-intent popups are pretty effective when done right for gaining newsletter subs.
A big part of getting them done 'right' when it comes to performance, is incorporating social proof elements like reviews, total subscriber counts, etc on the pop-up itself.
This is a bit more on the advanced side tactically - depending on the software you use (or how you develop them), focus on exit-intent popups based on website behaviour, and tailor messaging based on that - even better, any ICP/segment data you can collect can help with messaging and the social proof content you share on the popup itself to help with conv. rates of new subs.
Advanced tip: The same principle can apply when you know audience data in your CRM, and then have email automation flows for offers targeting these segments specifically.
Something that I've seen a few sites/brands do is add a video embed onto their pop-ups.
I quite like this as it's a good way to engage and stand out to audiences being served - certainly worth A/B testing between image/text vs text and video.
A major component in my opinion that can really dive subscriber counts, is what you're actually offering in the first place - it has to be awesome value in order to really standout.
Audiences are fatigued from the 'stock-standard' newsletter signup CTAs, where they don't show much in terms of what the reader/subscriber is meant to expect.
Focus on giving something of value, like a lead magnet, in conjunction with signing up those to the newsletter.
In relation to the checklist point above and with some of the others, is to test FOMO/scarcity messaging with some sort of value-add "offer" (like a lead magnet).
Particularly around messaging - for example, "CEOs in X industry are reading this each morning to be on top of latest trends..."
Tools and useful content resources (like calculators, ultimate guides, etc) can work really well with acquisition of new subs.
Hubspot and Shopify are masters of doing "free tools" over the years to help with growing subs (and even traffic), and many other brands have done an awesome job too.
Just a small tactic optimisation to be wary of (if you're not doing it already) - tie in newsletter CTA across your social profiles.
However, focus on a particular offer new subs can receive (like a lead magnet) when they sign up.
A tactical initiative I quite like for those who run communities, is angling the community as a "free signup" CTA as part of the newsletter offering.
From what I've seen, audiences like signing up to communities where they can receive value and interact with others - and as part of signing up, they then get added to the newsletter.
A low-budget test you can run is by doing remarketing ads to segments (based on CRM data) to encourage visitors to sign up.
It's worth doing an advanced setup - for instance, you can trigger Meta ads to run (when it reaches the audience volume threshold) and serve ads that focuses on the USP of the newsletter (or drip sequence list you're running), and tailor messaging based on pages they may have visited - as well as other ICP data you may have, such as industries, location, etc.
Just remember to add UTMs to your ads so you can see which is contributing to more subscriptions (and those that are not so you can optimise).
