Unlike social media and search engines, email lets you deliver personalized communication to your target audience. It’s a one-on-one channel that allows you to communicate with potential customers until they convert and maintain that relationship into the future.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 81% of B2B marketers use email newsletters. That shows just how important email communication has become.
However, successful email marketing campaigns hinge on a robust and engaged email list. So let’s look at how you can collect email addresses from people genuinely interested in your newsletters.
10 proven tactics to collect email addresses
Studies show 74% of customers are willing to share their email addresses with brands and retailers. But you’ll need a calculated approach to reduce friction and ensure prospects can submit their email addresses hassle-free.
So, here are ten ways to collect emails and build a strong email database.
1. Opt-in forms
Opt-in forms allow you to gather email addresses from website visitors who willingly agree to receive updates from you.
For example, the Futur has this nice newsletter opt-in form for collecting emails:
When creating your opt-in form, focus on collecting only the relevant details. A typical opt-in form should include fields for:
- The lead’s full name (first and last names), and
- Email address
But, depending on your industry or the value you offer, you can collect additional details that’ll help you segment your list and personalize your content. For example, you can ask for:
- Gender
- Location
- Occupation, etc.
In the B2B sector, particularly, it’s common for opt-in forms to request additional details such as job title, company name, or industry. This can be done when you’re offering valuable resources like research studies or industry insights. Here’s one example from Veridien:
If you must request additional information, consider using something like a progress bar to show the users how close they are to getting done with the form.
Display the opt-in form on your home page, about page, blog, or contact page. If possible, have it on all these pages since you don’t always know where visitors will go first. But, no. We don’t mean that you should dump numerous forms on your website. A nice tactic is to place the email collector on your site’s footer so it’s visible across all your web pages.
See this example from Primary, a kids’ fashion brand.
Other great placements for your signup form include:
- Your page header or navigation bar
- Sidebar
- Within your content: e.g blog post or product page
Email marketing best practices encourage linking your privacy policy to your opt-in form. That way, you show customers how you’ll use and protect their personal information. This can help you gain their trust.
2. Clear and compelling CTA
A compelling CTA is often the final push that could help you collect a person’s email address if they were initially hesitant.
Your call to action should be “actionable.” This simply means that it should outrightly tell users what to do such as “Join the email list”, “Get the free ebook”, or “Download the guide.” It’s also important that your CTA aligns with the content it accompanies.
Here’s a nice and catchy CTA example from Backlinko:
You can use various types of CTAs to prompt user action. This includes CTAs that:
- Create a sense of urgency. For example “Join Now” or “Secure your spot.”
- Highlight a major benefit. For instance “Get your 10% discount” or “Save 10% now”
- Emphasize the user’s interest, this works best with an engaging copy. For instance “Send me the guide”
Always make your CTA button noticeable. Use contrasting colors to make it stand out. The buttons should also be large enough so it’s easy to spot.
3. Free resources
Free resources are powerful lead magnets that encourage new customers to provide their email addresses in exchange for valuable content.
Examples of resources you can offer for free include:
- E-books or guides: that provide in-depth information on topics that interest your target audience. For instance, a fitness brand can offer a free e-book on “Best meal plan for cutting.”
- Webinars or online courses that teach valuable skills or enlighten people based on your area of expertise.
- Templates or checklists that can help your audience achieve a specific goal or easily perform a task. For instance, if you offer social media services, you can give a free social media template.”
You can also provide whitepapers, exclusive research, industrial statistics, or interviews that provide insight into your niche.
Ali Abdaal, for instance, offers a free template on his website:
In another example, Little Coffee Fox offers a variety of resources “worksheets, printables, and more.”
Always choose resources that align with your target audience’s pain points. You can do that by conducting thorough research to identify the common challenges your niche audience experiences.
Start by engaging your audience to see what their major pain points are. For example, Myoovi uses a pop-up on their site prompting users to share their biggest concerns.
Also, consult industrial guides or public statistics and research. Look out for recurring patterns, complaints, and challenges your average audience deals with.
Finally, look at competitors and see the resources they typically offer to their audience. What types of content, tools, or guides are they freely giving out? See if there are any gaps you can cover.
4. Product giveaways
Next on our list of how to gather emails for mailing lists is product giveaways.
When done strategically, product giveaways can create buzz around your business and boost your email address collection efforts.
Check out how Coconene uses an enticing product giveaway as a lead magnet to collect emails:
Here’s another example from Foreo:
We like that Foreo adds a countdown timer to create a sense of urgency and leverage FOMO (fear of missing out).
Like Foreo, provide clear rules about your giveaway and how winners will be announced.
Even if they’re freebies, consider giving products that customers actually like. That’s how to encourage participation. You can leverage high-demand products that won’t affect your profit margins if you give them out.
5. Contests and quizzes
Contests and quizzes are effective tactics for gathering email addresses.
Quizzes take advantage of your audience’s curiosity and they can boost engagement rate/ dwell time on your website. It’s advisable to tailor your quizzes to specific interests so they’re more appealing to participants.
Types of quizzes you can use to gather email addresses include:
- Personality tests
- Knowledge checks
- Product recommendations
Structure your quizzes in a way that’ll help you better understand your users. Take the quiz on Organic Olivia, for example. The questions are targeted to discover what customers experience so that the right product recommendations are made:
Make your quizzes short and direct. The questions should be easy to understand and answer. Otherwise, your visitors’ engagement could wane.
With contests, participants are expected to perform a task to win a grand prize.
Some contest ideas include asking participants to:
- Refer friends
- Use your hashtag to share content
- Take pictures with your products
Host your contest on a dedicated landing page where interested prospects visit for opt-in instructions. Ask participants to provide their email addresses as part of the entry process. That’s what Rock Bottom Golf does in the example below:
Make your contest worthwhile by offering prizes that resonate with your target audience. For instance, Rock Bottom Golf promises a Ray Cook putter and wedge to the contest winners and a separate prize for two runners-up.
Promote your contests and quizzes across multiple channels to increase participation. For example, you can use your social media accounts to build buzz and spur interest in your contest.
6. Loyalty program
79% of customers say they buy more from brands after joining their loyalty programs. So, beyond collecting email addresses, loyalty programs can boost your sales.
With these programs, you reward loyal customers by offering nice incentives. But customers join by filling out your opt-in form, which helps you collect more email addresses.
Different types of loyalty programs you can use include:
- Points-based programs: Customers earn points after each purchase and redeem them for rewards.
- Tiered: Customers progress through different levels based on how much they spend on your products. Higher tiers often have more benefits.
- Paid memberships: Here, you’ll offer exclusive perks for a membership fee.
You can also run a loyalty program that combines elements of each structure. For example, beauty brand Blume runs a point-based and tiered loyalty program called Blumetopia:
In another example, Mac’s loyalty program combines the point-based and tiered structure.
Cultivate interest in your loyalty program by offering rewards that appeal to your target audience. Some examples include discounts, exclusive content, early access to new products, or special offers.
Like Blume and Mac, communicate how customers can take advantage of your loyalty programs. You can automate a welcome email where you’ll show new sign-ups how to level up or earn more points to get rewards.
Also, encourage current members to invite their friends and share the program across their social media platforms for a wider reach.
7. Email capture pop-ups
Email capture pop-ups are small windows that appear on your website and prompt visitors to provide their email addresses in exchange for a special offer or incentive.
See this example from Surfstitch:
Pop-ups are triggered by specific actions— like scrolling down to a particular section on your web page, clicking a button, or simply staying on that page for a while (say 15-30 seconds).
You can also exit-intent pop-ups which are triggered when users are about to leave your website, just like this one.
See also how Health Aid leverages social proof by saying they have more than 40K email subscribers.
Your pop-up should have a compelling headline, a brief description of your offer, and a form for users to enter their email addresses. Keep the pop-up uncluttered and use minimal fields.
As with the opt-in form, include a link to your privacy policy page telling users how you use their data.
Pop-ups, because of their “sudden” nature, are effective for capturing attention. They can produce great results when optimized with a well-written copy and clear CTA.
8. Facebook Ads
Use Facebook ads to support your email marketing efforts. The platform has about 2.9 billion monthly active users, making it a great digital marketing channel. You can tap into this audience through targeted ads that send leads to a landing page where you’ll capture email addresses.
Here’s a good example from Dole’s Facebook page:
A Facebook ad allows you to reach users based on attributes like demography, interests, and behaviors.
Use the Meta Ads Manager (Facebook Ads Manager) to set up your ad as this will allow you to access more personalized targeting options. You’ll also be able to create ads that display across multiple fronts affiliated with Meta. For instance:
- Messenger, and
- Audience network.
Note: you can only access the ads manager if you have a Facebook Business page.
Try various ad formats like images, videos, or carousels to capture attention and drive engagement. Also, use engaging descriptions and include visuals that enhance your ad copy. Highlight incentives like exclusive discounts, free resources, etc., to encourage sign-ups. And, of course, use a clear CTA.
Always review all elements of your ad before publishing. Confirm that the budget, targeting, and content check out. It’s advisable to start with a small budget to test the effectiveness of your ads before scaling up.
Finally, use Facebook’s retargeting options to reach users who have previously interacted with your website or ads.
9. Personalized landing pages
Personalized landing pages dynamically adapt their content, design, and messaging to match unique visitor attributes like interests, behavior, and location. These landing pages will often have different copy, visuals, or calls to action based on how visitors get to your site.
Here’s a perfect example on Curology’s site. One landing page is tailored to users who want “clearer skin”, and the other is crafted for customers interested in “skin and hair treatment:”
Here’s how to gather email addresses through personalized landing pages:
- Have a clear understanding of your target audience. What’s their demography? What are their interests, pain points, etc.?
- Have a clear value proposition stating what leads will gain. Tailor this to your target audience’s specific needs (like Curology above).
- For each page variation, provide incentives that directly resonate with different prospect groups in your target audience.
- Ensure your landing page has a clean design and is optimized for mobile devices.
Also, include a prominent CTA button and email collector on the landing page. The page should be optimized for mobile too so it’s more accessible to various leads.
Use the GetResponse landing page creator to build these pages. Our platform gives you access to lots of responsive templates to create highly effective landing pages.
10. Live chat app
We conclude this list of how to collect emails with live chat apps.
Set up an automated live chat on your website to address visitor queries and in the process, prompt them to provide their email addresses. This is effective because those who interact with your live chat often need your support or guidance when navigating your site or accessing your product offerings.
Most live chat apps allow you to embed lead capture forms directly into the chat window.
Foreo, for instance, has a live chat that prompts users to input their names and email addresses before starting a conversation.
Another tactic you can adopt is to have visitors provide their emails after the conversation.
Ensure your live chat agent/bots are well-versed in your products, services, and company policies. Also, consider using automated triggers like time on the page or scroll depth to make your live chat pop up and get some attention.
Conclusion
A strong email list is made up of leads or customers who want to hear from you. In this post, you learned how to collect email addresses from such customers to boost the ROI of your email marketing strategy.
Use tools like opt-in forms, email capture pop-ups, and personalized landing pages to collect email addresses from site visitors. Additionally, offer incentives like free resources and product giveaways to encourage responses. Use loyalty programs to reward committed customers and let leads provide email addresses to join. Finally, consider running targeted Facebook Ads.
That’s your foolproof strategy for collecting email addresses. Apply them to build an engaged email list.