Image by: kroppek_pl
By Dexter Lunde
We’re officially in the middle of 2014. How have your marketing strategies worked so far this year? Have you been making your goals? If you’ve been having trouble getting views to your website from your e-mail mailing list or if you’ve found that you’ve had a number of customers unsubscribe to your e-mail mailing list, here are some tips to help boost those numbers and the interest from your fans.
#1) PopUps
Personally, as a web surfer and internet savvy guy, I hate popups. They are the bane of my existence. That being said, it has been proven (by case studies) that they actually work. So consider placing a popup for your website on your website. More specifically, why not have one pop up on your blog or where you place your web content.
If you work with WordPress, check out PopUp Domination. If you don’t use WordPress, don’t worry, there is a standalone version as well. PopUp Domination allows you to customize your pop up with variations in color, header, image, and call to action. The popups look professional and are a great tool if you want to turn those viewers into subscribers.
I suggest checking out sites like GetDrip, UnPop, and Slide In which provide “unobtrusive popups.” These are popups that don’t hinder the view of the content from your visitor. They just sit politely in the corner of the screen or move the text slightly to the left. While these popups work fine in web browsers on your computer and laptop, sometimes they still hinder the view of the text in mobile browsers. It just depends on your layout.
#2) Partner with Other Websites
Just like you can partner with other companies in order to create big events (for example, partnering with a grill or barbecue place if you have a fishing shop), you can also do this with your website and to generate more traffic. You can benefit from the clients and customers from your partner and vice versa.
Try to gain a partnership with a company with similar interests. Let’s take a look at the example that I just gave. If you have a fishing business (where you take guys out to fishing spots and teach them the basics of fishing, as well as have a storefront with lures and the like), you wouldn’t benefit from partnering with a fancy restaurant or a place which doesn’t have a clientele of anglers.
Instead, look for bigger websites (they often will generate more traffic to your website and are more trusted in the community) that may be interested in your company. Look for hunting shops in your community with a website, or a camping shop.
#3) Work with What You Have
It may not be an issue of needing a whole new set of tools but perfecting what you do have. Utilize services like Crazy Egg which help you get the most out of what you already have. Crazy Egg will help you see what users are doing on your website.
Perhaps they’re not clicking on your e-mail sign up banner because it is at the bottom of your page and they never get that far? Maybe they just can’t see it because the page is just too busy.
Crazy Egg offers tools like scroll maps (to see how far your viewers scroll on your page), heat maps (which help you see what your users are most interested in on your pages), click-tracking overlays (to see where they click the most – and least), etc. Their visualization tools make it so easy to find out more about what your viewers do and how useful your current layout is.
If you’re interested in checking them out for yourself, check out the video below or click on the link at the beginning of this section.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3f-2WG7ONc
#4) Maybe It’s the Form
Maybe you’re not getting subscribers because your forms are too complicated or boring. If I want to subscribe to a mailing list, I want to know that what I’m subscribing to won’t be boring or too complex. What makes me think that I’ll enjoy the experience if I find the form hard to fill out? Gravity Forms is a great WordPress add on that will help you generate advanced forms (something a bit more than just “e-mail address” and “name”).
#5) Maybe It’s Your Content
One of the main reasons why people unsubscribe from mailing lists is that they find the content to be boring or “not what they expected”. So make sure that you’re keeping up your end of the bargain. Make the content new, timely, informative, and entertaining.
Every now and then, a contest or raffle for dedicated and loyal subscribers may come in handy as well. Check out Rafflecopter, which will help you run giveaways. It’s a viral component which means that your contestants get their friends to join the contest as well. In other words, it spreads like a virus.
Now it’s your turn. What works for your website? Do you find that e-mail mailing lists work great to help generate traffic to your website? What types of tools do you use to help generate subscribers?