Ever come across a website that features an email sign-form? Sure you have. If at first you aren’t won over by the stellar content, site reputation or a darn good reason to give up your email address, I’d bet you’d be reluctant to do so.
Speaking of Darn Good Reasons
Let’s say that the content is just “eh” and you have no idea of the site’s reputation, but you’re presented with compelling reasons to give your email address such as a newsletter or some other great benefit, you’re more likely to submit. Those benefits are the darn good reasons.
A Basic Rule of Copywriting Thumb
Offer value to sign up that make sense to your target audience. Think about it, some of the most compelling reasons why you do most anything is because there’s some sort of benefit to you. When it comes to writing effective copy where you’re asking someone to perform a desired behavior, you had better appeal to the ‘what’s in it for me’ mentality; otherwise known as worthy benefits.
Want My Email Address? Tell Me the Why!
Without a doubt, most of us who are well-versed on the Interwebs have a specific email address just for the sake of “signing up” for things. A lot of the time we get junk. And a lot the time we might not “check that email” as often, but when it comes to truly beneficial reasons, we just might offer up a very active inbox address. But, typically not without first knowing the value behind doing so.
So, when crafting this type of content for the web and sending it off to the design team, it’s vitally important to know what makes your visitors tick in order to draw as much attention to the end result. This planning and executing will better entice more email sign-up conversions.
On a particular website we’re working on here at Overit (not yet launched), we were very specific and very aware of the target audience in order to be compelling enough to have the maximum impact on email conversions. We planned and designed content that is very clear, consistent (site-wide) and rich with the valuable benefits that make the most sense to the user and the intended behavior while on the website.
Don’t Just Ask Me, Show Me
While we continue the design and development process we’re making darn sure to inform the audience of the cost (in this case FREE) and what to expect, based on the features that make the most of the experience while on the site. These aspects are at the very point of signing up and not off in some text area away from the point of action.
If you’re looking to increase email sign-up conversions, always keep in mind what your audience is looking for most. Using social media as a “listening beacon” is a means of determining what matters most to your audience and is a very good, cheap way of doing research. You can also check behind the scenes in your Analytics to provide yourself with strong insight as to what makes your visitors tick while actually on your website.
Also, don’t be afraid to come right out and ask from your social media profiles.
Remember, your audience is spending their valuable time on your site and if they know they can be instrumental in shaping the experience for themselves and their peers, they just might surprise you and offer up valuable suggestions that can take your site from working to winning.
At a base level, each visitor to your website is looking for value or a benefit for THEM. Let’s not assume that the fact that someone visited your site that they were so blown away by it that they are writing blank checks for all of your products and services.
People have gotten smart online, while a lot of us have even gotten ‘burned’ in some way, shape or fashion. Keeping this in mind may just help you as a site owner, website designer or content writer to understand that a site without strong value or benefits may as well be a billboard on a dead-end street. If that’s the case, never mind the email sign-ups, you’ve got bigger issues that a website audit can help fix.
