“The most important thing is the list! (the value is in the list). You've probably heard this statement before, which sums up what every marketing manager should consider a priority: collecting their emailing database. Yes, but how do you go about capturing the valuable email addresses that will allow you to create a personal connection with your prospects and/or customers? Here are a few ways to achieve this, all revolving around a fundamental notion: offering added value in exchange for data.
Use a quality plugin (ex: Formcraft) to create the form for your contact page. It is an essential vector of database collection.
If your service makes it possible to isolate specific requests (example: price request for the construction of a house, price request for the rental of a motorhome, reservation of a dietetic coaching session, etc.), create a ad hoc form, ideally sequenced in several screens, where you will collect a whole series of information, including the email address of the prospect. I recommend Typeform for creating this type of form. You can push the result to your CRM (and/or your newsletter management platform) using Zapier. These forms can also be used as “landing pages” in your acquisition campaigns (Facebook, Google, etc.).
If you run a business with branches located on Google, I also advise you to create an HTML file version of a form for each business page. The hidden parameters of a Typeform form will notably allow you to know the source of each form received.
Propose an article whose first quarter is freely accessible while the rest requires the introduction of the reader's email address. You can use a WordPress plugin to restrict access to sections of your website.
Offer a PDF of a catalog, ebook, or white paper in exchange for a prospect's email address. Make sure to provide quality content. You can try to launch a viral loop by suggesting that your prospect share a page where others can also download your lead magnet. This also applies to the other tips discussed in this article.
If a visitor is about to leave your e-commerce site without taking action, offer a discount coupon in exchange for their email address. Several plugins allow you to configure the display of an exit pop up, such as WisePop, a specialist in the field.
For this technique as for others, you can increase the appeal of the call to action by a countdown which limits the validity of the offer in time (= the famous FOMO effect (Fear Of Missing Out), fear to miss something).
Offer a user to attend a webinar (or a classic event) for free in exchange for their email address. Many services allow you to recruit viewers and organize your webinar (example: Clickmeeting).
Create a price discount module with Typeform (or with a dedicated service like Calculoid), inviting the prospect to communicate their email address to receive the result.
Hello Bar allows you to add a “top bar” to your website where you can collect email addresses, provided you offer a sufficiently incentivizing “call to action”. Do some A/B testing to choose the message that will be the most effective (the discount coupon mentioned above is generally a good approach, if you manage an e-commerce site).
There are several tools that allow you to create landing pages whose main objective is to generate leads. I have already mentioned the possibility of using a multi-step Typeform for this purpose (refer to 2°). You can also opt for Unbounce, Lead Pages or Instapage, or even design your own landing page via your favorite CMS by prominently inserting a form.
There are also even more radical techniques (to be used in moderation to avoid putting off your prospects) such as Sumo Apps Welcome Mats, landing pages for the exclusive use of collecting email addresses through a call to impactful action, where we rely on the visitor's agreement (the "no thank you" allowing the form to be closed if necessary).
The landing page can also take the form of a “Coming Soon” page (with a countdown before the launch of a service), inviting users to sign up for a waiting list.
Add a live chat module (Intercom, Crisp, Drift,…) to your site. All offer you the option of asking for the email address of your interlocutor to provide him with a delayed response. As a general rule, the user will register.
A classic method to boost your list of subscribers: at the end of each article of your blog, insert an email capture form (for example with the Bloom plugin or one of the tools of the Sumo Apps suite), inviting your readers to sign up to receive new articles in their inbox.
Avoid the customer of your physical point of sale having to re-encode receipts. Offer to send him a copy of his note by email (this is what Apple Stores offer via their mobile sellers).
Invite your prospects to register to participate in a draw (weekly, monthly, etc.). If you manage a physical point of sale, the jar or urn technique is always very effective.
You can set up email address collection forms for your field teams, as part of street marketing operations, business development or during professional events, so there are many opportunities to collect prospect data in exchange for information sent by email.
Communicate about the possibility of subscribing to your newsletter in the signature of your professional emails, on your Facebook page, from time to time via the URL of your Instagram account, or regular tweets, etc.
If the value is in the list, the effectiveness of the collection is in the repetition of the requests, without falling into excess: avoid multiplying the techniques (ex: pop up + slide in + inline) on one and the same page of your website.
Warning: whatever the mode of capture of email addresses, specify to the user that the introduction of his email will register him to your mailing list, from which he can of course unsubscribe at any time (remember insert an opt out link in each email you send). Add a statement about email capture in the privacy section of your terms and conditions.
Beyond email
The purpose of this article was to suggest different ways to collect email addresses. Of course you can also collect other data, including the very valuable phone number that will allow your sales team to contact a prospect.
Be sure to find the right balance depending on the data capture modes to collect your emailing database. A prospect will be more inclined to communicate his phone number to take advantage of an exclusive limited-time offer than to receive an ebook or a white paper (no reason to communicate his phone number in this case).
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