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Customer retention is one of the most effective tools for unlocking a business’s growth. It costs five times as much to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an old one. When existing customers forget about a business, that business must spend more on marketing to compensate for the loss. It makes sense to do everything you can to avoid that loss in the first place.
Email subscriptions are a great way to get people who are interested in your product into an extremely affordable marketing funnel that will keep customers coming back for more.
Be Sure You Have an Email Marketing Automation Platform
Email marketing automation programs are tools that use advanced algorithms to send emails on behalf of a business. Using these programs can increase customer retention by:
- Allowing businesses to send automated, targeted emails.
- Helping to segment email lists.
- Helping to track the success of email campaigns.
With an email marketing automation program, businesses can set up triggered emails that are sent automatically when a customer takes a certain action, such as making a purchase or subscribing to the email list. You can also segment email lists and send targeted emails to specific groups of customers.
Some of the more popular marketing automation programs include:
- MailChimp – This service started as a simple mailing list tool and has since grown into a full-fledged automation program.
- HubSpot – One of the original marketing automation companies, HubSpot offers many automation tools, including email.
- Drip – Another company with a full suite of eCommerce automation tools, Drip is rapidly building a name for itself.
Most platforms have a low-cost option for smaller businesses and tiered pricing that lets businesses expand once their company begins to grow.
How Do I Set Up an Email Subscription (In WordPress)?
If your business uses WordPress, a plugin will need to be installed. There are many available, and the setup process for each is similar. We’ll demonstrate how to use the Email Subscribers plugin. Setting up the plugin is easy. Simply follow these steps:
- Find the Email Subscribers plugin – Do this from the WordPress Dashboard. Find the Locate Plugins option, select Find New, and search for ‘Email Subscribers”
- Install and activate the plugin – Once the plugin is found, click on the Install Now option. When it finishes installing, click on the Activate Plugin option.
- Set up the Plugin – Go to the Email Subscribers settings page and configure the plugin according to business needs.
How Do I Create a Subscription Pop-Up?
To create a subscription pop-up in WordPress, another plugin is needed. One popular plugin is Popup Builder by Elementor. To begin, install this plugin using the same directions as above, but search for Popup Builder instead. From there, building a pop-up is easy using the steps below.
- Choose a template – Popup Builder comes with many templates. They’ll appear after activating the plugin. Choose one for an email subscription.
- Modify the template – The template editor will allow changes to be made to the text and images. Businesses should change these to match their brand.
- Customize the pop-up – Use the Triggers and Advanced Rules pages to tell the software when to show the pop-up. To maximize conversions, it should only show after a few pages have been viewed and only show once.
What to Include on an Email Subscription Form
Email sign-up forms should be kept as simple as possible. Every additional field a user is asked to fill out is additional friction in the process and another chance for them to get distracted or change their mind. Email subscription sign-up forms should be limited to:
- an email address field
- a submit button
Some companies may also choose to ask for the user’s name, in order to better personalize the emails. Anything else, however, will reduce the conversion rate.
Begin Building Leads
You can use a number of strategies to encourage people to sign up for your email list, but the most effective method is to offer something in exchange for an email address. This is referred to as a lead magnet.
A lead magnet is an enticing offer that provides value in exchange for an email address. It gives people a reason to hand over their contact information without feeling like they’re being sold to.
A lead magnet can be anything from a free e-book or report to a coupon or discount code. The important thing is that it provides value to your target audience and incentivizes them to sign up for your email list.