After you have created your email strategy, you can begin to attract subscribers.

A word to caution

Before we get to the next section, it is important to understand one thing: While there isn’t a current law that requires subscribers to opt-in before they are sent marketing messages, such laws exist in Canada and Europe. 

While no law requires opt-in to email for residents of the United States (or any other country), you’ll find that many email marketing platforms explicitly state that you must get permission before adding anyone to your email list. 

It is simple. It’s simple.

In response to an increase in spam emails in the United States, the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act was established. Email marketers must offer a way for users to opt out of receiving email marketing communications, as well as contact information about their company.

This PDF is courtesy of the FTC. See for more information about the CAN-SPAM Act, and the guidelines you should follow to avoid getting into trouble with your subscribers.

How To Attract Subscribers

Now let’s look at how to get people to subscribe to your email list. 

It is important to sign up for multiple options

Rather than adding just one area to your website where visitors can sign up for your email newsletters, you should consider adding multiple. Each page should have at least one opt-in option for email.

There are two reasons why is important: 

• Landing pages can be found by search engine users on any page of your website. You might not offer signup options if they don’t know you send emails.

• Site visitors prefer to skim pages rather than read them from top to bottom. You can make sure they see at most one location by adding more locations.

What number should you increase? That’s up to each individual. Buffer has increased their opt-in locations from 1 to 9, and doubled their email signups. Although this may seem overwhelming, Buffer’s blog makes it easy to read.

Try multiple ideas instead of just looking at one. You can even try them all!

Call for Action for Sidebar and Header 

Signing up for email is easiest in the header area of a website. These are the areas above and alongside the navigation.

To make your site more mobile-friendly, you may need to compromise the responsiveness of the site. You might be able to hide sidebars or implement collapsible navigation to make your site more mobile-friendly.

Another reason to have multiple opt-in areas is that mobile visitors are less likely than desktop users to use this option, even if it’s visible.

Footer Link

Website footers are large blocks located at the bottom of each page that contains links and copyright information. These are great for keeping a link to your opt-in page or email signup pages.

Pre-Content Formulas

Let’s say someone has just read an incredible piece of content on your website. If you want to encourage them to sign up, you should add a subscription call to action at the bottom.

This was done by Buffer who added an opt-in form to their site.

Research shows that the majority of website visitors only view 20-50% of your content. To avoid this, place a form near or at the top of your content. 

We added this box at the top of our blog’s homepage.

This option is available even if you don’t have much to post on your website. You can add a “subscribe” box to the bottom of pages that contain information about your company.

Pop-Ups and pop-Ins

The popup was once considered annoying and intrusive by Internet users. Why?

This may be because pop-ups can be difficult to ignore. However, you likely have already read the text.

Gap does the same thing with their pop-up for subscribers’ savings:

Popups can be easily implemented on your website with a few tools such as:

• SumoMe List Builder 
• Popup Domination
• Dreamgrow scroll Triggered (for WordPress)
• Opt-in Monster (for WordPress only).

Static bars

There are many options available to you to increase your subscriber base. You can make sure they are visible.

A static call-to-action bar, although it might sound intrusive at first glance, is one way to encourage people to sign up for email. As they scroll down the page, they stay with them. They are easy to miss and offer a great way for people to opt-in.

Opt-in bars look like this:

Hello, Bar and Smart Bar For SumoMe are the best tools to create an opt-in bar. They are also completely free.

On Social Media

To increase your email list, you can leverage the social media connections that you already have. This can often lead to incredible results. They will be most likely to sign up if they know what they will receive in return.

Regular posts are a great way to add calls to action for your email list via social networks.

To request signups, you can use Twitter’s Lead Generation Card. This requires a Twitter Advertising account and some financial investment. If you’re committed to growing your list, this could yield a great return on investment.

Retail locations

Are your associates with a retail outlet or physical store? If you have a physical outlet or physical store, you can ask for signups in-person. This will allow you to grow your email list.

Many retailers will ask you to sign-up for email when you shop. This is something that you have likely heard before. There’s an alternative. Customers can sign up.

An app can be installed on a tablet in your store. This screen can explain the benefits to shoppers and prompt them to sign up.

There are a few options for setting up something similar:

• iCapture
• OnSpot (for iOS only).
• Signup Kiosk for iOS
• Chimpadeedoo (for MailChimp only)

Other ideas

How can you collect email addresses to add them to your mailing list?

Signup CTAs may be added to certain locations, such as:

• In your email signature
• Content such as whitepapers, PDFs, and ebooks
• Landing pages

Flyers, business cards, and handouts at trade shows can all be printed materials to promote your list. It won’t be easy to get people to sign up.

How long does it take to get subscribers?

A few factors will impact the speed at which you receive subscribers to your email lists: how popular your site is, how often your emails are promoted, and how valuable you perceive your messages to be.

These are some of the factors that can affect how quickly signups happen. It is important to decide when you have enough subscribers to send emails. 

Let’s move on to email content and design. Next, we will show you how to make your first email marketing message.