In this era of ever-changing tech one thing that has remained a constant is Email marketing. Email marketing is one of the most efficient, most profitable forms of marketing, and brings in billions in sales every year, with arguably the lowest outlay and the highest ROI.

A well planned, well written email campaign can do amazing things for your business.

But you can only use email marketing on people whose email addresses you have, and who have actually opted in to your communication.

So how do you grow your email opt ins?

We are going to take a look at some tried and tested methods of increasing your email data-base, and ultimately your customer base.

How to grow your email opt ins

Add a sign-up button to all of your emails

This may sound silly, as you already have the person’s email address if you are mailing them. But the rules of marketing dictate that you need an official opt in before you can start sending your promotional emails and newsletters to someone.

Not every person you email has opted in. Think about it. You email invoices, order confirmations, and all kinds of other communication to all kinds of people. If someone has just ordered something from you this is an excellent time to prompt them to opt in for marketing mails. They are already a customer, you just need to make them a loyal customer.

If you’re creating great content people could also be sharing your emails with others, and on social media. All in all, it’s a good idea to add an opt in button to your emails.

Put a “Sign Up” form on every busy landing page on your website

Your website is going to be the focal hot spot for most people for your business, and you have to capitalize on that by making it easy for them to opt in. What’s more is that stats show us that  more than 70% of people who visit your website will never return!

You can significantly improve your return-visitor rate by including an email opt in on busy pages which will allow you to communicate with those people again.

The added advantage is that people who sign up on your website are already engaged, and marketing to them is that much easier to do.

Collect Email addresses when people sign up for events

If you host an event, get people  to register in advance. This will give you a great opportunity to collect essential contact information. Make sure you include an opt in for emails so that the person doesn’t feel that they are being spammed when you mail them later.

Collecting emails at your events also allows you to follow up with customers after the event, encourage attendees to leave you positive reviews, and find out what aspects of your offering is most attractive to them, and what doesn’t work. It’s a great time to garner all kinds of valuable customer information.

Create amazing content

The most sure-fire way of getting people to opt in to your emails is by giving them content that they want. Whether you’re offering fashion advice, creating amazing vlogs or giving people essential educational material, you need to be providing your audience with information that they are looking for.

If they love your blog, vlog, or whatever else it may be that you’re offering as content, the chances are they will be more than happy to come back for more. In fact, they won’t want to miss out on whatever you do next.

Create gated content

Another way to use content to get people to opt in is by giving them just enough on your free pages to hook them, and then offer a free  download, whitepaper, e-book or webinar (or even a song if you’re selling music) which can only be accessed if they sign up with their email address.

Have a dedicated opt in landing page

You should make sure the landing page for any opt in offer is very user friendly and simple. You don’t want your audience to be distracted by anything else while on the sign up page.

Keep it as to the point as possible and don’t create long forms full of questions.

All you need is their email. At most, their email and their name so that you can personalise their marketing.

The rest of their information you can collect as time goes by with the use of SMART forms or other machine learning techniques.

Then don’t forget to give them a little thank you message before the page closes.

Using a pop up page is a good idea. As soon as they have completed the sign up and seen the thank you message they go directly back to where they were.

Create opt in / sign up freebies

This is similar to the gated content concept above, but in this instance you would give away actual goods to your audience for signing up. It doesn’t have to be something big, it just has to be something they want. From a free T-shirt to a set of free samples and free gifts.

Give away sign up / opt in vouchers

In this instance you would offer a voucher code to each new person who opts in to your email list which could entitle them to a discount on your merchandise, free shipping, a free service or a voucher for a discount (or even a coffee) with an affiliate company.

The added advantage of offering a voucher is that your customer is most likely still going to spend something with you, so you are making a sale which may have gone to a competitor and you are gaining a customer who you can market to who already has experience with your company and your products.

Use a “don’t go” pop up

Another way to leverage your existing online audience is to have a pop up which encourages visitors to sign up. You have probably seen this often while browsing the web yourself. We recommend, though, that you don’t scare your visitors off by having a pop up that pop’s up the moment they land on your website.

Even those sites who wait a few minutes before pop ups ask you to sign up can be annoying. What is more user friendly to most visitors is if you offer a the opt in pop up when they are leaving your webpage or your website.

Use a strong call to action on Social Media

If you’re not on social media with your brand yet then you need to go and get that sorted out right now. Your business needs a presence on Social Media - especially if you are in Ecommerce. Once you have that all set up, make sure to include clear calls to action with easy to follow links which allow audiences to sign up.

Facebook and Instagram are both fantastic in how they allow you to integrate a sign up or learn more button right into your posts and onto your page.

Remember your Simple Sign Up list

If you are involved in community events, have a brick and mortar store or have any other kind of presence in a physical space where your audience can engage with you one-on-one, be sure to always have a printed email sign up list and a pen handy (or an iPad).

These customers are already experiencing your brand and your products and services which makes them that more more marketable, too.

Create a Call to action to opt in at your point of sale

Make it part of your transaction process. A great way to do this is to create a checkbox which states “sign me up for your newsletter” or something similar.

Get featured on a big publication

Offer your content on a well-known publication. Don’t talk about your products or your self too much in your post. Just address a topic from an “expert” point of view (this should be something which is relevant to your brand) and then link to your website and an opt in in your bio.

Answer your audience's questions

You would be surprised how many members of your target audience are already on Quora. It is well worth your while to go in and answer their most burning questions from a point of view of a professional. Again, keep to the topic at hand - don’t go on too much about your business - you are not trying to sell here.

You just want sign ups. You can end off your answer with a call to action, promising more  in-depth and relevant information to anyone who signs up for your newsletter.

Some more great ways to grow your opt in database:

• Host a webinar
• Host a giveaway or competition and give additional entries to those who sign up
• Create a quiz and deliver the answer via email
• Offer a free tool or software in exchange for their sign up
• Use Facebook advertising to drive traffic to your opt in form
• Engage on Facebook groups
• Participate in LinkedIn groups and join conversations
• Ad a QR code to your printed material which takes the visitor to your opt in page
• Add an anti-spam policy so they know you won’t sell their details