The simplicity of social media makes it easy to gain new followers each day. With a simple call-to-action, likes, comments and shares are generated at the speed of a click. Collecting an email address on the other hand requires a little more finesse. Here is a 5-step formula for creating the perfect opt-in piece that will build your email list and help drive traffic to your website.
Research Your Audience
It’s important to know who your ideal audience is. Research is paramount, but doesn’t have to require a lot of time or skill. Here are a few ideas to easily help you determine who your market is and how you can provide an opt-in piece that will resonate with them.
Research your industry on your social media platforms and on websites like Buzzsumo to see what is trending. Is there a gap in the information out there you can fill? Are people asking questions on Twitter or Facebook Groups that you can answer?
Use SimilarWeb to find out what keywords the experts in your industry are targeting. Find out which websites they attract viewers from, and where viewers go after visiting the expert’s site.
Scan your social media channels for shortened bit.ly links. Find one on the topic you’re interested in, copy and paste it into your browser with a ‘+’ sign on the end to find out how many clicks it received. If you see a lot of clicks, it means it’s topic people are interested in.
It’s important to know who your ideal audience is. Research is paramount, but doesn’t have to require a lot of time or skill. Here are a few ideas to easily help you determine who your market is and how you can provide an opt-in piece that will resonate with them.
Research your industry on your social media platforms and on websites like Buzzsumo to see what is trending. Is there a gap in the information out there you can fill? Are people asking questions on Twitter or Facebook Groups that you can answer?
Use SimilarWeb to find out what keywords the experts in your industry are targeting. Find out which websites they attract viewers from, and where viewers go after visiting the expert’s site.
Scan your social media channels for shortened bit.ly links. Find one on the topic you’re interested in, copy and paste it into your browser with a ‘+’ sign on the end to find out how many clicks it received. If you see a lot of clicks, it means it’s topic people are interested in.
Evaluate What Problem Can I Solve
Researching your audience offers valuable data on trending topics, problems and news surrounding your industry. How can your service help solve the problems you identified? Will your resource save time, save money, reduce anxiety or increase happiness? Offering a solution to a problem will be key in making your opt-in speak directly to those people.
The Opt-In
Decide at this point if your opt-in will be a video series, worksheet, checklist or contest. Create your amazing opt-in in programs like Canva, where you can design an ebook or infographic to offer your new subscribers.
Landing Page
Now that you have researched a topic, provided a solid solution and created the actual opt-in giveaway, it’s time to design a landing page to promote your amazing offer and collect those emails. You can create a landing page right on your website using a landing page or splash page option.
Connect Email Service
In order to streamline the process of collecting opt-in email addresses, use a service like Weebly Promote to keep track of your lists. You may want to test different opt-in ideas and Weebly Promote can help organize your lists and provide valuable statistics.
You are now set to market your opt-in to your fans, followers and potential customers and let them know you have a piece of content that will solve their problems for free.
Once you start building a sizable list, you can nurture your audience relationships even further by continuing to provide valuable information and even begin segmenting your audience based on the information you’re providing.
Researching your audience offers valuable data on trending topics, problems and news surrounding your industry. How can your service help solve the problems you identified? Will your resource save time, save money, reduce anxiety or increase happiness? Offering a solution to a problem will be key in making your opt-in speak directly to those people.
The Opt-In
Decide at this point if your opt-in will be a video series, worksheet, checklist or contest. Create your amazing opt-in in programs like Canva, where you can design an ebook or infographic to offer your new subscribers.
Landing Page
Now that you have researched a topic, provided a solid solution and created the actual opt-in giveaway, it’s time to design a landing page to promote your amazing offer and collect those emails. You can create a landing page right on your website using a landing page or splash page option.
Connect Email Service
In order to streamline the process of collecting opt-in email addresses, use a service like Weebly Promote to keep track of your lists. You may want to test different opt-in ideas and Weebly Promote can help organize your lists and provide valuable statistics.
You are now set to market your opt-in to your fans, followers and potential customers and let them know you have a piece of content that will solve their problems for free.
Once you start building a sizable list, you can nurture your audience relationships even further by continuing to provide valuable information and even begin segmenting your audience based on the information you’re providing.
Tammy Cannon Tammy helps businesses manage online communities. She started CannonOnlineMarketing.com with Weebly.
