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An email list remains a powerful marketing channel that can drive more sales across many industries. However, since everyone is doing it, businesses need new ways of being original to collect the next customer's email address.
While everyone is asking for consumers to subscribe to their mailing lists, creative businesses are using different approaches to get better results, that is, more subscribers. That’s where online forms come in.
They are a great way to get more subscribers and learn more about them. They’re perfect for audience segmentation, helping businesses craft effective marketing strategies. More on that later.
This guide takes you through how online forms can help you grow your email distribution lists.
A very practical side of using forms is that they’re easily accessible. Businesses can embed them anywhere they like. That includes:
The versatility of online forms makes them a great asset for building email distribution lists. With the help of several channels, you can hope for your email list to grow quickly. On top of that, you can promote various online forms in different places. The best part is that you can see which channel works best and capitalise on promoting them.
As your email count starts going up, ensure that you create several user templates for different segments. Pay attention to all the tiny email elements, as they all play an important role in how your business is perceived. Browse the best email signature examples, as they’re a great way to leave a great first impression on subscribers.
Being able to integrate your forms on different pages is easy. Getting the people to fill them out is the challenging part. The only way to achieve this is to give something back to users. That means offering an ebook, a discount or providing any other similar benefit for them.
It’ll be an incentive that motivates users to fill out the form and get a reward in the process. If you’re planning to do that through content, it’s necessary to follow the best content marketing practices. That means creating and sharing insightful, professional and thorough blog posts.
That will position your brand as an authority in the field. You will attract more people and increase the chance of engaging with your business. Once your blog starts thriving, it’s time to create content that would benefit particular companies in different industries. Offer access to exclusive content through online forms.
The effectiveness of your distribution lists will depend on their segmentation. The days when you could just send an email to all your subscribers and hope for the best are long gone. Businesses are taking more radical steps to get ahead of the competition by serving customers exactly what they need. The result? Significantly higher conversion rates.
Online forms are very effective for segmentation. If you’ve ever filled out a form, you must have noticed that several fields ask for personal information. These usually include your working position, company industry, date of birth, location and other similar details.
Based on your answer, the algorithm can put you into the right group of distribution list members. You can create as many parameters as you’d like to segment your audience. However, be considerate, as people don’t like spending too much time on online forms.
A good approach is to have approximately three to four fields that will help you better segment your audience. Of course, if you want to determine what’s the most optimal number of fields for you, run A/B testing and you’ll see which forms are performing better.
You can’t hope to get good results if your forms are poorly designed. That’s why following the essential rules will help you design an online form that gets responses. However, there’s more to consider. Pick an online form tool that provides you with detailed user behaviour analytics. You can use the data to detect your form’s pain points and improve them to get more responses in the future.
Pay attention to these useful tips to help you get started with online forms.
Each section of your form needs to state a clear message and instructions on what the user should do. Keep things straightforward so people don’t leave the form because they don’t know what to do. If you want to keep things simple, use a low number of fields and questions so the user doesn’t get discouraged in the process.
Also, request simple information that the user can provide in the first couple of fields. Leave challenging questions for later when users add them because they’ve already invested some time filling out the form.
No matter how long your form is, always use a single column. Every page will look clearer and simpler to finish, which will keep the user going through the form. Otherwise, they’ll see that the form looks complex and will likely leave it.
The best way to communicate with users is through form validation. Once users enter their information and something’s wrong, they should immediately see a message with instructions. It’ll ensure that all the data you are getting is 100% correct.
Titling each field offers is helpful for those who use the autofill function. Browsers like Firefox, Google Chrome and Vivaldi support autofill features. They do require titles in each field. Once you add them, your form participants can fill out the basic information with a single click.
The majority of online forms request some private details. Add information in summary boxes that explain why you need the user’s name and surname or location. Online privacy is a growing concern, and providing additional information will provide all the answers to their questions.
Remember that half of the users now rely on phones to browse online. Therefore, ensure that the form’s design fits the smaller screens. Try out different form designs and opt for one that looks great on all popular devices.
If you’re creating a long form, add a progress bar so the user is aware of how long it will take to finish it. That’ll keep them from leaving as they progress through the form. Use a different colour that makes it stand out from the rest of the form’s elements.
Automation features make online forms very effective. Your team can focus on other in-house tasks as segmentation is automatic. All you have to do is set up your email software tool and integrate it with your online forms tool. Then, the subscriber contact gets to a particular distribution list depending on the form data.
Instead of worrying about how to segment users manually, your team can focus on email list activity and how to improve it.
If you’re looking for ways to grow your email distribution lists effectively, online forms are a great option. Consider using them because of their compelling features. They will help you improve your email growth rate, resulting in a higher number of customers.
Use the above tips to create forms that look great on all devices your customers use. Create a strategy with quality content and see those subscriber numbers go up. Don’t forget to segment your audience so that you can send personalised email offers that convert better.
Helga Zabalkanska is a CMO at Newoldstamp (500 Startups backed) and MySignature. She has over 10 years of experience in digital marketing with data-drive approach. Helga is a startup enthusiast and SaaS lover.
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