How to Use Twitter for Crazy Simple Email Opt-ins

Oh, the battle between email marketing and social media.

We want to communicate with our readers through email, because email is boss. We reach readers directly. The timing isn’t as random. And oh, there’s that little fact that email marketing can have up to a 3,800% ROI.

However, readers want to communicate with us on social media. It’s easy, it’s fun, it’s social. But it doesn’t convert nearly as well.

So how do you choose between which one to grow?

Simple: you don’t.

Instead, you make email and social work together.

Build an audience on social media – where your audience wants to hang out – and then use some smart marketing to turn followers into subscribers.

Smart marketers, say heeeey! Welcome to the party.

How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Email List

Twitter has one of the best list building features I’ve seen on a social network.

Twitter cards are a kind of “attachment” for a tweet, the way you would attach a file to an email. Some card types include photos, videos, and the website cards that show a preview for links (head over to Flywheel for my tutorial on website cards).

And then there’s the lead generation card, which is all kind of awesome.

You create them in Twitter Ads, but you can attach them to any tweet and don’t need to actually advertise to be able to use them. I don’t really get why they put the card builder there, but whatevs.

It lets Twitter users opt in to your list in just one click.

Most good email marketing providers will make it pretty easy to set up – I’ve done it in 15 minutes for MailChimp and 30 for ActiveCampaign (I had to create a new form).

Worst case scenario, you’ll have to manually download a .csv from Twitter and upload it into your email marketing software.

The lead gen card adds an email opt-in button to a tweet, so that a Twitter user can sign up for your email list without leaving Twitter.

But instead of having a full form or a two-step opt-in, they automatically submit the name and email associated with that Twitter account. So the user doesn’t need to fill anything out – they can subscribe in one click.

Here’s an example (try it out here):

What to promote in your Twitter card

What do you actually use these for? Pretty much anything you’d use as an opt-in anywhere else:

Promote your email list

Straight and simple, you can create a blanket CTA to promote your email list. You can customize the card’s headline, image, and CTA text, and write whatever you want in the actual tweets that will include the card in them.

This is a good one to pin to the top of your Twitter profile, since it will appeal to more of your followers than something like a content upgrade (not every follower will need every individual post, and that’s fine!).

Tease a product

Want to promote your latest course or ebook? Instead of a regular tweet leading straight to your landing page, “warm up” your leads by using a Twitter card to send them the first chapter or lesson first.

Create standalone opt-ins for content upgrades

While I’m big on content upgrades, I’m not big on the idea of just using them in one blog post. I’m huge on repurposing content, so I like to also create quick landing pages for them as standalone lead magnets. Promote your content upgrade separately from the blog post it was originally for with a lead gen card.

Get webinar signups

Want to make webinar registrations even more seamless than you’ve already made them? Create a lead gen card to collect emails. Your co-host or guest can also use the same card – once the link is made, anyone can use it.

Ways to use lead gen cards

There are a lot of different things you can do with the card once you’ve created it. And there’s no limit on how many you can create, so throw in a few of each if you want to!

Create an ad campaign

You can target your current followers with a promoted tweet to convert them into subscribers. As a subscriber, they’ll be more likely to deepen your relationship, see your messages, and become a customer or client.

You could also reach new people who may not know or follow your blog yet by using other ad targeting features.

Use it as a super simple landing page

If you want a simple, one-click way for readers to subscribe to your blog, you can link to this wherever you would normally use a landing page or sign-up form.

It’s actually pretty smart, it doesn’t make your reader enter as much information as a regular landing page form.

Pin it to the top of your profile

Pin a tweet with your lead gen card to the top of your profile, so it’s the first thing someone sees when they visit it.

I’ve been cycling through a few different Twitter cards pinned to my profile, not only do they receive long-term signups, they also get retweeted by subscribers months later, exposing them to that person’s whole audience as well.

Use in “thank you” tweets

You should already be thanking as many of the people who share your blog posts as you can. It’s okay if you don’t have time to get to everyone, but set aside some time to actually get social with the people following you on social media.

A great way to do that, and convert followers at the same time, is to include your Twitter card in tweets in response to blog post shares. You already know this person is interested in your content, so they’re probably game to opt in.

Drive conversions from word of mouth

Word-of-mouth marketing, where you’re driving other people to talk about you on social media? Perfect for lead gen cards.

Generally, WOM is hard to drive conversions from. But by including a one-click CTA instead of a link to your website or social media page, it’ll be way easier. Your followers’ followers won’t be familiar with your blog, so having zero friction is a big deal.

Use the card’s URL in a viral giveaway or in “click to tweet” links in your blog posts, thank you pages, and email campaigns, like Teachable does with Make Change Weekly‘s welcome email:

That Twitter button? It includes a link to a Twitter card, so all new subscribers can promote the newsletter like this:

How to create Twitter lead gen cards

If you already have your list, content upgrade, and privacy policy set up, these babies should take 15 minutes with most ESPs.

1. Access the card builder by going to Twitter Ads -> Creatives -> Cards.

2. Click “Create Lead Generation card” and make sure “Website” is selected on the resulting page.

3. Customize the description for your Twitter card. This will be the “headline” of the card. Use it to describe the offer and the value to your followers.

4. Add an image. You don’t have a lot of space to work with here, at 800×200. But you can choose to use your logo, a customized image, or for great message match, the header image for your marketing emails if you have one. (Here’s my lesson on message match)

5. Customize your call-to-action. You only have 20 characters, so make it strong and snappy.

6. Link to your privacy policy. Twitter requires you to link to a page where you explain what info you collect from users (i.e. email addresses), how you’ll use them, etc. (If you don’t already have a privacy policy, you can create one here.

7. Enter a fallback URL. In some third-party tools, the card on’t be fully displayed. This enters an opt-in page URL users will be directed to instead.

Optional: Enter destination URL. If you want to send people to a “thank you” page, enter the URL now.

8. Enter data settings. If you want Twitter to automatically add new subscribers to your email list via your ESP’s API, you’ll need to enter some list info and API keys. Here are the directions for MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, and ConvertKit.

9. Name your card. Since you may want to create more than one card, make sure this is something more descriptive than “Lead Gen Card.” I usually put the name of the campaign or list in there.

10. Test your card. Twitter will now test it with the email associated with your account. If you have a double opt-in (which you do, if you use MailChimp), you’ll have to check your email and confirm before the data shows up in your ESP.

11. If it worked, do a happy dance.

Ta-daaaaaaa! You’re done.

Seriously, it’s that easy. Making it is really easy. It makes subscribing really easy. It makes you get more subscribers. It’s a gem and you should set it up. Ka-BOOM.

Have you ever used Twitter lead gen cards for your list? How’d they pan out? Share your stories in the comments!   

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13 Ways to Get More Opt-Ins From Your Content

You’re creating valuable content and, if all’s going well, you’re attracting new visitors to your website and blog. Beyond getting direct inquiries about your products or services, you should use visitors’ interest to build your email list so you can stay in contact with these potential prospects.

Here are 13 types of opt-ins you can use to grow your mailing list.

General opt-in

First, let’s look at the type of opt-ins you can use on your main website.

1. Squeeze page

Your squeeze page is a landing page with one goal – to encourage visitors to subscribe to your email list. The best way to ensure conversions from your squeeze page is to focus it on something that visitors would receive once they subscribe.

For example, if you offer free reports, e-books, guides, tools, or other lead magnets, you should create a squeeze page for each one. While promoting the lead magnet in social media updates and bios, guest author bios, paid ads, and other marketing channels, link to this squeeze page.

Some sites even use a squeeze page for their home page, although this isn’t suggested for businesses with larger goals, such as selling products or services.

Like most landing pages, your squeeze page should include only content relevant to getting the visitor to opt in to your email list. You should remove anything that could be a distraction, such as menu bars, sidebars, and other content not related to the goal of getting the opt-in.

Aside from using your website’s own template or theme in conjunction with the opt-in forms provided by your email marketing platform, specific services can help you create conversion-optimized squeeze pages. These include Unbounce, Instapage, and LeadPages.

2. Toolbar

Click to enlarge

Have you seen at the top of websites the toolbars that disappear when you scroll or scroll with you down the page? Those can be used for opt-in forms as well. They are great for website owners who want to put their opt-in form first without pop-ups.

Tools that can help you create a toolbar opt-in form include Hello Bar, SumoMe, andOptinMonster.

3. Header

If you want to go for a bolder approach, a header opt-in form may be the answer. These are designed to take up more real estate so they can’t be missed.

Header opt-ins can be created with WordPress plug-ins like Plugmatter and website templates or themes designed with header opt-in forms.

4. Footer

Toolbars can be added to the bottom of your website as well as the top to capture opt-ins. Alternatively, you can place an opt-in form in the footer of your website to ensure that those who have made it to the bottom don’t leave without giving you their email address.

5. Slide-in

Slide-ins create the movement of a pop-up without being a pop-up. Hence, they get noticed, especially when they are timed properly. They need to give people enough time to decide if they like your website but not so much time that the visitor has already left.

Tools that can help you create slide-in opt-in forms include SumoMe, OptinMonster, andQualaroo.

6. Pop-up

The pop-up is one of the most familiar opt-in forms lately, and for good reason. Even the data scientist of HubSpot found that it increases email opt-ins without hurting anything else.

Many, many tools can help you create pop-ups. You just have to decide if they work on your website platform, have the styles you want, and offer the timing options you want to try for your website. These tools include SumoMe, OptinMonster, Popup Domination, PopupAlly, and Pippity.

7. Exit intent

For those who do not want to interrupt visitors until they are ready to leave, there are pop-ups based on exit intent. These pop-up tools detect when someone is trying to navigate away from your website and, at that moment, launch your pop-up for an email opt-in.

Some of the previously mentioned pop-up tools like SumoMe and OptinMonster have exit-intent options. Additional tools include Picreel, OptiMonk, Exit Monitor, and Bounce Exchange.

E-commerce opt-in

Next, let’s look at the ways you can get your online store to help build your email list.

8. Discount pop-up

E-commerce stores can use discounts as the lead magnet for their opt-ins. Most tools that allow you to create a pop-up at a specific time or when exit intent is detected will allow you to use this discount opportunity as opposed to an offer for a free e-book or newsletter. Just be sure to immediately give the discount code, either on screen or via email.

9. Order checkbox

It’s quite common for e-commerce stores to include a little completed checkbox to add a customer’s email to the mailing list once a purchase is made. You should consider adding this to your checkout process as well.

You can find options to do this using your shopping cart’s tools, apps, or add-ons by running a quick search for email marketing or email checkbox for Magento, Shopify, Bigcommerce, and other major 

Blog opt-in

Now, let’s look at opt-ins that work specifically with blog content.

10. Sidebar

The top right of your blog’s sidebar is prime real estate for opt-in forms. Many people who are ready to subscribe to your email list will naturally look for it there, so even if you are using other opt-in form types, make sure this one is on your blog as well.

11. Content upgrade

If you have a great blog post that can be enhanced by a free giveaway, then consider making that a content upgrade accessible for readers once they opt in.

For example, if you have a post on keyword research, the content upgrade that entices the opt-in could be a spreadsheet template for organizing your research. Or, you could simply include a lead magnet that is highly relevant to your post topic.

You can either link to a squeeze page for the content upgrade or use a link that triggers an opt-in form to pop up.

12. Post footer

Once people have finished reading a great piece of content, they are more likely to be inclined to subscribe to your email list so they don’t miss out on another great piece of content. This is why the post footer option is a great one.

You can use it with a lead-magnet offer or offer simple messaging that says people who subscribe can get more similar content delivered to their inboxes.

13. Comment checkbox

When people leave a comment on your blog, chances are they are leaving an email address with that comment.

MailChimp offers a WordPress plug-in that allows you to add a checkbox to your comment form and contact form so that people can subscribe to your email list simultaneously. You can read about how to implement this here.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many ways to encourage people to opt in to your email list from your website or blog (or even in your checkout process). While you don’t want one opt-in form overlapping with another, you do want to use multiple opt-in form types so that you connect with people ready to subscribe to your email list at the moment they are ready. Adding just a few of the above options is likely to increase the size of your email list substantially.

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6 Steps to Create a Top-Notch Opt-in Form

Imagine this……

You spend time, money and effort driving traffic to your website.

But the majority of people who come onto your website may not be ready to purchase. Without gaining an opt in, these prospects will simply leave your website and possibly never return.

Email marketing is the backbone of your company and underpins every other type of marketing you do.

Having a prominent email opt in on your website is a great way to capture information from those visitors that are ready to buy from you, but also (and most importantly) from those that would otherwise have left your website without purchasing anything.

If this happens, these people are lost opportunities at that point, but if you craft a well presented, compelling email opt in form, you may well be able to capture their interest to hear more about you, or act on an opt in offer. You then have their contact details and can work towards providing further valuable information, and lead towards a conversion.

But growing your list is also much more than just capturing those visiting and leaving your website. It needs to be a consistent long term effort across every touch point prospects have with you and your business.

Whether it’s a sign up form on your website or a dedicated squeeze page to capture leads, let’s take a look at 6 key steps to creating a top notch opt in form:

1. Create a killer headline

As with a newspaper headline, your objective here is to create a compelling headline that is either BENEFIT driven (by this I mean it focuses on the benefits the subscriber will receive) or hits on a specific problem or wish that the subscriber’s you would like to attract have. It should be kept short and sweet whilst grabbing the attention of the user.

The examples below show the difference between these two headlines:

Speaking directly to your target audience:                                       Benefit driven:

2. Be open, honest and transparent

This form is the first impression of your business for many users, so it’s really important to start the relationship off in the right way and tell people exactly what they will receive and when, so that there are no nasty surprises when they start to receive your emails!

By setting their expectations properly at the point of sign up, you will ensure that the people who register really want to receive your communications and are interested in what you offer. This will also help to ensure a low complaint rate (subscribers pressing the spam/junk button) and higher engagement (opens, clicks, conversions etc.) with your campaigns going forward.

As can be seen in the example from M&S below, showing subscribers an example image / link to an example email that you’ve previously sent, that they can look at helps to illustrate exactly what your communications look like and the value provided.

3. Make it easy to use

Ensure your sign up forms are not overly complicated, and are clean, easy to read and understand, as well as to complete. If you can, use systems that make the sign up form more intuitive (such as completing common email addresses, postal addresses from just postcodes etc.), this will also help people to complete the form quickly and easily.

The example below from Selfridges shows a very easy to use, simple sign up form including drop down options, a benefit drive headline and images of previous emails sent to set expectations further.

4. Only collect the information you need

It is common marketing knowledge that the more steps you require someone to take to complete an action, the less likely they are to do so. The same holds true when it comes to prospects signing up for your email list – the more information you ask for, the less likely they are to complete the form and sign up.

Collect only the information that you NEED on sign up – so email address, would of course be the minimum level of information needed to register them. However, by asking for items such as first name or what their interests are, you can ensure that you start to personalise your messages from the start of the relationship.

On the flip side, the more fields you require to be completed, although this will reduce the number of sign ups you receive, it is likely that those that do will be even more qualified and interested in what you are offering.

So consider carefully your business objectives, how you will want to personalise your communications going forward to ensure relevancy as well as the end conversion you are driving the sign up to, in order to decide what fields to collect on sign up and which could be collected later on in the relationship (such as during the on-boarding process; the initial sign up automated series of emails).

In the example below from H&M they choose to only collect email address on sign up; this may be related to their opt in offer. Giving a discount on sign up means that any subscribers who go on to use this offer will provide more information during the purchase process.

5. Give something in return

With so many email programmes out there to choose from, how can you encourage visitors that interact with your website, social media channels, shop front or other touch points, to register to receive YOUR emails?

Sometimes called an opt in offer or lead magnet, adding an incentive gives an additional reason to the user to give you their email address (a valuable commodity) as well as helping to address and bolster the ‘what’s in it for me’element of the decision to subscribe.

The example below from SnapRetail shows a squeeze page offering a free guide as the incentive.

Want more info about opt in offers? Download my free guide ’28 Incredibly Enticing Opt In Offers to Build Your Email List’ here >

6. Put it everywhere and make it prominent!

If no one sees your sign up form, how is your list going to grow?! Ensure you place it, and advertise it, everywhere that you have a touch point with prospects and customers including, first and foremost, your website.

The key here is to capture the traffic you drive to your website through other marketing that you are doing; as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, email marketing underpins every other marketing effort you make.

If you liked this article you may also like:

Top 10 Dumb Landing Page Mistakes You Need To Avoid 

5 A/B Tests You Should Be Running On Your Landing Page Opt-in Forms 

3 Steps To Improving Your Lead Generation Landing Pages

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5 Shortcuts for Increasing Email Conversion Rate in Record Time

Do you know that building an email list is an important step towards your success?

But you don’t have enough time to put everything together, do you?

If that’s you, then I have some tips that will help.

These tips helped me increase my email conversion rate and I am positive that they will also help you.

First, what I learned recently about managing my time and getting things done is the importance of planning my activities.

You may be planning your activities, but just like me, you’re probably not always sticking with the plan.

So my advice, before getting started, is to block time on your calendar for each of these activities. Now, let’s see what you can do to increase your email conversion rates.

1. Offer an Incentive to Signup

Most of us are adding a signup form in the sidebar and ask people to subscribe for updates, but is that good enough?

I’ve compared my newly launched website – WP Backpack with this one and I’ve come to the conclusion that “subscribe for updates” it’s not a good enough incentive for people to signup.

Even if the launch article got some really good traffic from my existing list and social media, my signup rate was really low.

Why?

Because it doesn’t have a good incentive to convince people to signup.

On the other hand, on EugenOprea.com, you get my Free Google Analytics course when you signup for updates.

This has been working really well for me, so I keep sending traffic to this landing page.

That is why the next action point on my to do list for WP Backpack is to add a small course for my subscribers.

I am also more inclined to create a course, and deliver it though an auto-responder, than to write an eBook.

This is more effective because, with an eBook, people will get it and unsubscribe or even worse, get it and forget about it.

But with a course, readers will have a consistent reminder of you, and they will become used to clicking the links in your emails and coming to your site. Doing this will, hopefully, help them take action and follow the advice from your course.

A course will also be easier to get done.

With an eBook you will need to write and design it before being able to offer it to your subscribers, but with a course, you can build one lesson at a time.

One lesson per week is a really good starting point and you can also setup your auto-responder to deliver your lessons every week.

So don’t make your job harder by trying to finish it in one go.

Instead, block time each week to write a new lesson and send it to your subscribers once it’s ready.

Shortcut: Start an auto-responder and offer a free course for your subscribers or offer a freebie to incentivize visitors to signup for your newsletter.

2. Place your Signup Forms Strategically

This year I redesigned EugenOpea.com after 6 month of research.

I’ve put into the new design everything that I learned about increasing visitor loyalty and conversion rates.

And one of the things I’ve been focusing is the signup form, or better signup forms.

If you browse the website you will notice that I placed them in strategic locations:

• on the home page
• in the sidebar
• in the footer
• on the landing page for my course
• in an Email Cloud Box

Now, let me tell you a bit about each of them and why you should use them, too.

On the Home Page

For most of us, the home page is the most visited page on the website, so it’s really important to make a good impression for new visitors.

That is why I’ve chosen to first share some content with them, so they can see that I am knowledgeable and genuinely provide value.

Only after that I add the signup box, with the benefits of signing up, and a link to the landing page of my Google Analytics course, which contains more details about it.

So my advice for you is to first show your visitor valuable content and then present a reason to signup.

In the Sidebar

Every site has a signup box in the sidebar and you can, just as I did, add it to make it easier for people to signup.

But make sure that you also include a strong incentive for your visitors to take action.

In the footer

I am one of those people who, when I research something, I check every pixel of that website.

For this reason I decided to add a signup form in the footer, so those like me, who reach the end of the page, get a reminder that I want to share more content with them.

On the landing page

Landing pages are a great way to convert visitors into subscribers and this is the main reason why I’ve built a page specifically for my course.

I would recommend you to do the same and if you have more benefits for your readers, create a landing page where you can tell them more about those benefits.

You can use Premise to build really good looking landing pages, so you don’t have any excuse to not do it.

In a Email Cloud Box

Now, you’ve gotten to the most interesting part.

After doing some tests and checking heatmaps for my website with CrazyEgg, I’ve come to the conclusion that my visitors’ attention is not on the signup box from the sidebar.

Visitors are immediately scrolling to the next screen once they get on a page/article.

This is the reason why I added, what I call a Email Cloud Box, which moves with the visitor as she scrolls down.

I will show how to add it in a future article.

Additionally, you should also add a signup box below your posts, so once a visitor reads one of your articles, they can choose to signup for your newsletter.

But, please be aware that not every box works for everyone and if you add signup boxes all over your site, they will not be effective anymore.

If you would like to get started faster with creating signup boxes, have a look at Elevatr, my premium WordPress plugin. It can help you easily create signup forms and webinar landing pages so that you can increase leads through email marketing and webinars.

Shortcut: Take your time to think where you should add your signup boxes, do some tests and implement them. And definitely useElevatr for your forms.

3. Ask for the Signup

A lot of people don’t know or try this, but asking for the signup has so much power.

When you close an article, when you share it on social media or when you talk about your website, ask people to signup for your newsletter.

Do it in a nice manner and also tell them the advantages. Tell them what’s in it for them.

More than this, ask them to share your newsletter with their friends and colleagues, or with their audience if they have an established business.

You will be amazed how many people will come to help you if you ask them.

But, you will have to also return them the favor.

And be genuine about it. This is very important.

Shortcut: Here’s what you should do right now: go in your favorite Facebook group, favorite forum and on the social media outlet where you have the most followers, and ask people to signup for your newsletter.

4. Start Guest Posting

Everyone sees this as a really hard task to do, but as long as you master your topic and put everything you know in writing the article, you can’t fail.

Yes, it can take months until it gets published and you may work hours to write it, but it’s worth it.

I got my first 1,000 subscribers from 3 guest posts I did at the beginning of the year and guest posting is always on my to do list.

You know that you can’t always increase conversion rates without increasing traffic, so guest posting, just like SEO, can help you drive more traffic to your website and gain more subscribers.

But here’ what I would recommend you to do to make sure you have success:

• brainstorm 3-5 post ideas and choose a website were you want to submit your post
• contact the website owner and present your ideas
• if one of them gets approved, start writing it
• send the traffic to a landing page that has a signup form and an incentive to signup

Additionally, when writing the article, make sure that you include your best tips, but think that you are writing it for your own blog.

Don’t get hung up in making it perfect, because there is no such thing as perfect.

Shortcut: Block some time and start brainstorming ideas for yourguest post. Then send your pitch and once it gets approved, write the articles. Most of the time, it is as simple as that.

5. Improve your SEO

Just like guest posting, you may think that SEO is fairly difficult, but it’s not.

All you have to do is build awesome content that people love and share.

Essentially, you will need to make sure that you write for people and not search engines.

I am saying this because search engines try to emulate human behavior when deciding what website is best for their search results.

So, put your best into writing great content and a really good headlines.

Then you can add a good description for your article to show in the search results page, get some links from friends and through guest posting and write more good content. 

Plus, for additional peace of mind, I would strongly recommend you use Scribe, which is a fantastic piece of software that can help you better optimize your content.

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