I recently created a three-minute marketing tip series designed to help busy marketers generate more revenue from their email marketing program. The idea was simple: in three minutes or less each day, I would provide easy-to-follow advice on how to improve specific aspects of their program. Each episode can be found on YouTube, embedded below, and syndicated as season four of the Cart Insiders Podcast.
The topics I covered were:
Email marketing list growth
Email marketing welcome series
Email marketing cart abandonment
SMS marketing
This week’s tips covered how to grow your email marketing list. Let’s dive in.
What kinds of information should I collect on an email pop-up form?
My recommendation is to keep this information to a need-to-know minimum, focus on customer intent, and let them carry on with their shopping session. Collect only what you need or will immediately use.
When it comes to customer intent, think to yourself, “why did someone sign up for my email program?” Was it so they could receive a birthday message 8 months from now or so they could share their zip code? Of course not. Their intent is most likely to make a purchase.
So while birthdate and location are nice to have, they are not need-to-have pieces of information.
Information like gender is slightly different. Knowing their gender may help you determine what style of products they may be shopping for. If this is information you will USE immediately, like with customized product recommendations or features in your welcome series, then you can collect it. Otherwise, don’t bother. You can get this info with your welcome messages themselves — more on this in a later episode.
The same holds true for other types of similar information, like whether they are a B2B or B2C buyer if you service both types of customers, or for some sites are shopping for themselves or as a gift.
Listen to the complete answer below.
Should I collect mobile numbers on an email marketing pop-up form?
The short answer is yes!, regardless of whether or not you have an SMS program in place. SMS is a must-have marketing channel, and collecting this info now will be beneficial for a few reasons.
Here are 5 reasons you should collect mobile numbers for SMS marketing:
It is an opt-in channel, meaning only people who want to sign up will.
It will indicate whether your audience wants to receive SMS messages from your brand.
SMS can fill in brand-to-consumer marketing gaps left from email unsubscribed.
It can help reduce your retargeting costs (especially for email unsubscribers), since SMS is an opt-in channel.
Everyone texts! It is no longer about generational cohorts. Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z all text.
Need more proof? SMS sends increased 94% in 2021 compared to the year before, and 2020 saw a nearly 400% increase from the year prior. If you’re not using SMS, you’re leaving money on the table.
Listen to the complete answer below.
What Types of email list growth forms should I use?
Three types of email sign-up forms your store can use are a common pop-up form, an exit-intent form, and a spin-the-wheel form.
An email capture pop-up form is the most common form you likely come across on most brands’ websites, like is seen here. A visitor is prompted to enter their email address to sign up for a brand’s marketing emails.
A spin-the-wheel form is a gamified form where a visitor enters their email address and after clicking “submit,” a game wheel spins, stopping on a discount. This discount can then be used immediately and encourages a purchase.
An Exit-intent form is a pop-up that appears when a web visitor makes a movement indicative of leaving. Ecommerce brands can reveal a form that makes a last-ditch effort to capture an email address before the visitor leaves.
How to style an email pop-up form?
When designing your pop-up form be sure to incorporate your brand assets like colors, product images, and company logo. At certain times of the year, consider creating holiday-specific designs, such as for Valentine’s and St. Patrick’s Day.
Listen to the complete answer below.
How to Make your list growth pop-up form convert better
First, make sure the pop-up can easily be closed if the subscriber is not interested. Make sure you can easily find the “close” button on both mobile and laptop.
Second, test the pop-up on multiple browsers and phones, including using different text sizes on phones. Zoomed-in text can make pop-ups frustrating for users. While you can’t account for every size, do your best.
Third, if you are OK doing so, offer an incentive. Presume the intention of being on your site is to shop. Offering an incentive can help you increase the sign-up and conversion rate.
Fourth, make sure your pop-ups are ADA compliant. Using ADA-compliant forms can help you sidestep any legal obstacles that may arise.
Finally, make sure the information is being added to your email provider after submission. After all, that’s the point!
Listen to the complete answer below.
Email list growth and pop-up best practices
Ecommerce brands looking to grow their email and SMS marketing lists should utilize optimized pop-up forms. Here are 8 list growth best practices I talked about this week.
When it comes to asking for information on your pop-up, focus on things that will help you immediately send more relevant messages, such as gender or the purpose of shopping—like gifting. Consider collecting nice-to-have information such as birthdate later.
Collect mobile numbers. SMS is a must-have opt-in channel used by all generational cohorts.
Brand your form with stylized text, colors, images, and logos.
Test different types of email collection forms, including gamified spin-the-wheel and exit intent forms.
Offer an incentive if you can, but don’t feel required to.
Ensure the pop-ups are easy to exit out of and test them on different browsers and phones.
Be sure your pop-ups are ADA-compliant.
Ensure all contacts are being passed to your email marketing provider.
I hope you enjoyed these list growth tips.
If you think these tips can help someone else, please feel free to share them. and be sure to reach out if I can help in another way. Cheers!