The Best Freebies Ideas To Grow Your Email list and Generate Great Sales Leads
The most important way a business owner achieves profitable business is by successfully and repeatedly generating sales leads and converting those leads to sales and customers.
As a business owner, you are interested in how to increase your conversion rate so growing an email list is essential.
This post is written with you on my mind and it all comes Free!
A lot of business owners and web users underestimate how important an email list is to their business.
As an online business owner, your email list is your number one way of communicating with clients.
When it comes to conversions, social reach, and ROI, email is the most popular. It takes out social media when communicating with clients.
But before going into the main focus of this article, I will like to touch base with you with the ground basics.
Why is an Email List Important?
Here are some reasons why you should focus on building an email list for your brand.
1. Email has a huge reach
When it comes to social reach, you might be thinking what of social media. Email topples social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Social media generates leads, but email listing generates more leads than both.
Twitter and Facebook have over 1.62 billion users combined. But there is an estimate of 4 billion email users worldwide.
I am not suggesting you draw down on your social media campaign, I just need you to take every opportunity to grow your business .
I believe you should spend more energy and time into things that have higher conversion rates.
It is also no secret that these platforms make use of emails to send notifications and requests too.
This shows how much email is relied on and how effective it is in generating leads for businesses.
2. Email is Purposeful
People interested in your work or business, are willing to make extra effort to do so.
To stay updated, users fill a signup form for your email list and confirm their email address.
3. Email is Private
Emails are direct and personal. They are delivered right inside a user’s inbox.
Emails are not newsfeed or timeline posts that are accessible to the public. It is a one-to-one conversation with a user.
People are confident to communicate with emails in an effective way.
4. Email is Targeted
Since users have already showed interests in your products or services. Hence, you already know their preferences, so you at an advantage.
You then segment them based on their preferences. In order to deliver to them high quality offers to get better results.
Requirements for Building an Email List
Well, at this point am sure you already know the need for having an email list and why shouldn’t joke with it.
Here are certain things you would need to start and grow your email list.
1. A website or blog
I presume that not everyone reading this has a website or blog for their business. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t have one yet.
There are many platforms available to any online users to build a website or blog at ease. With rapid change of technology and software, you do not have be a web developer to build a website.
Platforms like wordpress.com and wix.com enables you build a website or blog at little or no cost.
2. A good Email Marketing Service
You may already own a website and have started growing your email list. But you might want to reconsider this option.
Today, there are a vast number of email marketing service available for free or at a cost. When building your email list, you might have gone for a free option to save cost.
Some of these free services are often not the best. They model themselves as professional when in reality they are growing their own email list.
These free services come with limitations such as:
· There is no analytics. You don’t know how many people got the email and the percentage of them that opened it.
· There is no personalization of email messages.
· You can’t send private messages or updates.
This is why professional email services are recommended right from the beginning.
While this may come at a little cost, you are rest assured of better results.
Benefits of Professional Email Marketing Services
· You can see subscriber activities and group them based on things they do.
· You can put out private mass emails to your subscribers.
· There are reporting tools. You can see the analysis of where most of your subscribers come from.
There are tons of professional marketing services. These are a few mentioned benefits of using these services.
3. High Converting Opt-in Forms
This brings me to the main purpose of this article. If you already have an online presence or want to grow your email list and want to get a ton of new leads;
Having a high converting opt-in form is vital to generating new leads for your business.
What is an Opt-in Form?
An opt-in form is a page designed to convert web users into subscribers with the help of a lead magnet.
It is a form of consent given to web users from businesses to contact them with more information.
An opt-in form is used to seek permission to contents to customers. The content may include newsletters, sales promotion and other marketing materials.
In general, it refers to email marketing and often used on ecommerce websites.
This method encourages subscribers or leads to share personal data.
Information gained from that data allows brand to communicate with personalized emails.
Opt-in forms are presented as pop-ups, landing pages and build in widgets on a website.
There is an increasing rate of about 100 million spam emails on a daily basis.
Thus, it is a law to give users the option to opt in and out of an email campaign.
The most important use of an opt-in page is to convert site visitors to leads. And what better way to get this than using a lead magnet.
What is a Lead Magnet?
In email marketing, a lead magnet is a term for a freebie given away for the aim of growing an email list.
This freebie may include free eBooks, worksheets, subscription trial and many more.
When creating an opt-in form, there are some best practices to have an effective form.
These practices include:
· Avoid long opt-in pages.
· Make you opt-in page creative.
· Make sure your call to action button is visible and bold enough.
· Use directional arrows to guide your users.
· Segment leads using your opt-in page.
In order to seek consent from users, there are two signup methods available in ecommerce.
· Single opt-in forms
· Double opt-in forms
Both are easy and secured ways for collecting information from new leads and subscribers.
Yet, there are debates on the best opt-in form to use.
Here is a breakdown of the pros and cons of each opt-in method.
What is a Single Opt-in?
Single opt-in is simple. It is for both you and the subscriber. Subscribes fill a signup form and are immediately added to your email list.
Subscribers enter their email address and start getting your email right away.
Problems of Single Opt-in
· Users sign up by mistake
· Customers submit fake or invalid email address
· Customers mistyped their email address
· Susceptible to spamming
By choosing single opt-in forms, you can end up sending emails to invalid email address.
What is a Double Opt-in?
A double opt-in form is still simple, but has a few steps. It involves a confirmation email, where subscribers have to confirm their signup.
When using double opt-in, subscribers have to confirm or they won’t start to get emails.
Double opt-ins appears after your site visitor clicks the call to action button. An email verification page is a common way to get this done.
Benefits of Double opt-in
· Increased user engagement. You know that people on your list really wanted to sign up.
· More accurate analytics. This means that you have accurate subscriber data.
· No spam or fake emails. Using double opt-in keep you email list clean from spam.
But, double opt-in also has its own challenges.
Disadvantage of Double opt-in
Some people may think double opt-in has a long sign up process. Some may forget to confirm their email address and never become subscribers.
Combining your verification link with a welcome message can solve this problem.
Well, before you put up your double opt-in email, consider these:
· The placement of your CTA button.
· A strong headline
· A clear call to action
· Values and benefits
· Social proof of your brand.
Your page should have these qualities to produce better results.
Also, ensure the timing of your email is right. Subscribers would not want to miss out on freebies or discounts.
Moving to the main focus of this article, growing and generating leads does come easy.
To achieve this faster, using a lead magnet or a freebie can create results and improve sales. Who doesn’t like free stuffs! Offering freebies can skyrocket your email list in no time.
To have a successful freebie, your freebie should have the following elements:
· VALUE
Your freebie has to contain a lot of value. They have to feel like they won a lottery ticket. You wouldn’t want to give every detail for free but let the little you give count.
· SIMPLICITY
Make your freebie has simple as possible. Make it easy to understand and use.
· CONSISTENCY
Your freebie should be in line with what your brand values. You don’t want to go off track and confuse your audience. You can’t be promoting a fashion freebie if you are running a car dealership site. You got it right?
What makes an Opt-in Freebie Irresistible?
The key to an irresistible opt-in freebie is valuable content. You want your opt-in freebie to solve a customer problem if not all. This is the key to making them carry out the desired action you want for them.
A well designed and good looking opt-in freebie is always appealing to your audience.
There so many freebies ideas to come up with that can grow your email list. Here are a few things to think about to get the right freebie for your audience:
· What is the goal of your opt-in freebie?
· What is the easiest opt-in freebie to create?
· What do you want to leave in the minds of your audience?
· What content do you want to give your audience?
After you must have gone through the process of identifying what your opt-in freebies is. I have come up with the best opt-in freebies ideas to grow your email list in no time.
1. Checklists
Checklists are great for providing your audience with actionable steps. Take for instance, if you are weight loss expert. A calories checklist is a good idea.
2. Cheat sheet
Who doesn’t love a great cheat sheet?
Cheat sheets save your audience time and stress of hard work. Cheat sheet are simple to create and are not longer than 1-2 pages. You can look at some customers FAQs and make a cheat sheet around them.
3. Worksheet
A worksheet is an opt-in freebie idea that allows your audience to answer open-ended questions. These questions relates to your lead magnet topic.
4. eBooks
This opt-in freebie is often used. eBooks converts well and are quite simple to create. Your audience should receive your ebooks in a downloadable format.
5. Webinars
Webinars are catchy and exclusive to a large audience. Often take more than 30 minutes. Webinars are not that easy to carry out as some people are camera shy. Most webinars are held using slides. Youtube is a common tool for this purpose.
In general, it is a great lead generation tool.
6. How-to-guides
Your freebie idea should be specific and solve at least a problem. A how-to-guide is a great idea for an opt-in freebie. Guides should contain actionable steps and valuable.
7. Roundups
A roundup is a summary of one of your topics on blog or website. This article is a perfect example. People can download and have it all the time.
8. Audio course/training
People love audio records while in the solemn time. Podcasts, audio bonuses of premium episodes are great opt-in freebie ideas.
9. Printables
Printables are easy to setup. But they are quite overdone.
10. Swipe Files
Swipe files are in high demand with writers and bloggers. As a writer, I have quite many swipe files to access to ease my job.
Swipe files contain pre-made templates or resources that are useful to your audience.
11. Mini Course or Email Course
You can create a mini course that spans for about a week. Email course is a great idea for an opt-in freebie. The aim is to give out valuable and educational content to your audience. This leads them to on-e of your paid offers or subscription.
12. Free Access
As web users, having access to an exclusive thing is valuable. This doesn’t time to take create because you already have the product before. An example is free access to one of your premium webinars.
13. Discounts
Everyone loves to get a discount offer. A discount code is a great opt-in freebie idea to grow your email list.
14. Free Templates
This is loveable by anyone. Offer free templates that your audience could use to create anything of their choice. Give your audience template to achieve their desired goals
15. Social Media Graphics
A common freebie under this category is offering customized DP for your audience. You can offer some great social media graphics if you have good design skills.
16. Audio Recordings
Do you run a podcast or have a lot of interviews?
You can compile a collection your best interview and give them away as a freebie.
17. Video Recordings
People enjoy watching video interviews or records. You can put together video around your brand for your leads. You can do a short advert on the benefit of them signing up to your email list.
18. Gift Cards Contest
You do not need to create this freebie, it is already made. Amazon, itunes provide you with this. You can do a contest each month where a lucky subscriber gets a free gift card.
19. Free Premium Content
This freebie is restricted only to subscribers. Leads would have to sign up to get this content. You convert more leads and grow your email list.
20. Free Consultation
Free consultation is a great way to build trust around your prospects. Your prospects get to know you better and develop a relationship. This is a great opt-in freebie to use.
21. Resource Library
Google drive is a great tool to get this done. You can gather your contents on your Google drive and offer them as a freebie. This is a great opt-in freebie because users can’t get your library link if they don’t sign up.
22. PDF Guide
Creating a PDF file is easy and done in a matter of minutes. PDFs are downloadable and are access at anytime. It can also work with a variety of topics
23. Bundles/ Kit
You can put together your best programs and give them out as an opt-in freebie. Bundles can contain both audio and digital contents.
24. Coupon Code
You can offer free coupon code to 10 lucky subscribers. This can create urgency and prompt leads to become subscribers.
25. Free Trials
You can offer your audience free trials on your product over a period of days. They get the chance to test your product and if pleased they become subscribers.
26. Coaching Call
Who doesn’t love a free coaching session?
You can deliver a value packed free coaching session and make people become subscriber to get the rest.
27. Quizzes
Quizzes can be a great email list builder. It has to be interactive and fun for your audience. You could have your audience fill an opt-in form to get their results. Quizzes are also used to get more insights into your web visitors.
28. Behind the Scenes Content
Everyone wants to know what goes on at the back scenes. You could give them a brief content about how you go about your day to day life.
29. Free Live Q&A Calls
You can do live Q&A calls exclusive to only members on your email list. You can also offer the call recordings to them.
30. Resource Guide
A resource guide is a roundup of all your favourite tools, resources and software. Readers would find this useful and get results faster.
31. Access to Private Facebook Group
Offering access to your private facebook group is a good opt-in freebie. Make the group exclusive to only subscribers. Facebook is a great lead generation tool.
32. A Thrilling Case Study.
You can engage your audience with case studies of stories of great people around a niche. Telling stories trigger people emotions.
33. An In-demand Tool
This might come at a cost but is sure to improve your email list. You can either create a tool or buy it at your own cost. The tool should solve a problem of your subscribers.
34. Free Membership
A membership site is a great lead generation tool. Make membership free but include premium content. You can use free resources to make membership more tempting.
35. Offer Free Shipping
If you own an ecommerce store, you can offer free shipping to people on you email list. This generates more leads because no one would want to pay for shipping if it is free.
36. Limited Digital Product Access
This not only generates hot leads but convert leads into subscribers. Offer limited access to product on your site if only leads subscribe to your email list.
37. Free Industry Survey
People of like minds like you would love to have insights to their industry. Do simple survey of your current email list and offer free insights.
38. Challenge
People often consume content and never take actions. Create a challenge, share to the public and set a deadline. Update subscribers on your list about your progress. Other people who are interested would have to sign up to your email list.
The bottom line is use of opt-in freebies is a great way to grow your email list. And in turn it generates leads and then into potential customers.
Conclusion
Though sharing with you awesome freebies ideas to grow your email list and generate great leads is the objective of this my post, my ultimate wish for you is to execute these ideas and today is the best time to start.
It may take a while before you see result but in the long run it pays.
