There’s an email opt-in idea for every business niche.
There’s a good chance if you’re reading this that you know about the power of email marketing and why you need to be using it for your small business. Whenever mums ask me where to focus their marketing efforts, I always recommend email marketing as the first step to start building a connection with their target audience.
Email is such a wonderful marketing tool because it allows you to not only gain new potential customers but also nurture your client relationships on autopilot. Your email list can literally do the hard work for you while you sleep. Doesn’t get much better than that!
Ready to invest a little time in the gift that keeps on giving with your email list? Then you’re going to love these 11 email opt-in ideas designed to inspire you to create a lead magnet that will be hard for your ideal customers to refuse!
What is an opt-in form?
Also known as a lead magnet, an email opt-in form is the irresistible offer that you supply your audience (usually for free) in exchange for their email address. These forms exist as a landing page, embedded in webpages (like the one I have further down!) or as a pop up form to capture website visitors. I’m guessing there’s a VERY good chance you’ve opted in to another businesses email marketing in the past based on their irresistable new subscriber offer. Amiright?
Do you always need an opt-in to build your email list?
Email opt-ins aren’t the only way to secure new subscribers. Another way to boost email list growth is to remarket to previous customers or clients. However; you must have a clause somewhere in your terms and conditions of sale that informs your customer that they will be sent your email marketing, otherwise you could be illegally spamming your clients which is a big no-no.
11 alluring email opt-in ideas to build and boost your mailing list
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1. Checklist
A checklist is one of the most simple content upgrades to put together for your email subscribers.
Checklist opt-in examples:
- 21 creative ways to grow your small business without relying on social media
- 10 must-haves for an Instagram bio that converts.
- Weekly meal planning cheat sheet
Keep it simple and stick to your area of expertise or a topic that aligns with the service you provide. Adding adjectives that evoke emotion and speak to the heart of your target market, is key. Have a play around with wording and use my favourite tool thesaurus.com if you need some inspo for a catchy title.
2. Challenge/series
Guide your customers through a process that will help them solve one a pain point. Often it’s a free sample of a longer program. Ideally running over a shorter timeframe and helping your customers with a ‘quick win’.
Give them a taste of the outcomes and experience of working with you, encouraging them to book in again. You could also do this as a live training to repackage, reuse or sell in the future!
Challenge/series opt-in examples:
- 7 day meditation practice.
- 5 day Instagram reel challenge.
- 3 day mindset reframe.
3. eBook
An eBook doesn’t have to be the same length as your fave novel or self-help bible, a short ebook of 5- 10 pages is plenty! What is something you get asked about a lot? Survey your audience for inspo when it comes to the subject for your ebook.
I heard so often at my Biz Brunch events how overwhelming business owners found optimising their website for Google. This led to the creation of my SEO Rookie ebook which went on to have over 250 downloads!
Ebook opt-in examples:
- How to start your own home beauty business.
- Beginners guide to blogging.
- Social media captions playbook.
4. Audio file
If you have content that suits an audio medium then consider offering free audio files as an opt-in gift.
Audio file opt-in examples:
- Meditation track.
- Exclusive podcast episode or content.
- Audio training.
5. Video training
Video is great for step-by-step instructions, screen sharing or tutorials. It also helps your audience to get a feel for your vibe – nothing like that face-to-face connection! There are stacks of online programs to help you make your own video. Or keep it simple – shoot on your iPhone and upload to a Google Drive for download.
Video training opt-in examples:
- How to create Canva templates for your business.
- Illustration tutorials.
- Cooking demos and recipes.
6. Live webinar or masterclass
Not dissimilar to video training except you’ll be capturing your content live. This could be online using webinar/streaming software, or going live in Facebook groups etc. You can host these as a one-off event or put it together as part of a challenge or mini series.
Webinar opt-in examples:
- 3 simple sales tweaks to convert customers.
- Pinterest masterclass.
- How to set up a handmade jewellery business.
7. Online course taster / mini online course
If your online business is launching a digital course or program, offering a snippet of what your course looks like is a great way to entice your potential clients.
This mini online course opt-in could look like:
- First module of your online course for free.
- Opening part of each module of your online program for free.
- A short-course that leads into your larger, paid offering.
8. Giveaway/prize
Raise your hand if you’ve ever entered a giveaway or competition online? (*raises hand*). If you’re putting together a giveaway, consider collecting email addresses instead of accumulating followers on social media. There’s a good chance if people see your giveaway, they are already following you on socials anyway, so it makes sense to ask them for their email instead. Plus as we know you don’t actually own your social media following and it’s not always the best way to grow your business.
Giveaway lead magnet examples:
- Prize money using PayPal.
- Free product or service.
- Collaborative giveaway featuring other businesses (make sure your T&Cs outline that all businesses will be using their email for marketing purposes)
9. Discount
This is another super popular opt-in for product based businesses. How many of us have handed over our email for a cheeky discount? (*raises hand*). I’m sure we’ve all seen the pop-up that offers 10/20/30% off your first order in exchange for your email address. This can also work for service based businesses but is perfect if you have a product based biz
Discount opt-in examples:
- 10% off your first order.
- Free shipping on your first order.
- Free sample with order.
- Early bird discount.
10. Digital download
If you offer any kind of printable or digital product, this is an easy win for your customers to receive in exchange for them subscribing.
Free downloadable product opt-in examples:
- Print/illustration.
- Social media audit workbook.
- Weekly meal planner.
- Free templates for social media captions.
11. Subscriber-only content
If you have an engaged following or readership, why not encourage people to sign up in order to get your exclusive content. You could even make this a paid offering and many platforms allow for subscriber-only content and payment gateways.
Examples:
- Be included in ‘Close friends’ status on Instagram stories.
- Exclusive subscriber-only blogs.
- Subscriber-only podcast episodes.
Find out what your customers want
If you really aren’t sure what kind of free gift your potential subscribers would want – ask them! Conduct a survey or put together a quick poll on your Instagram stories asking your audience to vote for different free resources you could provide. This is a really simple way to gauge what you audience would consider valuable content and will save you guessing.
If you don’t have the audience yet, a good starting point could be to use a search tool like Answer The Public. Check out the kinds of questions being asked on repeat and see if you can come up with different types of opt-in freebies around those.
Craft your welcome email
Once you’ve settled on your lead magnet and set it up in your email service provider you’ll want to look at creating a welcome email that fires out automatically when someone subscribes. This email can include whatever great thing you’ve offered your client but can also include some additional bits and pieces about you and your brand, too.
Nurture your client relationships
You’ll want to set up and automate your welcome sequence or nurture sequence after this, which can be a time consuming thing to plan out. I use a template for my nurture sequence and tweak it as needed depending on the specific topic or offering I think my ideal customer is interested in.
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FREE 5 Page Guide
21 Creative Ways To Grow Your Business
(Without Relying On Social Media)
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