Email Capture Series Part 2

In Part One we looked at ways of using Popups and Sliders as a tool for adding to your email list, but what other options are there?

Header Bars:

Header bars – a noticeable but generally simple bar that sits at the top of the website that usually displays a call to action such as asking users to sign up to newsletters etc.

Header bars can also be stuck to the top of the screen, so as users scroll down the page the header bar remains in sight all the time. Header bars are again pretty effective but definitely a lot less intrusive, they are there all the time they don’t just appear because a user was thinking about leaving the site or reading a particular section of content!

Check these tools out:

Hello Bar

Free to use tool, for websites with less than 25,000 views per month, to add scrolling header bars. It works with pretty much every website, and has customisable options and advanced targeting so the bar only appears to certain traffic.

Smart Bar

Also free to use, and is optimised for mobile devices and desktop, but does have less customisable options.

Contact Forms:

So far in our Email Capture series we’ve discussed three tools that are new add ons to your existing site, but what about making the most of what you’ve already got?

Lots of websites have a contact form – quote requests, demo requests and even standard enquiry forms can all be used to build your email lists. The only thing to ensure is that you have your permissions sorted. Just make sure there is a specific tickbox that gives users the option of opting in to your emails. Simples.

Here’s a couple of tools that can help you:

Leadin

Have a contact form and already using WordPress? Leadin is a fantastic plugin that can add extra functionality. It can track visitors and send reports on a user’s activity that include where they came from, what they visited and uses social media databases to get extra information.

Gravity Forms

A pretty advanced WordPress form builder. It’s sold on a yearly licence, but can be used for just about anything including surveys and polling, guest posting, in fact Gravity Forms can really support your imagination!

Your website can be a really useful tool in building your email lists.  It’s a game of balancing the capture methods with the tastes of your audience, but there is a winning combination!