What’s your subscription strategy?
In today’s online world, there’s a real danger to “building your house on rented land.”
In other words, by publishing your content on platforms and channels you don’t own, you run the risk of them unexpectedly changing the rules and compromising its visibility.
Twitter. LinkedIn. Facebook. Medium. Apple Newsstand. These and other channels where you may be publishing and promoting your content have complete control it. They decide whether it lives or dies and the extent to which it is visible to the world. This problem has been well documented, so I won’t belabor it any further.
What’s important to note from a strategic standpoint is that you need to focus your content on platforms and channels that you DO own. Your website is the first and most obvious place to do that. But another one that marketers often overlook is one of the oldest, least sexy forms of online media: email.
An email subscription strategy is critical
In today’s uncertain environment, it’s critical that you have a healthy and growing email list, because it gives you the ability to communicate with your audience whenever YOU want.
Do you have a strategy in place to grow your subscriber list? If not, now’s the time to formulate one. Here are some things to keep in mind:
High visibility form: Your website should have a subscription form in a prominent location on the home page and other important pages of your website. Some people put this box in the right-hand column of each page, which is easy to do if your website is based on WordPress or another blogging platform. Others use a popover box, which appears on top of the content of your web pages, or a “welcome mat,” which loads above your web page content and commands attention (visitors can also click a button to scroll down to the page’s content).
Offer an exchange of value: Ideally, your content should be so compelling that visitors can’t wait to sign up for your newsletter. In the real world, however, readers usually need an incentive to sign up – an offer for a free white paper, special report or other valuable resource. Once they submit their email address, they will have access to a web page with they can download their freebie.
Be consistent: Create an editorial calendar and publish your newsletter on a regular basis. Consistency is key. It doesn’t matter if you publish once a week, once every two weeks or once a month. Establish a publishing schedule and stick to it.
Upsell them: At the end of blog posts, offer a free download of a relevant special report, worksheet or other resource. The link should lead the reader to a landing page where they can give you their email address in exchange for it.
Ungate some resources: Even though you’ll want to grow your list quickly, don’t “gate” every resource you offer to your website visitors. A combination of free and gated is best. Remember, you want to give your visitors a strong taste of your best thinking. This is a real opportunity to turn the tables: Instead of forcing a visitor to give up their email address in exchange for your special report, why not create a free, ungated resource that is so good that the reader will say to him- or herself, “I want to sign up for the newsletter so I can get access to more of this awesome thinking!”
Related article: Marketers: Why are your sales flatlining?