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There are many ways to build your email list. Lead capture page, squeeze pages, social media posts, and the list goes on and on, but what is the one thing they all have in common?
They are all trying to persuade the viewer to give you their email address. Period! That’s it!
Bottom line when you’re building your email list you absolutely must have the skill of writing persuasive words (often called copy) that get people to give you their email address. If you don’t possess this skill or have the funds to hire those who do you are done before you even get started. All of your list building efforts are for nothing if the words on your page/post don’t persuade the viewer to opt-in to your list.
Because lead capture pages (sometimes called squeeze pages) are where you should be driving most of your traffic, I’m going to give you a short little crash course here on how to write persuasive copy that gets people to actually opt-in and get on your email list.
Here are all the components that make a great lead capture page:
The Headline:
This is arguably the most important part of your lead capture page. Your headline must stop people from clicking away and grab their attention and you have about 3 seconds to do that. You can do this by making a promise of a certain outcome. What will be the result the person gets when they opt-in and consume your lead magnet? Describe that in an exciting and time sensitive way and you’ll stop people and bring them to your…
The Pitch/Offer:
Whatever your lead magnet is you need to “pitch” it to your viewer. Let them know the benefits they’ll get by opting-in and consuming it right now. This is another crucial part, and your copy need to be all about your viewer and the benefits they will get by getting your lead magnet.
The Call To Action:
Now craft a call to action that tells people exactly what to do and reiterates the benefits they’ll get by taking action. People will not automatically do the obvious thing, so you’ve got to tell them exactly what to do and exactly what will happen when they do it.
Here’s an example… “Enter your name and email in the form below and I’ll send XYZ straight to your inbox so you can XYZ today.”
The Opt-in Form:
Your opt-in form is something that most people overlook when creating their lead capture page. There are some tactics here that you need to implement.
First make sure you explain that you don’t SPAM or sell their information (if you don’t). Also, don’t use generic phrases like “Signup For Updates” or “Subscribe” or “Signup For My Newsletter” on your opt-in button. Use a strong call to action to get them to push that button and opt-in.
The Social Proof:
Social proof are things like big authority figures who have talked about you, places you’ve been published, how many subscribers you have, how many downloads you have, and testimonials. It’s a proven fact that social proof on your lead capture page will make it convert better. That means more subscribers, so don’t skip this!
Now if you’re just getting started you might only be able to use testimonials and that’s ok. Just find a few people who have used your lead magnet and benefited, read your content and benefited, etc.
Those are the basic components that your lead capture page should have, and you need to get really good at creating each one of them. Study the creation of each component. Google and YouTube both have a ton of information on this topic, and when you group study with practice you’ll see that you get better and better at creating each component.
Now to wrap this up, here are a few tips to keep in mind when building your lead capture page:
Tip #1:
It’s very important that you keep your lead capture page quick, simple, and easy! Use the least amount of copy for each component that you can. Just get to the point and make it all about the benefits the user will get. Also, make it super easy for the viewer to opt-in. Request as little information as possible.
Tip #2:
I have seen some horribly designed lead capture pages in my time and I never even read the headline which means I never see what they are offering. I simply click off the page and I’m gone forever. Create a clean design for your lead capture pages and I suggest using templates from a page builder or even hiring a professional to create your squeeze page for you. Don’t waste your time driving traffic to a lead capture page with a poor design because you’ll be wasting time and money.
Tip #3:
Make sure that you have removed all distractions for your lead capture page. Legal document links in your footer are fine, but there should be no links or ads to anything else. Your copy and your opt-in form with limited graphics is all you need to have.
Tip #4:
If your lead capture page is designed for it then use multiple opt-in forms. You need to have one “above the fold” and one near the bottom for those who scroll straight to the bottom of pages. You’d be amazed at how many people hit a page and go straight to the bottom.
Tip #5:
This is a great tip, so don’t miss this. For those who try to leave your page have an exit intent pop-up that comes up and offers them your same offer, but in a way that makes them feel like they will miss something if they don’t opt-in right now.
Here’s an example… Wait! You Don’t Want To XYZ? If you leave now you’ll never be able to XYZ, so grab this now.
Now I’m writing something very generic there, but you get the point. Like I said, don’t miss this tip because it could send your conversion rates through the roof!
Now with all of this information I’ve just give you, you’ve got a good start! But I highly recommend two things:
Recommendation #1:
Never stop learning how to write copy for your lead capture pages. Study everything you can get your hands on about the topic. You need to master each of the components I’ve talked about here.
Recommendation #2:
Hire people who are proven to be good at writing copy for your lead capture pages until you can master it yourself.
Between being able to write copy that persuades people to opt-in to your list and driving targeted traffic to your lead capture pages there is nothing more important when it comes to email list building. I can’t stress this to you enough. So, take what you’ve learned here, hire experts to help you when you can, and never stop studying because this is the one of two skills that hold the key to your success with email list building.
