To kick start any email marketing strategy, the first thing marketers put on the table is a signup form. Heat acts as an ice breaker and sets the bar of expectations. To increase the number of opt-ins is on the top priority of every email marketer. The catch with sign up forms is that almost everybody wants people to sign up for their email list, and people are not willing to get spammed by dozens of emails. In this article, I am going to share 9 protips for creating winning email signup forms that will please your prospective subscribers. Buckle up to know more about the topic.

What Are Signup Forms and Their Types

A signup form is typically a webpage that facilitates people to fill up their information and agree to receive regular email updates. You can use landing pages, popup forms, or inline forms as signup forms. Also, they are divided into single opt-in and double opt-in categories depending upon the need for confirmation. Usually, double opt-in forms are more preferable as they provide better quality subscriber lists.

Professional email developers use list building tools to reinforce their sign-up forms. If you are using software like Mailchimp, you can take help of Mailchimp specialists to create an attractive signup form for you.

The opt-in rates for the different tools are:

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The average opt-in rate stands at 1.95%.

Here are the 9 pro tips for creating instantly agreeable sign up forms for email marketing:

Leverage Social Proof

Ignite the power of numbers. Publicize the total number of subscribers, exhibit the reviews of customers in the newsletter. The ulterior motive to convince people to subscribe to regular brand updates. This the best way to demonstrate that it is worthwhile to be in the list of your recipients. It is a strategy to elevate brand worth and in turn, attracts new customers. You can disclose customer ratings to build trust among new subscribers.

Offer Incentives

Create a win-win situation; potential customers should be able to see their benefit to subscribe with your brand. You can offer them a discount coupon, free delivery, access to valuable content for free or reward points. Make sure to convey information related to incentives via interactive visuals. Visuals leave a lasting impact on our minds besides being easy to grasp.

Focus on Compelling Call-to-action Buttons

CTA is the most crucial element of email templates. You need not use dazzling colours to highlight the CTA buttons, persuading the tone of the email template is enough. To convince readers to act, show the benefits. Create a sense of urgency with your copy, and keep the CTA text crisp and clear. Use possessive words such as 'me' or 'my'. For example, 'Send me regular updates' or 'send my trial software'.

Harness Testing To Improve Your Odds

The sure-shot way to find what works for you is to test everything. Experiment with the signup form, compare the performance of different variations of signup form with each other. Initiate A/B testing on the content of the email campaign. It is a technique to compare the effectiveness of different versions on the same variables. The test intends to keep a watch on the audience's response on variant A versus variant B.

Write a Conversational Copy

Nobody likes to read sales heavy, pushy content, especially in the case of sign up forms. You can go for a conversational tone to make it sound more natural. To make it sound like a conversation, use “I,” “we,” “me,” and “you”. These words provide a sense of one-on-one conversation, and readability increases.

Don’t Put Up Too Many Input Fields

In email marketing, less is always better. For signup form name and email is enough. Asking too much information can cause negative impact. A signup form with two field inputs takes less processing time and is convenient to fill. Don't ever skip the field of 'name' because it is important for personalization of emails. Remember, you can always add more fields later to gather data for lead nurturing. There’s no point in frustrating your subscribers to be with excessive data entry even before you build a relationship with them.

Use Enough White Space

Set the arrangement of images, CTA buttons, texts, and images carefully with plenty of white space. Experiment and find the most soothing option for eyes. The perfect arrangement allows users to scan and filter the content.

Select Font Styling Aptly

Select the web-safe fonts that follow the typographic hierarchy, and it is the selection of fonts in such a way users can read valuable information and filter out other content without missing any key point. If the choice of fonts is apt, users can fill sign-up/subscription form without any hassles.

Over to You

As we discuss in the very beginning of the article, the Internet is flooded with sign up forms. You can use these 9 tips to rejuvenate your email marketing strategy and create awesome deal breakers for roping in new subscribers. I don't believe that there is any panacea that works like a charm when it comes to driving opt-ins. You can use these tips and also continuously experiment for new ways as innovation is the only full-proof strategy in today's saturated market. I have pivoted this article for conversion rate optimisation and hope that you find these 9 protips useful in creating winning email sign up forms for your brand.

Author bio:

Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free HTML email templates in addition to providing email automation, campaign management, and data integration & migration services. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.