We all know that growing our email list is an important part of growing our online business. That means that we have to have opt-ins that entice people to give us their email address. How can you grow your email list with a high converting free offer? Today, we’ll show you the exact way to brainstorm your idea and validate it with your audience. And, what to put on the page to make sure that it converts! 

Make sure you stick around to the end, because we’re going to share the conversion rates that you should be looking for, and what to tweak if you’re not getting the conversion rates that you want.

1. Convert Your Opt-Ins

So how do you make sure that you create an opt-in that converts? Here’s three ways to make sure you get it right.

1. Make life easier for your audience

Firstly, you wanna create something that will make people’s lives easier. Think scripts or a behind the scenes view of how you do something, or templates. When we’re creating an opt-in, people want something that won’t take long to implement. 

2. Use a Framework

Number two, make sure you’re using a framework. A lot of times, we think we just wanna give more content, because, hey, isn’t more better? But it’s not. A lot of times, more is just more. You wanna help them get a result as fast as possible. Use a framework that shows them the exact steps to get from point A to B as quickly as possible. They’ll thank you by sharing online how wonderful your opt-in was and what great results they got.

3. Make a Big Promise

We know that you can’t guarantee results for everybody who uses your opt-in, but it is important to tell them what those results are and be bold. Let them know if you can save them time or money, or, if you can get them more money. Tell them if you can save them stress and create calm!

2. Validate Your Idea

Now that we have an idea of what opt-in you could create, we’ve gotta go do a little market research to validate your idea. This is how I want you to go into Facebook groups, whether it’s yours or somebody else’s, and validate your concept.

Number one, create three separate opt-in ideas. Go into a Facebook group and ask which one of those three they like best. Once you get your answer, come up with three different titles for that opt-in idea. Test which one of those ideas they like best. Then, finally, take that one idea that everybody picks and ask them to select which cover design or what type of content they would like. That way, you’re not only getting answers, you are also building buzz!

3. Landing Page Formula

Now we have to actually create the page that’s going to get people to opt in. First, you want your headline, your headline that states that big promise. Next, you want three to five bullet points that show them the benefits of getting your opt-in, and what it will do for them. Next, you need your opt-in form. This is first name, last name, email, and a button using words they would say. Don’t say “Submit”, say “I want this,” or “Yes, give it to me” or “I can’t wait.”

And then finally, you need a bio. If you’re super famous, maybe you can get away without having one. But nowadays, people want to know who they’re getting products and services from if they’re gonna give you their email address. Put a nice headshot of you, preferably one that feels organic and real, not one where you’re sitting, just staring at the camera. And your bio shouldn’t just be about your credentials, it should be relevant to the opt-in. So if you are doing an opt-in that’s all about how to use Trello as a tool, you’re going to want to tell them why you love Trello.

4. Optimize Your Landing Page

Once your opt-in is out in the world, you’ll be able to see how well it converts. But what are good conversion numbers? We say 30% is a good marker. If it’s under 30%, then you wanna start making tweaks. And if it’s 30% or above, then that’s a scalable model. You could do Facebook ads for it as well as a bunch of other things. The general rule is at least 50 people opting in before you make any changes, so that there is real significant statistical data to go off of. 

Once you’ve had 50 people and if it’s under 30%, then we’re going to change the headline first. We’re only gonna change one thing at a time, so that we can measure what’s working and what’s causing the increase in conversions. After we test the headline, then you can test your bullet points. Make sure they’re even more enticing, and really hit on the benefits and not the features.

Those are the two main things that you can change. There’s a bunch of other tweaks that you can make to test out your conversions, but we suggest trying those two first as they make the most significant difference.