We started looking at emails differently since last year after we heard Tim Ferriss say something interesting on his podcast.

“Your inbox is everyone else’s agenda for your time.”

That’s actually true if you stop to think of it. Take one look at your inbox and you will see a garden variety of emails demanding your time; calendar invites from colleagues, marketers asking you to join their webinars, Nigerian Princes trying to scam you of your riches, and so on. 

Everybody out there is vying to get your time and attention to sell you something you might not want!

If you have a newsletter that’s suffering from low opt-in rates, you need to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and realize this. You’re buying someone else’s time with your newsletter content, so you have to make sure it’s well worth their time.

But what if you already have your newsletter in alignment with your audience and your opt-in rates still suck? Good question. That means your principles are in place but your tactics are missing the mark. We have some easy-to-apply strategies that you can try. Give these tricks a shot and see what works best for you.

Say “Hey” With a Hello Bar

A website is more complicated than the town planning of new suburbia. You have many options to show your offers—welcome mat, sidebar or tray menu, footer banner, in-line banners, pop-ups, tabs at the top navigation bar, and so on.

If you want to pitch your email subscription to readers who are already on your website, nothing is better than communicating it through the hello bar—the forehead/masthead of your website. Opt-in messages displayed on a hello bar are unintrusive and static, for readers scanning your website.

Hello bars have a similar effect that Doublemint gum or Snickers bars have on you when you are in a store waiting for your turn to check out at the counter. It commands your attention without being pushy. A hello bar works since they are subtle yet in simple sight of the customers.

Ensure you either optimize this for mobile or disable it. The real estate is very low, so you should be mindful of mobile where most conversions happen.

Make an Impression With Videos

Videos can be the best call to action (CTA) to increase email newsletter sign-ups. Video is quickly becoming the next big thing in marketing because it is known to get 66% more qualified leads and a 73% conversion rate. That may explain why another post in your social media feed nowadays is a video and the popularity of video marketing platforms like HippoVideos, Vidyard, and Facebook Watch.

Unlike hello bars, videos, and chat have use cases that go far better than your website pages. You can obviously embed a video in your website pop-up but also include its thumbnail in your email marketing copy. And guess what happens when you add a video element to your email? According to MarTech Advisor, videos improve your email click rates by up to 300%.

Videos are highly engaging because they are visual and easy to grasp. Brownie points if they are visually appealing too. But you have to pull it off well—don’t be generic. Use a human actor (or your animated brand mascot), keep it short and conversational, and be specific in your call to action.

Build Credibility Around Your Newsletter

A great way to build trust with your audience is by humanizing your messaging. In case you are a personal brand then write your subscription pitch in the first person and include your image. This brings transparency to your newsletter brand and makes it easier for people to relate to you. This becomes even more important if you (or your business) are already an established name in your domain.

If you don’t have much brand awareness, you can ask your existing readers’ to give you testimonials or work with influencers to get an endorsement. Another great way to establish credibility is by adding a stripe of “As Seen On” media names, assuming you or your writing has appeared across credible media websites.

Growth Begins With a New Mindset

Growing your email subscription is pretty easy once you know your audience well and can tap into their psychology. It might take some work on your part to understand what ticks them, but that’s an endeavor that will give you long-term yields.

Give it your everything to create a world-class email newsletter and understand your audience’s behavior so that you can align the two in perfect harmony.