For digital marketing, “the money is in the list”, right?
But getting the visitor to click the sign up button can be a challenge.
In an age of heightened privacy concerns, for someone to be willing to hand over their contact information, knowing you’re about to add to the deluge in their inbox, they need motivation, a compelling reason.
In brief, the value offered should serve to dissolve any hesitation or doubt, to far outweigh the potential concerns.
"The money's in the list", right? But getting someone to hand over their email is challenging. Give them such a compelling reason, it dissolves hesitation.Click To TweetThey just want what you’ve got, and they want it now!
But it can be hard to know where to start, or the types of enticing offers you can make.
Inspiring examples of creative and effective sign-up boxes help, triggering ideas that suit the market you’re in and the type of prospect you want on your list.
That’s exactly what we’ve got for you here, with well over 50 email sign up examples to inspire your own!
However, don’t assume that something similar will work well for your visitors. Always test out different approaches, see what works, and continuously try to improve response rates.
1. ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels encourages visitors to provide their email address with the offer of a 14-day free trial.
Note all the elements involved in this box, including:
- A clear headline so visitors know exactly what they’re getting
- Clear risk reversal statements in the sub-headline
- The use of a progress bar so users know what to expect
- The use of a privacy statement (including padlock icon) to build trust
The two-step sign-up process means that even if the user doesn't complete the second step to get their free trial, ClickFunnels can use their email address to follow up and encourage them to take action.
When creating sign up offers for your list, use examples from others for inspiration. But test and experiment to see what works best for you.Click To Tweet2. Xperiencify
Xperiencify invites users to submit their email address and other information in order to access their software’s Sandbox package.
Note their use of ‘free’, highlighted and capitalized in the title to attract immediate attention, and then repeated in the bar just above the sign up fields.
In addition, note the list of short and succinct benefit statements on the left-hand side of the sign up box to make it clear all the value that’s on offer.
While the additional fields in the sign up box is likely to reduce conversions (as compared to just name and email), this approach can help to pre-qualify those who sign up, thereby improving list quality and reducing tyre kickers.
For an effective sign up offer for your list, use elements such as a clear headline, risk reversal, social proof, and an unmistakable CTA.Click To Tweet3. Metadata
Metadata uses a simple offer to start getting emails from them, with a Subscribe Now button that opens a chat box rather than the more typical email sign up popup.
Have a look at the copy they use, where they build trust and relay benefits by assuring potential subscribers that the emails they receive will be helpful and free of pitches, and be something they look forward to receiving.
Increase conversions for email sign up offers by providing clear benefit statements. Remove any doubt by making it obvious what's in it for them.Click To Tweet4. Zoom.US
Zoom keeps it super simple with the offer of a free Basic account in return for just an email address, with other steps to follow.
As with ClickFunnels above, the use of the Continue button indicates there’ll be one or more additional steps, but requesting an email first means Zoom can immediately start following up regardless of whether or not the user completes the process.
Notice again the list of benefits on the left-hand side of the sign up box.
5. ImpactPlus
ImpactPlus offers their newsletter, including social proof in their headline to encourage others to do the same.
They specifically request the user’s business email address, making it clear who they’re targeting and likely improving deliverability and response rates.
6. MailerLite
MailerLite has a simple offer for visitors to ‘keep in touch’ and receive their weekly email marketing newsletter along with other updates.
It’s a simple single-field sign up box that just requests the user’s email address.
7. ConvertKit
This sign up example from ConvertKit's makes another simple newsletter pitch, offering subscribers the ‘latest stories, product updates, and how-tos for creators making a living online’.
Again, it’s a single field sign up box with a subscribe button.
8. Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins' team has a dual track approach to attracting leads, offering both a phone number for people to call and the opportunity for visitors to leave their information, in order to find out more about their UPW event.
Note the small print underneath the button that allows them to keep in contact with people who submit their details.
9. Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk makes it very clear what people will get as a result of submitting their email address—his ‘GaryVeekly’ weekly newsletter. Note the clear and short headline, which makes it easy to grasp what’s on offer at a glance.
10. Klaviyo
Klaviyo has an offer for visitors to ‘Get started today’ in exchange for their contact details, with the ability for people to start sending their ‘first campaign in minutes’.
Offering free trials and similar is a powerful way for software providers to collect email addresses from interested prospects. The value on offer from using a particular piece of software for free is usually significant..
11. Food Network
Food Network offers various newsletters to encourage visitors to provide their email address. As long as someone likes food (most people!) they’re likely to find at least one of their newsletters of interest.
Note the use of an effective call to action phrase in the image on the right, Sign Up Today!
12. The Daily Stoic
Daily Stoic uses social proof (over 300,000 other subscribers) to encourage visitors to sign up to the list to receive a daily ‘email meditation’.
Notice the subheading which:
- Confirms what someone will receive after signing up
- Clearly states the benefits of doing so, helping subscribers to ‘cultivate strength, insight and wisdom’ to live their best life
13. Shopify
Shopify encourages email sign-ups by challenging users to compare what they provide to Etsy’s selling platform.
Users can try the software for 3 days without needing to enter any credit card information, simply by entering their email address.
Note the small print that makes it clear Shopify will continue to contact them via email.
14. HubSpot
HubSpot clearly wants to qualify anyone signing up for a demo, by having multiple mandatory fields that prospects have to fill in.
This will reduce conversions in terms of prospects they can contact, but helps ensure that the prospects that do sign up are well qualified and serious about their potential use of the software.
Note the additional checkbox people can check to receive emails with content from their blog.
15. Grant Cardone
Grant Cardone attracts visitors to share their email address with his 'Strategy of the Week'. With this method, he captures their interest and gathers their contact details. This positions him to interact with them through later communications.
16. Sprout Social
Sprout Social incentivizes visitors to submit their email addresses by offering a 30-day trial. By emphasizing a commitment-free exploration, they aim to lower barriers to entry and increase the likelihood of email signups. This creates a strategy that makes the email capture process appear seamless.
17. Loomly
Loomly uses promises of time-saving and quality improvements as strategies to grab attention. Their position to offer free sign up is also a tactic to simplify conversion. Incorporating a playful emoji is their approach to make the interaction more engaging, intending to boost email signups.
18. Acquisition.com
Acquisition.com offers visitors the chance to get more advice on how to scale their business, asking visitors to simply enter their ‘best email’.
Asking for someone’s ‘best email’ discourages visitors from entering a throwaway email for an inbox they rarely look at, and can help boost the quality of the list along with deliverability.
19. DropBox
Dropbox has an offer for people to sign up for free, citing their ‘700 million registered users’ as social proof to encourage visitors.
20. MailChimp
Here’s another example of a free trial sign up, requesting someone’s Business email address, along with the username and password they want to use.
Note the use of the checkbox, that means Mailchimp will email those who sign up unless they specific check the box to opt out.
21. Better Homes & Gardens
22. Brandmuscle
23. CNET
23. Carney
24. The Motley Fool
25. CNN
25. Eric Thomas
26. Bleacher Report
27. SkyFlow
28. Search Engine Journal
29. Wired
30. Brendon
31. Copyblogger
32. AdEspresso
33. MAYO Clinic
34. Asian Food Network
35. Mashable SEA
36. BrightCove
37. Capterra
38. Sephora
39. The Verge
40. Ulta Beauty
41. Morning Brew
42. National Geographic
43. All Recipes
44. The Daily Beast
45. Parse.ly
46. EmailOctopus
47. Litmus
48. MarketerHire
49. Techmeme
50. The Skimm
51. BlueHost
52. Chargebee
53. TinyLetter Forwards
54. Smashing Magazine
To Conclude
So that’s well over 50 email sign up examples you can use to inspire your own offers to visitors to help build your list.
Use these examples to inspire your own ideas about the kind of offer you can make to visitors in exchange for their email address and other contact information, and model your own sign up boxes on.
Of course, don’t copy directly, but adjust and adapt to suit your own business and market.
Remember that there’s often a trade-off between the number of fields in your sign up form and your conversion rate.
The more minimal the form, the higher your conversion rate will tend to be, but you may find your list is also lower quality. More fields help qualify the prospect and likely boost the quality of your list, but you probably won’t get as many people signing up.
As always, test everything and see what works best for you and your market!
