The strength of your SMS and email marketing programs ultimately hinges upon whether you can grow and sustain a list of engaged subscribers. And you can’t do that with a single pop-up or widget. With the rise of mobile commerce, you must collect subscribers wherever shoppers spend most of their time and do so in ways that are optimized for mobile-first experiences.
Why? Brands that provide a variety of subscriber collection experiences are known to increase collection rates by over 40% MoM. In fact, the most successful eCommerce businesses take every opportunity to catch their customers’ eyes with a well-rounded approach to subscriber collection.
Using Yotpo SMS & Email, you can collect subscribers everywhere — with tools built for use on-site, across channels, and offline — to grow your largest mobile audience and keep it growing. Here’s how to spark interest in your SMS and email programs just about anywhere and kick-start your subscriber growth like all the top brands.
How to collect subscribers on your website
Most shoppers will sign up for SMS or email marketing notifications after becoming familiar with your brand or browsing your online store. Personalized onsite subscriber collection tools generate over 40% of subscribers for eCommerce brands. Capturing your existing traffic is the perfect opportunity to convert and collect new opt-ins.
With Yotpo SMS & Email’s powerful subscriber collection tools, you can create engaging onsite experiences in just a few clicks — using a wide variety of ready-made templates that can be tailored to your brand’s look and feel. You can also leverage advanced behavioral display options to target each on-site visitor with the subscription experience that is most likely to get them to convert.
Here are a few actionable ways to turn your website into a subscriber growth engine:
At checkout
One of the easiest ways to start collecting subscribers is right at your store’s checkout section. When filling in their details at the moment of purchase, it is only natural for customers to provide their phone numbers or email addresses so they can further interact with your brand in the future. Why? Because they have already visited your store, showed interest in your products, and have decided to trust you enough to hit the Purchase button. Our data shows that 60% of all subscribers are collected at checkout, and brands that leverage an SMS opt-in directly at checkout see over 45% mobile number capture rates.
Pro tip: Welcome all new subscribers from checkout with personalized, engaging messages that convert. If you don’t, it’s a missed opportunity, as 74% of customers expect a welcome as soon as they sign up. With Yotpo SMS & Email, you can leverage the checkout subscription source for ultra-tailored offers, like an additional welcome discount for signing up during checkout.
Onsite subscription forms
Subscription forms are some of the most popular features brands can use to grow their SMS & email audiences. They are a true attention-grabber, and apart from building your lists, they may prevent visitors from leaving your site altogether.
Leverage Yotpo SMS & Email’s subscription forms to capture site traffic, simultaneously collect phone numbers and emails from one engaging touchpoint, and maximize the results of each shopper interaction.
For best results, add at least one to your website — choose from pop-ups, floating buttons, embedded forms, and footer forms. All four are responsive and intuitive, have embedded legal verbiage, and are fully customizable.
Pop-up subscribers are considered one of the most valuable types of SMS audience, with a 76% higher conversion rate and a 38% higher LTV compared to other subscribers. And while your main homepage pop-up can be super effective, one of the most impactful ways to collect subscribers is at the time of abandonment. Add an exit-intent pop-up to your site to improve bounce rates and maximize the value of every visitor.
And another growth hack for the busy holiday season ahead — enable a post-purchase pop-up to capture shoppers who skipped the opt-in at checkout and offer them to receive shipping updates via SMS or email.
Pro tip: Use gamification to effectively convert website visitors into dedicated subscribers.
Add a spin-to-win pop-up with special offers such as discounts, free shipping, mystery deals, etc., or tie your SMS and email marketing to your loyalty program to increase engagement and CLTV.
Sign-up page
Create a dedicated landing page to showcase all the great things your SMS and email programs have to offer, and direct your customers there to collect their phone numbers and emails for a simple sign-up.
Pro tip: You can promote your sign-up page through email campaigns, Instagram promotions, and Facebook posts or ads to direct traffic or add a sign-up link to the header, footer, or main menu of your store.
How to collect subscribers across channels
Today’s consumers are not just mobile, they are multi-channel — communicating using more tools and interacting with more apps on their phones than we can count. To grow your audience effectively, you must meet them in all the places they are most active, like social media and email, and drive them to convert while they are already engaged.
With the help of Yotpo SMS & Email’s omnichannel subscriber collection tools, such as keywords and social opt-in, you can approach your customers and prospects on a channel of their choice, catching them where they are most likely to engage with your brand.
Social media subscriber collection
Supercharge your SMS & email audience growth by engaging your social media community. Subscriber collection on social sees over 9% conversion rate, making it one the top ways to build your list and revenue — fast.
Grab customers early in the buyer journey using Yotpo SMS & Email’s keyword subscription or social opt-in tools.
The social opt-in is the perfect subscriber collection solution for any brand with a strong, established social media presence that is also looking for ways to connect with the audience in a more targeted and direct manner.
It allows you to add a direct subscription link to your social media posts so your followers will be one tap away from joining your lists from an Instagram story. You can use your links on other channels like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok.
Pro tip: Launch a giveaway campaign on social media. Giveaway campaigns are great for activations during big holidays or when you drop a new product or line, boosting subscriber collection and sales.
They have the potential to grab a considerable portion of your social media followers and convert them into subscribers.
Convert email subscribers to SMS
Email and SMS work well together, so make sure to use them both to optimize shopper engagement. For example, you can approach shoppers already receiving communications from your brand via email and encourage them to join for special SMS-only discounts.
Keep in mind that 36% of shoppers will sign up for SMS in addition to emails if each channel has its own exclusive offers, so take this opportunity to demonstrate the unique value of your text marketing.
Pro tip: Create a monthly email campaign to your subscribers to remind them of your SMS channel and the option to engage with you via SMS, or add a footer section at the bottom of your emails with a clear call to action, e.g., “Never miss an offer from us! Join us by texting”.
How to collect subscribers offline
Bridge the gap between online & offline by making it easy for shoppers to opt-in while they’re in-store or have just received their package.
QR codes
QR codes combine traditional and modern marketing to provide consumers with fun and engaging shopping experiences — an evergreen tool that is now experiencing a major comeback.
Brands can include QR codes in catalogs, brochures, or other print materials or add them to product packaging. QR codes are also ideal for outdoor advertisement — think subway stations, bus stops, car stickers, store windows, etc.
QR codes are fully customizable, so you can create an engaging on-brand experience from start to finish — ensuring an interactive sign-up flow for your everywhere shoppers.
Pro tip: To make your subscription even more attractive, pair your QR code with an enticing incentive — use it in a giveaway or to grant exclusive access to pre-sale deals. Add a cool CTA and let your audience subscribe with just a scan.
In-store experiences
Let customers subscribe to your SMS program directly at checkout in your brick-and-mortar store.
How? A customer comes to the counter, and a staff member offers them a 10% discount on their purchase if they sign up for your text marketing services. All you need is a mobile device equipped with the Shopify Point of Sale (POS) app and Yotpo SMS & Email. It’s that simple!
Pro tip: Display inserts or posters for your SMS club to encourage store visitors to opt in.
Use Yotpo SMS & Email to maximize subscriber growth
If your brand is looking to grow a more engaged mobile audience, you can always trust Yotpo SMS & Email to get you on the fast track to reaching your subscriber goals.
Our innovative subscriber collection tools enable top brands to attract shoppers wherever they are — on a website, in their inbox, on social media, and even at the checkout counter — so there is never a missed connection.
Just look at Australian activewear brand LSKD, whose subscriber growth soared 310% in just six months with Yotpo SMS & Email.
Want to supercharge your subscriber collection? Talk to an expert today.
