3 Reasons People Aren’t Joining Your Email List (And What You Can Do About It)

Are you struggling to build your email list? Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.

I’ll start with the bad: nobody wants to join your email list. Ouch!

Even though that sounds kinda harsh, the good news is that it’s not personal. People don’t want to join email lists generally.

But getting people on your list is still a crucial step to fostering a relationship with your audience and eventually promoting your products or services to them.

The bottom line is that you’re gonna have to be creative in getting people to sign up for your list. That means you need to figure out how can you get people to join your list willingly and stay there for a while. 

Let’s break down some of the common reasons why people don’t want to join your list and how you can overcome those obstacles.

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Your Freebie Kinda Sucks

You need to give people a reason to join your list. Some companies, like eCommerce brands, offer things like exclusive discounts and list-only sales to get people in. If you have a similar business, you can do that, but generally, what you need to do to get people onto your email list is to offer them some kind of freebie in exchange for their email.

But if your freebie kinda sucks, you gonna have a hard time getting people to join your list.

A freebie can be bad for a lot of reasons. It could be because it doesn’t deliver value, it doesn’t make sense for your business, or it’s not the right fit for your audience. Your freebie may even  a lot of value in it, but if people aren’t ready for it, it’s not gonna help them.

You have to create a great freebie. Great doesn’t mean more complicated. Some of the greatest freebies are quite simple: a checklist or a one or two-page guide. You want to create something that fits in with what your audience wants.

However, the chances that you’re gonna find the right freebie the first time are really low. Most successful entrepreneurs have gone through a series of freebies before they find the best one.

Figure out if your freebie is right or it just kinda sucks. Then either make it better or try a new one.

You Don’t Have A Standalone Landing Page

You need to create a dedicated landing page where the only thing people will do there is to decide whether they want to sign up for your freebie or not. 

Forms or links on your blog may not work well because people are there to consume your blog content. They’re not paying attention to your subscription link and naturally skip over those forms because they’re reading the content.

If you have a landing page, and it’s not performing well, there are a couple of possible reasons. Number one, assuming the freebie is good and you have a dedicated landing page, the reason your page isn’t converting could be the design.

One of the main things to keep in mind when you design your landing page is that there should only be one thing that they can do on the landing page: sign up on your list or exit the page.

There shouldn’t be a top menu to navigate around your website from your opt-in page. You don’t want people to get distracted. You shouldn’t have various calls to action and links to social media either. You should only have to have a link to the privacy policy at the bottom of the page for legal purposes. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that what appears above the fold is important. A lot of people are using their mobile phones to browse the internet. That means that all the essential information that people will need to make the decision should be at the top. They shouldn’t have to scroll to do anything. They should be able to enter their information and click the button.

Your Copy Isn’t Good

Another reason your landing page isn’t converting is that the copy isn’t good. You have to be clear with your message and people should be able to see if it’s for them. You need to be clear in communicating the value proposition of the freebie. They’d want to know what it is that the freebie will help them do and accomplish.

You should also have a good headline on the page. It typically starts with a verb, like “Discover how to…” or “Organize your day in…,” or with a number, like “3 Steps to…”

Part of creating a good copy is understanding your audience, what they want, what they’re struggling with. Your copy should be plain and simple so that people know whether this freebie is for them.

Build Your Email List Right

Those are the important points to think about if you’re not getting people onto your email list. Check whether you have the right freebie, design your landing page well, and write copy that makes them want to sign up.

If you want more help in building your list and emailing right, make sure to join my totally free training program, BADA$$ Online Marketing University.