Introduction
Collecting opt-ins before sending your campaigns and newsletters is very important to prevent your account quality from dropping, and there are many ways you could do that.
In this article, you will learn different ways to advertise and collect opt-ins from customers to build a solid subscriber list - this way you can send them your campaigns and newsletters.
Opt-in 1: Offering a discount
To collect opt-ins, it is a good idea to give your customers some kind of incentive such as a discount voucher, since your campaigns might turn a potential customer into a recurring customer.
For example, your customers could send the "Join now" (they can also scan a QR code or click in a link) message to trigger our opt-in method and become a subscriber, and in exchange they would gain a 10% discount voucher on his next visit.
And this is how it looks from their side:
Opt-in 2: Offering a free product
Another incentive to get their opt-ins is by giving free products. In the following example, the customers could send the "Become part" (they can also scan a QR code or click in a link) message to be added to the list of subscribers - in exchange, they will get a free coffee during their next visit.
From their side, it will look like this:
Opt-in 3: Creating a raffle
Raffles, competitions and prize draws are great ways of attracting potential subscribers to your newsletter or campaign. In the image below, customers are added to the subscriber's list as soon as they send the "Count me in!" message (they can also scan a QR code or click in a link). Later on, a winner should be randomly selected from this list.
After they have joined your newsletter, this is what they will see:
Opt-in 4: Segmentation based on service preference
If you have some variety of products or services, it is a good idea to offer different newsletters tailored to your customer's preferences. Let's say our fictional store has three types of products: clothes, sneakers and jewellery. It also has a newsletter for each one of those products, so customers can choose the ones that they're interested in.
The picture below shows a customer interested in sneakers. The customer sends the "Only Sneaker" message to subscribe only to this specific newsletter (they can also scan a QR code or click in a link).
This is what the customers see on their side:
Opt-in 5: Using templates to collect Opt-ins
Templates are also very useful to gain new subscribers for your newsletter. If you're already in a conversation with a customer, you could send him a template with a button containing the same word you've selected when creating your Opt-in Method. This will get his opt-in if he clicks in the button.
You could also include this template in your Automation.
⚠️ Important! Do not send campaigns to get Opt-ins, as doing this will decrease your account quality. It also defeats the purpose of getting the opt-ins in the first place, since customers will receive the campaign without consenting.
Instead, only send templates to get subscribers during a conversation with your customers.
The example below shows a template created to collect Opt-ins for a recruitment company. To subscribe, all the customer has to do is click in the button.
This is what customers will see after clicking in the "Subscribe" button:
Opt-in 6: Offering time-specific deals
You can also use templates to offer time-specific incentives, such as vouchers for Black Friday or specific holidays. This creates a sense of urgency since the customers only have a limited timeframe to subscribe and get the promotional code.
⚠️ Important! Do not send campaigns to get opt-ins, as doing this will decrease your account quality. It also defeats the purpose of getting the opt-ins in the first place, since customers will receive the campaign without consenting.
Instead, only send templates to get subscribers during a conversation with your customers.
The following example shows a Whatsapp template with a button that contains the same word used during the Opt-in Method creation. This means that the customer will be subscribed to our subscribers list when he clicks in "Subscribe now!"
After clicking in the "Subscribe now!" button, the customers will see this:
Opt-in 7: Using referrals
One more way to collect Opt-ins from your customers is with a referral program, by getting them to invite their friends to subscribe and rewarding them with a discount voucher. The message "10for10" will get them subscribed to the newsletter.
And this is how it looks from their side:
By implementing some of those examples in your business strategy, it should become easier to get your opt-ins and build a solid subscriber list! 🚀