Get more sign-ups to your newsletter with 6 simple tactics


It is rare that two lovers get married on their first date except from the situation where they have attended the Danish TV program “Married at first sight.” You have to establish a relationship with your customers before you can expect them to buy from you. You have several opportunities to start a relationship with your potential customers through social media, customer service, and your newsletter.

To start a relationship with your customers through newsletters you have to consider how you can get customers to sign up to your newsletter.

Hopefully, this blog post will inspire you with 6 different tactics that you might apply to your signup form so you are able to seduce your customers to sign up for your newsletter or service when they visit your webshop.

1. Let customers know how popular you are

Your visitors are met by your sign up form in the top of your front page. Some people will sign up immediately, while other visitors feel differently and are worried and confused about whether they should sign up to your email, blog etc. or not. Their worry is based on doubt since they don’t know if it is the right thing to do. All customers want to do the right thing, and if they know that a lot of other customers have signed up it is more likely they will sign up as well. Thus, they look for the right thing to do through other customers’ actions.

‘Social proof’ is a tactic which you can use to convince those of your visitors who are unable to make a decision as they look for the assumption of others.

If you want to convince customers to sign up for your newsletter or convince them to buy from you, you must focus on trust, and this can be gained through social proof tactics.

Example of social proof from Bro blog.

Use this guide from Neil Patel if you want to understand how you can improve your marketing efforts by including social proof in your signup form.

Remember, social proof is not only about the number of customers who have signed up. Other types of social proof are Expert social proof, Celebrity social proof, Wisdom of friends, and User social proof. If you have approximately 100 sign-ups or less you should choose another type of social proof than numbers, which is also called Wisdom of Crowd.

2. Sell your sign up form

What is your primary reason for you to want your visitors to sign up for your newsletter? Yes, it’s a question with an obvious answer. You want a relationship with them, so, at some point, you can transform these leads into customers.

Your purpose is not the same purpose as your customers’. You have to find a good reason which makes your customers consider and decide that a sign up on your shop is beneficial for them.

Your customers have to know exactly what they will receive if they sign up. They are giving personal information to you, but what are you going to give them in exchange?

Tell your customers why they should sign up. You can try out the following strategies:

  • Give your new signups discount on your webshop
  • Tell the user why they should sign up
  • Give your customer something for free
  • Include all new signups in a competition where they can win a gift card
  • Tell your customers about the benefit by signing up — great offers, sneak peeks, and exclusive events

Trendday is giving their new signups 100 DKK in discount if they sign up for their newsletter.

3. Give your call to action some gravity

The call to action is the magic button in your sign up form. This button must have your attention when it comes to design and text. The call to action color must be different from the color of the sign-up form. Use contrasting colors, so your customers cannot avoid seeing the call to action button which, of course, you want them to click on.

Check out some great designs for sign up forms and call to action buttons here.

Spotify is using a contrasting color in their Call to Action button. Even though this Call to Action is not for Spotify’s email sign up, but for signing up to their platform, it gives you the idea of using contrasting colors on your own Call to Action.

Instead of only writing “submit” or “register” in your call to action text, write something more specific like: “Get my 15% discount now” or “Start my free trial today”.

If you want to go further to provide an effective call to action in your sign up form you can apply powerful words that are unique and personal. Remember to include strong verbs and adjectives.

So instead of writing ”Get your 3 dressing tips” you might say “Grab my 3 dressing tips”. Using “grab” instead of “get” makes the headline different, and using “my” instead of “your” makes the headline personal.

4. Remove the customers’ concerns about your newsletter

Imagine, that you want to buy some pants online, but you are concerned about the size and the fitting, so to support your decision and increase your trust the shop allows you to try the dress before you pay for it; exactly as you do in physical stores.

When your customers are considering to sign up to your newsletter they might be concerned about your email procedure. They don’t want to get spammed or bored with irrelevant emails.

To convince new subscribers they should sign up for your newsletter tell them they can unsubscribe whenever they want. Thus, the customers know that if they get bored or receive too many emails they always have the opportunity to unsubscribe.

You can also let your customers choose what kind of information they want to receive from you. In so doing, the customer knows that they will only get the information that they have asked for.

Femina is asking their new subscribers what kind of information they want when they receive news for Femina.

5. Lightbox pop-up

The photographers are blurring the background when they are taking close up pictures. Filmmakers are blurring the background when the are filming a woman sitting in a boat, so you are only able to see the woman and not the elements around her. Websites are using a pop up that stands out, and the rest of the website is getting dark or blurry when the pop up appears.

A pop-up, that makes the background blurry or, even better, black, is making the customer focus on the main thing which, in this case, is your sign up. If your sign up form is only placed on your webshop there might be some other elements that steal the shine from your sign up form.

Pop-ups are also great at catching all those customers who are visiting your site and never return. Stats show that more than 70% who are leaving your site will never return. A pop up might give you one last chance to engage with your customers. Don’t waste that opportunity.

Canva is using a white sign-up form against a blurred background to place the focus 100% on their sign-up form when potential customers arrive on their site.

Nike is using a white pop-up form, and when it pops up on their webshop, the background changes to black to focus their customers’ attention on the email sign-up form.

6. At least, say thank you

This tip is not a tactic to get more signups but more like a friendly gesture to your customers.

Send your customers a thank you email where you are letting them know that they have signed up for your newsletter, and tell them what they can expect to read about in your newsletters. It could be new products, great tips and ideas, customer stories and so on.

You can also send your customers to a thank you page, so they know that you are taking care of their sign up. When you have disrupted your customers in their internet shopping venture the least you can do is to say thank you when they sign up, right?

Monki is having a thank you page, where they let their new sign up know, that they have joined team Monki.

Start using these tactics to increase your conversion. Don’t forget to test different elements in your sign up form to understand which sign up strategy performs better compared to another. You should figure out:

– What text and color to use in your call to action

– What kind of gift you can offer to convince your customers to sign up

– Which social proof type works better than on another

– How and when your pop up form should appear on your website

– If whether it matters or not if you write “you can always unsubscribe”


Get more sign-ups to your newsletter with 6 simple tactics


It is rare that two lovers get married on their first date except from the situation where they have attended the Danish TV program “Married at first sight.” You have to establish a relationship with your customers before you can expect them to buy from you. You have several opportunities to start a relationship with your potential customers through social media, customer service, and your newsletter.

To start a relationship with your customers through newsletters you have to consider how you can get customers to sign up to your newsletter.

Hopefully, this blog post will inspire you with 6 different tactics that you might apply to your signup form so you are able to seduce your customers to sign up for your newsletter or service when they visit your webshop.

1. Let customers know how popular you are

Your visitors are met by your sign up form in the top of your front page. Some people will sign up immediately, while other visitors feel differently and are worried and confused about whether they should sign up to your email, blog etc. or not. Their worry is based on doubt since they don’t know if it is the right thing to do. All customers want to do the right thing, and if they know that a lot of other customers have signed up it is more likely they will sign up as well. Thus, they look for the right thing to do through other customers’ actions.

‘Social proof’ is a tactic which you can use to convince those of your visitors who are unable to make a decision as they look for the assumption of others.

If you want to convince customers to sign up for your newsletter or convince them to buy from you, you must focus on trust, and this can be gained through social proof tactics.

Example of social proof from Bro blog.

Use this guide from Neil Patel if you want to understand how you can improve your marketing efforts by including social proof in your signup form.

Remember, social proof is not only about the number of customers who have signed up. Other types of social proof are Expert social proof, Celebrity social proof, Wisdom of friends, and User social proof. If you have approximately 100 sign-ups or less you should choose another type of social proof than numbers, which is also called Wisdom of Crowd.

2. Sell your sign up form

What is your primary reason for you to want your visitors to sign up for your newsletter? Yes, it’s a question with an obvious answer. You want a relationship with them, so, at some point, you can transform these leads into customers.

Your purpose is not the same purpose as your customers’. You have to find a good reason which makes your customers consider and decide that a sign up on your shop is beneficial for them.

Your customers have to know exactly what they will receive if they sign up. They are giving personal information to you, but what are you going to give them in exchange?

Tell your customers why they should sign up. You can try out the following strategies:

  • Give your new signups discount on your webshop
  • Tell the user why they should sign up
  • Give your customer something for free
  • Include all new signups in a competition where they can win a gift card
  • Tell your customers about the benefit by signing up — great offers, sneak peeks, and exclusive events

Trendday is giving their new signups 100 DKK in discount if they sign up for their newsletter.

3. Give your call to action some gravity

The call to action is the magic button in your sign up form. This button must have your attention when it comes to design and text. The call to action color must be different from the color of the sign-up form. Use contrasting colors, so your customers cannot avoid seeing the call to action button which, of course, you want them to click on.

Check out some great designs for sign up forms and call to action buttons here.

Spotify is using a contrasting color in their Call to Action button. Even though this Call to Action is not for Spotify’s email sign up, but for signing up to their platform, it gives you the idea of using contrasting colors on your own Call to Action.

Instead of only writing “submit” or “register” in your call to action text, write something more specific like: “Get my 15% discount now” or “Start my free trial today”.

If you want to go further to provide an effective call to action in your sign up form you can apply powerful words that are unique and personal. Remember to include strong verbs and adjectives.

So instead of writing ”Get your 3 dressing tips” you might say “Grab my 3 dressing tips”. Using “grab” instead of “get” makes the headline different, and using “my” instead of “your” makes the headline personal.

4. Remove the customers’ concerns about your newsletter

Imagine, that you want to buy some pants online, but you are concerned about the size and the fitting, so to support your decision and increase your trust the shop allows you to try the dress before you pay for it; exactly as you do in physical stores.

When your customers are considering to sign up to your newsletter they might be concerned about your email procedure. They don’t want to get spammed or bored with irrelevant emails.

To convince new subscribers they should sign up for your newsletter tell them they can unsubscribe whenever they want. Thus, the customers know that if they get bored or receive too many emails they always have the opportunity to unsubscribe.

You can also let your customers choose what kind of information they want to receive from you. In so doing, the customer knows that they will only get the information that they have asked for.

Femina is asking their new subscribers what kind of information they want when they receive news for Femina.

5. Lightbox pop-up

The photographers are blurring the background when they are taking close up pictures. Filmmakers are blurring the background when the are filming a woman sitting in a boat, so you are only able to see the woman and not the elements around her. Websites are using a pop up that stands out, and the rest of the website is getting dark or blurry when the pop up appears.

A pop-up, that makes the background blurry or, even better, black, is making the customer focus on the main thing which, in this case, is your sign up. If your sign up form is only placed on your webshop there might be some other elements that steal the shine from your sign up form.

Pop-ups are also great at catching all those customers who are visiting your site and never return. Stats show that more than 70% who are leaving your site will never return. A pop up might give you one last chance to engage with your customers. Don’t waste that opportunity.

Canva is using a white sign-up form against a blurred background to place the focus 100% on their sign-up form when potential customers arrive on their site.

Nike is using a white pop-up form, and when it pops up on their webshop, the background changes to black to focus their customers’ attention on the email sign-up form.

6. At least, say thank you

This tip is not a tactic to get more signups but more like a friendly gesture to your customers.

Send your customers a thank you email where you are letting them know that they have signed up for your newsletter, and tell them what they can expect to read about in your newsletters. It could be new products, great tips and ideas, customer stories and so on.

You can also send your customers to a thank you page, so they know that you are taking care of their sign up. When you have disrupted your customers in their internet shopping venture the least you can do is to say thank you when they sign up, right?

Monki is having a thank you page, where they let their new sign up know, that they have joined team Monki.

Start using these tactics to increase your conversion. Don’t forget to test different elements in your sign up form to understand which sign up strategy performs better compared to another. You should figure out:

– What text and color to use in your call to action

– What kind of gift you can offer to convince your customers to sign up

– Which social proof type works better than on another

– How and when your pop up form should appear on your website

– If whether it matters or not if you write “you can always unsubscribe”