Getting people to actually sign up for your newsletter, and why it matters more than ever

Dear website champions,

As social media algorithms make it harder and harder to reach your audience, having people's email addresses becomes increasingly valuable. Most visitors won't think to return to your website regularly, but email remains a primary communication channel for virtually everyone with a desk job or over the age of 25.

An eNewsletter is one of your best tools for staying connected with supporters, keeping your work top-of-mind, and ensuring people remember who you are when you need to ask for something (like that end-of-year donation!).

Since just tucking a newsletter signup at the bottom of your homepage won't get you nearly as many subscribers as you could, here's how to maximize signups:

• Create a newsletter worth receiving. A monthly newsletter with a few organizational updates will only interest your biggest fans. Can you define something that people who might support you will really want to receive? Think: local climate action tips, lesser-known legal facts affecting low-income residents in your state, or practical ways to apply your educational research in the classroom.

• Send something short at least twice monthly. Rather than cramming lots of information into one monthly email, send focused content every two weeks. Monthly isn't frequent enough to stay connected—people will forget who you are and that they signed up for your list. If you have capacity, weekly emails work well (and include room for advocacy asks and donation campaigns).

• Pull information that you’re already using. Your eNewsletter shouldn’t be a big production to get together. Have you posted a blog opinion or social media post that provides useful stuff? That may well be enough to create a solid eNewsletter. It’s more important to send consistently with somewhat interesting information than have each issue be brilliant. 

• Describe–compellingly–what they'll get. The text explaining why people should sign up is critical. Focus on what they'll gain, not what you'll share. Consider linking to a page with testimonials or past newsletter examples so people can see the value. (Transparency builds trust, even if your last newsletter had a typo in the subject line.)

• Popups work (when done right). Try a simple popup after visitors have been on your site for 10+ seconds or viewed multiple pages. Yes, people say they hate popups, but as long as the pop-up doesn’t show up as soon as they hit the site, they can increase signups by 2-3x without driving people away.

• Keep the form standard. People expect newsletter signups to ask for email and maybe name—nothing more. Use a straightforward form. You can get creative with the text that encourages them to sign up, but don't reinvent the signup process itself.

• Promise privacy. Always tell visitors you won't share their email and link to your privacy policy. Then actually follow through on that promise. 

Building an email list takes time, but even if you’re starting from scratch, starting a solid eNewsletter now means you'll have that direct connection to your supporters when you really need it—whether that's for an urgent advocacy campaign, a funding crisis, or simply to cut through the noise when social media isn't delivering your message.

Talk to you again in two weeks ;)

Laura