Why Email List Building?
Did you know that your email list is the most valuable asset for your business? If you didn’t, it’s time to pay attention and start building one. If you’re still unsure and not focusing on creating an email list, you are making a BIG mistake that could set your business back significantly. This is because emails still generate 80-90% of your total web traffic and are the most effective marketing tool for gaining new customers.
KISSmetrics’ co-founder Neil Patel says: Out of all the channels I tested as a marketer, email continually outperforms most of them.
According to him, a robust email list not only gives you a high conversion rate but also gives you the opportunity to monetize your growing list by pitching multiple products/services, thus helping you to take your business to the next level.
How to go about building that email list that everyone keeps telling you is so important?
Did you know an email list paves the way for a much higher user engagement and drives significantly more traffic than any other platform? Wondering why? That’s because when a visitor to your site subscribes to your email list with double opt-in, s/he is really interested in your offerings and is quite likely to open your email, read it and even click on the links. No wonder why seasoned marketers emphasize on email list building.
In case you still have doubts, here are some benefits of emails:
- They are personal: They can be precisely targeted and are direct and casual since they land straight into a user’s inbox.
- They are focused: A person investing effort and time to sign up for your email list and confirming his/her email address is obviously already interested in your offerings. No wonder that s/he will be more responsive and receptive to your message (provided it’s focused to meet their needs or desires), thereby bringing you results.
- They can be targeted to suit specific clientele: Since you already know your email list subscribers have given consent to know more about your brand and offerings, and even what they like/prefer etc, you can deliver them highly relevant offers and content, thus driving better conversions and end results.
- Email is personal: Unlike messages shared on a public wall or someone’s timeline, emails offer the chance of a one-on-one interaction between your business and your existing/potential clientele. More importantly, emails are read and give people the chance to reach you and at times, even ask questions or voice their concerns which they wouldn’t have done on a public platform. Thus, emails help users to build a trusting, one-on-one relationship with you, which would gradually allow them to develop trust in your brand and subsequently spread the word around.
Perhaps now you are ready to think about email list building seriously and get started.
Which is the Best email opt-in tool for WordPress sites?
You can grow your email list by adding opt-in forms to your site’s key locations and enticing visitors to submit their emails. By collecting emails this way, you can soon have a robust email list to use for your marketing strategies. Though people may differ when it comes to choosing the best email opt-in tool for WordPress sites, here are some of the tools belonging to the top ranks:
So, how do you choose the best amongst these? Let’s give you some pointers to decide on your own.
Pricing Comparison with full feature plans
At $29 per month, OptinMonster gives you access to everything that you can use on unlimited sites. In comparison, SumoMe makes all its features available for $100 per year though you can use them only on a solitary site. A more budget-friendly option is Thrive Leads where you get quite a few useful features to be used on one site for a one-time payment of $59. However, it’s ConvertPlug that takes the winner’s crown by offering you loads of features like its pricey counterparts without breaking the bank as you can use all these features on a single site against a small one-time payment of $21.
Features of Each Email Opt-in tool Compared
Before comparing these opt-in tools further, let’s take a look at what exactly opt-ins do.
What are Opt-ins?
To answer, opt-ins are signup forms to help your email list building endeavor, thus enticing visitors to get registered to your site or answer your CTA (call to action) and perform the desired action. To get the email ids via opt-in forms, you can use bribes such as free downloads, subscription to newsletters, giveaways, coupons, special offers, etc.
Why is display position important?
Once you have decided to use an opt-in form, you need to select its display position carefully since that’s the key factor which will drive the users performing your desired action. In case there’s a mismatch between the opt-in form and its display location, your conversion ratio will get a beating. For instance, adding an important announcement as a floating bar will boost your conversions.
Now, let’s take a look at the display options that the above mentioned opt-in tools bring to the table.
The following email opt-in form types and positions are made available by OptinMonster, Thrive Leads, SumoMe, and ConvertPlug:
- Lightbox Popup
- Slide-ins
- Floating bar/Hello bar
- 2-Step Optin
- Videos opt-in
- Mobile Opt-in
- Welcome mat/Full-screen form
- Custom HTML/Canvas Opt-in forms
OptinMonster lacks a Locked Content opt-in form type, while SumoMe, ConvertPlug, and Thrive Leads have it.
You can get sidebars with both OptinMonster and Thrive Leads, though the other 2 opt-in tools don’t offer it.
Except for SumoMe, all 3 offer:
- Widgets Area
- After Post/Inline Forms
A Social Media style is available only in SumoMe and ConvertPlug.
When compared with the 3 tools mentioned here, ConvertPlug is the only plugin that lets users use a one-click trigger to place an opt-in form inline before the content on a page.
Form Design and Customization
Why does design matter?
With an attractive, user-friendly, easy and flexible design, complemented by a well-planned piece of content, getting people to sign up would be easy. Here are the factors that you need to consider while designing your opt-ins:
- You should aim to give your opt-ins a clean, professional look by using the right placement and alignment of the elements in the form on your website.
- Having a very small, unattractive button that’s easy to miss, or using a bland button text, or opting for a button that simply commands “submit!” may not help. Ideally, your submit button should have a benefit statement and a friendlier approach to bring more signups and conversions your way.
- Having a strong, crisp, effective headline along with a targeted piece of content that comes with an enticing benefit statement would help get the most out of your opt-ins.
- Instead of having numerous elements (such as social media buttons, post meta data etc below the title) that do nothing more than distracting people from the main conversion goal, you should create your opt-ins as a single cohesive unit without blaring visual divide.
- Instead of choosing dark and dull colors, the main color of your popups should be a complementary color to the rest of your website.
On these notes, let us take a look at how the four opt-in tools fare with respect to form design and customized options:
While all four are mobile responsive and offer readymade templates, they vary with respect to the other features.
ConvertPlug, Thrive Leads, and OptinMonster should be your go-to option if you are looking for –
- 100% Editable Design
- Core Live Editor
You won’t get the above features with SumoMe.
To determine how these tools perform on a scale of 0-10 for Easy to use form builder, ConvertPlug and Thrive Leads are the clear winners with a score of 9.8 each, beating the other two by a wide margin (OptinMonster: 9.5; SumoMe: 9.2)
Except for SumoMe, all three offer a Real – Time Live Preview; while OptinMonster lacks the feature to add Multiple fields through the customizer of an opt-in form.
If you need animation effects, you can take your pick from 26 options offered by OptinMonster, 22 by Thrive Leads, or a whopping 56 by ConvertPlug. SumoMe doesn’t offer this feature.
ConvertPlug also beats its other three competitors by offering what they don’t – the Close Tooltip/Toggle feature.
Features of Triggers Compared
User’s behavior can be better understood with triggers, which in turn would help to make them do something that you desire. For example, a popup at the right time can stop a visitor from abandoning your website and s/he may eventually get converted into a returning visitor.
Understanding user behavior
You can understand the behavior of your website users better by using three different ways, namely usability testing, analytics and customer support.
Triggers can help you test usability and drive more conversions by understanding user behavior better.
All the four opt-in tools have the following trigger options for you to use:
- Exit Intent Pop-Up
- Time Delay Pop-up
- After Post Trigger
- Show on Page Load
- Scroll Pop-Up
Except for SumoMe, the other three tools also offer the following:
- User Inactivity/After Inactivity
- Short Codes
Form Display Options
Whom do you wish to display the module to?
To make the most of the opt-ins, you need to understand the user’s motive. Ideally, you should use the opt-ins according to a user’s journey and location. Doing this will give your email list a significant boost.
OptinMonster and ConvertPlug offer the following form display controls:OptinMonster and ConvertPlug offer the following form display controls:
- Repeat Controls
- Referrer Detection
- Device Detection
SumoMe and Thrive Leads don’t offer these. However, all the 4 plugins support Page Level Targeting.
AB Split Testing & Conversion Analytics
With A/B testing, you can test variations in your opt-ins and identify the best one to use, which will bring more conversions your way than using its counterparts would have.
OptinMonster, Thrive Leads, ConvertPlug, and SumoMe – all offer the following testing and analysis features:
- A/B Testing
- Trigger Testing
- Conversion Analytics
- Multi-Variant Testing
Integrations
When it comes to integrating with third-party tools and software, all four tools offer email service integrations with:
- AWeber
- GetResponse
- MailChimp
- InfusionSoft
- Campaign Monitor
- Mad Mimi
Except for SumoMe, the other three also offer integration with:
- iContact
- SendinBlue
- Mailpoet
ConvertPlug and Thrive Leads also offer integrations with:
- OntraPort
- WebinarJam
- Sendy
- SendReach
- GoToWebinar
- KlickTop
Other integrations on offer are as follows:
- MyEmma: offered only by ConvertPlug, OptinMonster, and SumoMe.
- Hubspot: offered only by ConvertPlug and OptinMonster.
- MyMail: offered only by ConvertPlug.
- Active Campaign: offered only by ConvertPlug, OptinMonster, and SumoMe.
A brief Comparison of all four
OptinMonster
Features:
- Well Timed Trigger
- Drag-Drop Editor
- A/B testing
- Mobile Specific Popup
Rates:
- $9/month: Ideal for those just starting out and looking for an entry tool.
- $19/month: Perfect for expanding businesses having a goal to accomplish more.
- $29/month: Just right for those looking to get huge results at a quick pace. expanding businesses having a goal to accomplish more.
So where do they differ?
With mobile-specific opt-in forms, storing your leads locally becomes possible. You can even track conversion using Optincanvas technology. OptinMonster works on any platform, which adds to its popularity. Integrating OptinMonster with Google Tag Manager is yet another feature that many users find very helpful.
SumoMe
Features:
- Adaptable and smart mode of display
- Customizable design
- Ability to unlock all 15+ List Builder design templates
- Unlocking ability to hide the blue badge
- Support for conversion pixels and tracking
- Ability to unlock Scroll box Pro (all 5 Scroll Box design templates)
- Ability to download all shared data
- VIP Email Support (SumoMe Pro)
- Includes Priority Email Support
Rates
Beginners can opt for the Free plan, where they get all the apps while those who are a little serious with their business can opt for the Starter plan at $10/month where they get VIP Support and No SumoMe branding, in addition to whatever is offered in the Free plan.
For some kickass results, Pro plan at $100/month is the best bet. With it, you will get all that’s offered by the Starter plan. In addition, you will also get these:
- A/B testing
- Pro Insights
- Advanced display rules
- Full selection of Pro Templates
- Enterprise integrations
A 14-day free trial can be used to test the Pro plan before you pay for it.
What’s so UNIQUE about it?
For enjoying the basic benefits, a free version of SumoMe will be adequate. Since this tool is user-friendly and integrates easily with a WordPress site, it’s considered to be an effective lead generation tool. However, for quick and huge results, the Pro plan is the best.
ConvertPlug
Features:
- User-friendly
- Easy integration of new mailer in connects
- CK editor
- Readymade templates
- Trigger test
- 700+ font options
- A/B split test
- Campaign comparison
- Real-Time Editor
- Standalone plugin with mail collector
- Integrated analytics
- Well-timed trigger
- All templates are mobile responsive
- Control repetition with cookies
Rates
You can use ConvertPlug at an unbelievable price of $21 (one time) for a regular license. This includes QC by Envato, lifetime future updates, and 6 months support. You can also extend the support period to 12 months by paying only $6.30 extra (thus saving up to $8).
What’s so UNIQUE about it?
From leveraging an inbuilt email collector, 700+ font options and customizing the form completely, to using exit intent technology, well timed triggers, inactivity trigger, 2-Step opt-in, standalone email integration and inline/after/before post form, this WordPress plugin is a feature-packed tool that helps you to beat the competition and boots your conversions. With a competent support team where experts are ready to guide you at any and through every step, you won’t face any hiccups while using ConvertPlug. With an easy and fast ticket system, complemented by forum discussion, proper documentation and “how-to” videos, people at the helm ensure that users of ConvertPlug get an enjoyable experience with this plugin. No wonder this WordPress Lead Generation tool is fun to use and the most affordable amongst its peers in the market.
Thrive Leads
Features:
- A/B test
- Actionable Insights and Reports
- User-friendly
- Multiple variant tests
- Mobile Friendly
- Drag and drop Editor
Rates
With a Single Site License for $59, you’ll get to install and activate the plugin on a single website. The plugin will come with:
- All features included
- Unlimited, free updates
- Support for 1 year
With Unlimited Sites License for $97, you’ll get to install and activate the plugin on all websites that you own and operate, apart from enjoying the features made available under the Single Site License.
With an Agency License for $399, you’ll get to install and activate the plugin on your own websites and that of your clients. In this case, the plugin will come with:
- All features included
- Unlimited, free updates
- Unlimited support
What’s so UNIQUE about it?
Considered to be an alternative to OptinMonster, Thrive Leads comes equipped with a drag and drop editor, in addition to flexible targeting display rules. This tools is also mobile responsive and help the popup to load quickly, which make it a preferred choice for many.
Conclusion
When you consider the features on offer, results given, ease of use and the prices, ConvertPlug definitely beats the competition by miles.