How to Supercharge Your Opt-In Forms and 2X Your Sales

Fact: leads are the lifeblood of your business. 

And the #1 way that random visitors become leads — and ultimately, paying customers — is… they opt in. 

They subscribe to your newsletter, or enter their deets to download a lead magnet. They leave a contact form request. They book a free strategy call. 

In many ways, your opt-in forms and landing pages are the gateway to your business for potential buyers! So ask yourself: is your “gateway” up to the task?

Is it designed to convert, or slapped together to tick a box? 

Does it convey exclusivity and value… or just the naked desire to collect people’s info? 

Would a prospect feel honored and enthusiastic about opting in — or will they stay a cautious 100 feet? 

Your answers to these questions will determine if you’re going to struggle for every single lead every day… or enjoy an abundance of dream-fit buyers at your fingertips, 24/7.

So today, I’m going to share with you how to level up your opt-in forms and attract tons more leads into your business! We’ll cover 3 most common types of opt-ins, sharing 3 strategies and one real-life example for each.

Read on, and you will learn:

• Top 3 tweaks you want to make to your email opt-in forms to accelerate your list growth
• How to leverage the useless humble contact form to charm potential prospects
• The 3 elements your free consultation form needs to convert 2X more leads (at least)

Interested? Then let’s dive right in!

Let’s start with the most common method for filling your pipeline with top-quality leads — a.k.a. your email list.

 

1. Email opt-in: convert visitors into loyal subscribers

Your email list is the most valuable revenue-generating asset you have, bar none. So if you’re looking to double (or triple, quadruple, quintuple etc.) the sales in your business…

…then focus on driving continuous list growth. Because more subscribers = more prospects to sell to = more revenue!

And besides, boosting your T2C (website traffic to email list conversions) rate is actually pretty easy. This is the kind of “low-hanging fruit” that any company can benefit from — regardless of industry, business model, or level of marketing sophistication.

In my experience, there are only 3 things most businesses need to worry about if they want to supercharge their list growth. These are:

1. Offer an irresistible lead magnet. When it comes to opt-in forms, your conversion rate is only as strong as your lead magnet. So make sure that you have something truly valuable to offer to your target market! This 2-part guide will help you get started.
2. Plaster your opt-in form everywhere. It should be impossible to miss for any first-time visitor to your website! Put it on the hero image on your homepage; engineer a polite but obvious popup; and create targeted landing pages anytime you anticipate a spike of traffic from a particular source (e.g. a guest post on a popular blog).
3. Emphasize juicy benefits + outcomes in your copy. Why should your website visitors subscribe to your email list? What’s in it for them beyond “getting notified about future promotions” or “receiving weekly tips”? Make sure you clarify the biggest benefits and outcomes you can offer them — and convey them on your opt-in page, loud and clear.

Real-life example: here’s a killer email opt-in that does literally everything right.

First, it’s cleanly designed and impossible to miss (homepage); then, it asks for a single “microconversion” (clicking a button) to qualify a visitor and make them invested in the free offer; and finally, it clearly communicates the benefits and outcomes of the lead magnet. 

Perfect, no notes.

 

2. Contact form: nurture strangers into red hot leads

Oh my oh my… Is there any marketing asset more neglected than the humble contact form?

Go to any company’s website, click the Contact Us link — and you’ll be greeted by an opt-in that practically screams, “We were told we’re supposed to have this form on our website… buuut we assume that nobody will ever use it. So we’re not even trying!”

But if you think about it, contact forms hold amazing potential. Because any time someone sends you a question about your business…

…it means that they care enough to go through the hassle of doing that.

And if you play your cards right? You can leverage this interaction into a long-term customer / client relationship plus a sizable sale, or several! Here’s how you can do that:

1. Pre-frame the conversation. Use the copy of your Contact Us page to clarify for the kind of questions or feedback you’re looking for. Also, mention how long the response time is, so your leads have a good baseline expectation that you can stick to… or surpass!
2. Train your customer support team to sell via conversations. Show them how to separate the time-wasters from people who actually want to do business with you; equip them with word-for-word scripts to engage leads in a sales dialogue; set and track response time metrics to make sure nobody falls through the cracks.
3. Craft a strategic thank-you page. Once someone has submitted a question through the contact form, you can translate this initial momentum into a closer relationship! On the thank-you page, you can ask them to subscribe to your newsletter; follow you on socials; check out your top-performing content; or download a free gift you prepared just for them. Nothing builds rapport quite like unexpected value!
   

Real-life example: this is one of my favorite contact forms I’ve seen in a looong time. It oozes personality and takes maximum advantage of what little copy it has — totally appropriate for a newsletter that teaches creative writing to entrepreneurs!

 

3. Booking form: attract qualified, dream-fit prospect

If your business leverages free consultations to drive sales, then this section is for you.

At first glance, this method of attracting buyers looks like a walk in the park. Step One: motivate prospects to book a free call; Step Two: hit them with a smooth sales pitch; Step Three: profit!

What could go wrong? After all, everyone loves getting value for free… right?

But here’s the problem — several, actually:

• First, you’ve got to convince your prospects that your free consults are actually valuable — and not just sales calls with a fake mustache and a rubber nose glued on!
• Second, you want to be certain that anyone signing up for your free calls is the perfect fit for your paid offer… or you’ll be wasting your team’s and your leads’ time.
• And finally, you must overcome the inevitable objections and mistrust that people sense when confronted with a powerful free offer.

And to make sure that you capture only (well… mostly) qualified leads in your free-consultations-to-sales pipeline, I recommend you follow these tips when creating your opt-in form:

1. Convey a valuable outcome. What will your prospects get out of this call… even if they don’t end up buying anything? Will you audit their website? Create a bespoke meal plan? Brainstorm their content marketing strategy? Create a compelling value proposition for your free consultations, and make sure your opt-in form / page reflects it!
2. Brag about past successes. On your opt-in landing page, showcase quotes (or even video testimonials) from previous clients or customers you’ve helped. A free, compelling offer + abundant social proof is an incredibly powerful high-converting combo! 
3. “Future pace” your prospects. Describe what will happen when they book the call with you, and what they should do next. This will mentally transport them from thinking, “Should I do this?” — and straight into, “OK, what happens after I do this?” It’s a subtle mindset shift… but it makes all the difference.

Real-life example: check out this simple but devastatingly effective booking form.

It has almost everything: a bold statement of value right at the top; a CTA to get a callback for the impatient leads (who are often ripe for a sale); a complete breakdown of how the call works… 

The only thing it’s missing is some juicy testimonials and customer quotes! (Like I said: almost everything.)

 

Implementation time! Go juice up your opt-in forms

Aaand now that you know exactly how to level up the top 3 types of opt-ins on your website…

…are you ready for some homework?

No no no, hold that groan! I guarantee that you will enjoy this particular assignment — because the prize for a diligent student isn’t going to be an A+ and bragging rights, but abundant leads and sales for your business!

So here’s your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1. Isolate the most visited opt-in form on your website. It could be an individual targeted landing page, your homepage “hero” section, or your booking form, doesn’t matter. All that matters is that it’s getting traffic and you’d like it to convert more.
2. Revamp, glow-up, and otherwise boost your #1 opt-in using the techniques you’ve learned in today’s article. You don’t even have to do all 3 if you’re short on time or resources — you can even start with just one change and go from there.
3. Observe how your new-and-improved form performs over the next month or two, and note the oodles of qualified leads taking your sales pipeline by storm. (You’re welcome!)

See? I told you that you would enjoy this bit of homework. Now go ahead and get ‘er done, you rockstar! *high fives you through the screen*