I'm not typically one to turn down a free thing.

 

Especially when that free thing is an ice-cold drink at a hot, humid baseball game.

 

So tell me why I passed by no fewer than 5 promotional Starry coolers without snagging a single can?

 

These promoters were trying desperately to do their job. They had so much free stock, with multiple flavors, and after all, it was FREE!

 

It wasn't even raining anymore, so I didn't even have a reason to hurry back from the stadium to my car.

 

I could've stopped and chatted, grabbed my soda, and walked leisurely back to the parking garage with a fun beverage.

 

But I didn't.

 

Why?

 

 

Yes, it was free.

 

Yes, the coolers were positioned in the perfect environment for the perfect audience — hot baseball game goers tired of overspending on stadium food and wanting a refreshment.

 

Yes, it was something I would've liked.

 

So why didn't I take my free sample and run?

 

 

A half-hearted "it's free!" wasn't going to be enough to convince me to linger long enough to potentially get the sales pitch.

 

 

Did my refusal to take a free can of Starry negatively impact the brand in any meaningful way? No. And if we're being honest, neither would my having taken one.

 

But most online businesses don't have the budget or brand recognition of a super-corporation like Starry, so if you're hoping to entice potential customers or services by offering something for free, you need to be giving people a reason to take you up on that offer.

 

Last week, I mentioned I'd be starting a series all about growing your email list with Pinterest… Welcome to Week 1! 😎

 

We're talking all about developing opt-in offers that work 👇

As we learned from my post-baseball Starry example, something being free isn't always a good enough reason to get someone to actually take action.

 

Your email list in and of itself is (most likely) already free! But just because you have a free email list doesn't mean people are going to want to join.

 

Inbox space is precious these days.

 

People don't want to just hand their email address out willy-nilly!

 

There are a few different ways you can give your target audience a reason to join your email list, but I want to focus on three main things:

 

 

I'm going to keep walking past you just like I did with the Starry reps...

 

and I'm going to walk straight to Sara at BTL Copy so she can tell you that YOU CAN DO BETTER.

 

No one really cares that much about "staying in the know" unless they're your number one fan or maybe your mom.

 

This is ESPECIALLY true for any people coming from Pinterest.

 

Pinterest users don't know who you are and they don't particularly care about you, so they really don't care about "getting the latest news" for a brand that doesn't (yet) matter to them.

 

 

 

If you want to use email marketing effectively, you need to be emailing your list regularly.

 

And if you're emailing your list regularly, you probably need some kind of consistent format.

 

This isn't 100% necessary, but I do wholeheartedly believe that sending a weekly newsletter on the same day every week will be more effective than a sporadic monthly email.

 

But if you can only commit to every other week, that's fine.

 

Once you figure out what your newsletter cadence is going to be, treat it like its own entity within your brand.

 

Give it a name, maybe give it some branding, create a newsletter template that you follow each time... etc.

 

You could stop here, but if you really want to grow your email list, I recommend creating some sort of lead magnet, freebie, opt-in, whatever you want to call it.

 

 

You can technically offer anything you want and call it a lead magnet.

 

But in 2024, we're not doing things just to do them, we want to make sure they actually work and work towards our goals.

 

 

✔️ Relevant to your expertise and offers

✔️ Actually valuable and worthwhile to your target audience

✔️ Easy to understand

✔️ Bite-sized and actionable

 

Free lead magnets are especially powerful for growing your email list with Pinterest, because Pinterest users are more likely to take action.

 

Most Pinterest users are driven by a specific need or question, so if your lead magnet promises to solve their problem or answer that question, they're more likely to trade their email address for your freebie.

 

 

Ideally, you're attracting subscribers who will one day be customers and/or dream clients.

 

So to develop an effective lead magnet, get into the mind of your ideal client and think about what kind of resource they would be looking for before they're ready to hire you.

 

Maybe it's a checklist of things your homepage needs to include, or a mini guide on setting up your Facebook ads account.

 

Whatever it is, it should be enough info that it's worth the trade, but without giving away your secret sauce.

 

If you're tapped for ideas, try searching on Pinterest to see what kinds of freebies and opt-ins already exist in your space. You can get an idea of what formats your audience tends to prefer and might even identify some gaps in the freebie "market" that yours could fill!

 

I know we're all on our silly girl summer vibes (aka finding that work life balance and enjoying the sun), so this is totally optional BUT, if you want to follow along with this series and take some ~aligned action~ along the way, here's your homework for this week:

 

If you already have a lead magnet, I want you to audit your opt-in copy. 

 

Are you telling people to "join the list" or are you giving them an actual reason? Time to find out! 👀

 

Next week we'll be talking about what to do after you've got them on your list…