Want to increase the size of your newsletter subscriber list? Keep reading to find out how.
While the digital media landscape is always evolving, email has consistently remained one of the most effective ways for publishers to engage with their readers.
We know that email open rates for the media and publishing industry are at 21%, and click-to-open rates are just above 17%. The most effective email newsletters see figures that are even higher than these averages. And yet, there’s one factor that plays an even larger role in the return-on-investment (ROI) that publishers achieve through their email newsletters, and it has nothing to do with click-throughs or open-rates.
The size of a publication’s subscriber list is directly correlated with the ROI. The more people who sign up to receive your newsletters, the more opportunities you have to drive clicks and engagement.
One of the best ways to promote subscriptions as a publisher is by adding a signup form to your website. Publishers who run their websites with WordPress can use specialty WordPress plugins for subscription lists. These WordPress plugins make it easy to collect more email addresses through your website, with minimal integration and plenty of customized designs.
Here are our picks for the best WordPress plugins publishers can use to grow their newsletter subscriber lists.
WordPress Plugins for Newsletter Subscriptions
1. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is arguably the most well-known email marketing platform, and the company’s WordPress plugin for newsletter subscriber lists is a solution that includes all the bells and whistles. Designed for publishers who use Mailchimp to manage their email marketing programs, the Mailchimp WordPress plugin offers plenty of tools for building opt-in forms. All of Mailchimp’s sign-up forms are user-friendly and mobile-optimized. Publishers have complete control over the form fields, and they can funnel the email addresses they collect directly to their Mailchimp accounts. Add-on plugins are also available for publishers who want to do more than just collect subscriber email addresses through their forms.
2. Email Subscribers & Newsletters
Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram is an email newsletter WordPress plugin that publishers can use to collect leads and send automated new blog post notifications. The subscription boxes that publishers create with the Email Subscribers & Newsletters plugin are small and professional, and they are fully customizable. Publishers have the option to choose double opt-in or single opt-in. Importantly, this plugin makes it easy for publishers to export their contacts to their third-party preferred email marketing platforms.
3. Thrive Leads
Thrive Leads is a high-end email list builder with its own WordPress plugin. Thrive Leads combines multiple types of opt-in forms in one single plugin, with a drag-and-drop editor that publishers can use to create their custom designs. Using advanced targeting, publishers can also setup Thrive Leads to show targeted offers to visitors based on posts, categories, or tags. Those sorts of targeted offers lead to more targeted subscription lists, which generate higher engagement and click-through rates. Finally, Thrive Leads’ plugin includes reporting tools that show publishers how their opt-in forms are performing and where their most valuable traffic is coming from. Publishers can access all of Thrive’s plugins for $19 per month.
4. Jetpack
Developed by Automattic, Jetpack is a comprehensive plugin for website security, performance, and management. Using Jetpack’s Subscriptions feature, publishers can let visitors sign-up for email notifications. Sign-ups for subscriptions appear at the bottom of the comment form on every article and along website sidebars. Publishers can setup their sidebar widgets with unique titles and optional text. After subscribing, visitors receive confirmation emails. Unfortunately, the Jetpack plugin is not the right solution for publishers who want to export their newsletter subscriber lists to a third-party platform.
5. Popups by OptinMonster
Popups by OptinMonster is a WordPress plugin for digital media websites that want to grow their newsletter subscriber lists. Publishers who have OptinMonster accounts can create their own popup opt-in forms using drag-and-drop tools. OptinMonster supports exit intent popups, floating header and footer bars, slide-ins, sidebar forms, after post forms, in-line forms, mobile popups, and welcome gates. Publishers can add videos, social icons, images, and buttons to their pop-ups. The plugin works out of the box with most popular email marketing service providers.
To learn more about the benefits of email marketing for digital publishers, check out “How Top Digital Publishers Generate Revenue with Premium Newsletters”.
