An opt-in form is an online form (usually asks for name, email, and now preferences).
When someone fills in this form they are officially climbing into the top of your marketing funnel and turning from a stranger to an email subscriber.
Having highly engaged email subscribers will then convert into paying clients.
What information is collected in an opt-in form?
When someone completes your online form, they are giving you permission to contact them, in fact, they actually want you to contact them. They are interested in what you do/sell and how it can benefit them.
To stay connected to your email subscribers you’ll need to collect their first name, last name (you’ll regret not doing this when your list grows big and healthy and you have 500 Lisas on it), email address, company name (only if you work business to business), and now, their preferences (keep reading for more on that). With this information on your form, you’ll have everything you need.
How do preferences work?
Preferences are relatively new but it’s worth their weight in gold. At the time of opt-in, you ask your new subscriber what they’d specifically like to learn more about – a type of travel (family, romance, river cruising) or a destination/region (Europe, Caribbean, etc).
Asking these questions will allow you to curate content that your audience wants.
Where do you create an opt-in form ?
You’ll need to choose an email marketing platform to use. We recommend ConvertKit and Flodesk for travel advisors. If you check out the Smart Tools page on our website you’ll see why.
There are other options out there if neither of those interests you.
When you log into your email marketing platform, the first thing you need to do is create your opt-in form.
Your opt-in form will capture the contact information of your new subscribers.
Where do you put the form when it is created?
When you have created your form you will need to share it and promote the benefits of filling it in. To share your opt-in form you will either embed it using HTML or Java code (your website designer will know how to do this) or by sharing a URL (a website address).
If you use the URL for your form you can create a button and link that button to that URL. You can also share it on social media and in emails.
What type of forms are there and why they are different?
There are several types of opt-in forms. Depending on the email marketing platform you choose, the names of them may vary but the function remains the same.
Here are the most common types of forms:
Inline forms—These have two code snippets: one that you will need to add to your website header (before the /head tag) in your website editor and one that you will need to add to your post, page, article, or sidebar on your website where you want to display your form.
Pop-Up forms—These have one code snippet that you will need to add to your website header (before the /head tag) in your website editor.
Full page forms—All this code talk freaking you out? Good news: Unlike the Pop-Up and Inline forms, the Full page form requires no code at all.
To share it, all you have to do is copy and paste the Full page form’s URL generated for you when you create the form. Then share it on your Linktree, as a link or button on your website— wherever!
What happens after your new subscribers opt-in to your email list?
Well, this is where the magic (and hard work begins). You need to email a new piece of content to your subscribers every week. Maybe it’s your podcast episode or a new article on your website.
