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Last week I did my first ever business Facebook Lives, and in the spirit of repurposing content, I want to turn those Facebook Lives into blog posts (because sometimes reading is better/easier/the only option).
Buttt, if you did want to watch the original recording, you can do that here:
Mistake 1 – Misinformation in success message or thank you page
The success message or thank you page either tells them to confirm (when they don't need to), or it doesn't tell them they need to confirm (when they do need to). If you're using a single opt-in, then you need to remove all the default language about confirming the subscription. If you're using double opt-in, then it's very, very important that you make it super clear in the success message, or on the thank you page, that they need to go and confirm their subscription/email address.
Mistake 2 – Incentive Email Fails
Here's the thing about Incentive Emails, and where I see people going wrong allll the time: you need to make it clear in the Incentive Email subject line, email body and on the button exactly what they need to do and what's going to happen when they do it.
ConvertKit's Incentive Emails are super clever, you can give them a free thing and as they click on the button to download: “oh, would you look at that, you also just confirmed your email address!”. But, I've found that if people don't realise they have to click on that button to confirm their email address, they may save the email for later (when they've got time to look at your free thing properly), and let's be honest, how often do we go back to look at emails we've saved?
When it comes to the Incentive/Double Opt-in Email, there are 4 options, and here's what you want to do:
- You don't send an Incentive Email
No need to worry, not sending an Incentive Email - You use double opt-in and you give them a free thing in the Incentive Email
Subject line something like: “Open up to confirm your subscription and get [insert free thing name]”
Body of the email something like: Click the button below to confirm your subscription so I can send your emails and to automatically download [insert free thing name].
Button text something like: Confirm subscription and download [insert free thing name] - You use single opt-in and you give them a free thing in the Incentive Email
Subject line something like: “Open up to get [insert free thing name]”
Body of the email something like: Click the button below to automatically download [insert free thing name].
Button text something like: Download [insert free thing name] - You use double opt-in but there's no free thing being given in the Incentive Email
Subject line something like: “Open to confirm your subscription”
Body of the email something like: Click the button below to confirm your subscription.
Button text something like: Confirm subscription
So basically, always make it super clear what they need to do and what will happen next.
And on a similar note, just because you can upload huuuge files to an Incentive Email definitely does not mean you should. Let's say 12mb max. And please please please never upload videos – upload those as unlisted on YouTube.
And before you ask, don't worry about the ‘send subscriber data to thank you page'. It's for a couple of specific integrations. If you haven't read in an integration help article that you need to check/tick it, then it doesn't matter if you do or don't.
Mistake 3 – Using Minimal Form Style
The minimal form style is this one:
Sometimes I have clients who are confused why ConvertKit is not collecting subscribers' first names. And more often than not it's because they're using the minimal form style. All 4 landing page styles and 2 of the 3 form styles collect first names, except for this sneaky one. Now, obviously you don't have to collect first name, and I'm sure there's some research out there that says getting a subscriber's first name and email address reduces the number of signups. But I'm going for personal connection + quality over quantity, so first names for me please!
It's easy to change if you hop into the Form → Settings → Style → pick either ‘full' or ‘naked'
What if you've got a mixture of subscribers with both first name and no first name?
If you've got a decent number with first name, then I recommend that from this point forward you start to always collect their first name. ConvertKit has a little known, but super cool feature called ‘Subscriber's name (with fallback)'. You can find it in the Personalize section of the email editor. Here's a quick video on how to use it:
If you’d like to learn more from me about using ConvertKit to its full potential, check out ConvertKit Club! There's loads of training in there that you get immediate access to, so no more mistakes because you didn't know better!
Alternatively, if you’re new to ConvertKit or even just considering it, check out my free 40 min A Beginner’s Guide to ConvertKit video.