Email capture tactics for content publishers

If I were the Head of Content for a $10M ARR SaaS company, here’s the exact playbook I’d run: 1. Media Brand Create a 'faceless' social media content brand. Publish daily content that’s hyper-focused on your niche and directly aligned with your target audience. Publish content on any social channel: - LinkedIn - X (Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube - TikTok Examples: Ad Professor and The LinkedIn Creator. I did this on one channel (LinkedIn) and it's helped increase product signup growth by 101%. 2. Search Capture Create SEO content to convert searchers. Start at the bottom funnel: - Competitor comparisons - Competitor alternatives - Best-of guides Then move to the middle funnel: - How-to guides - Case studies - Templates - Tips These types of lower-funnel SEO content make 8 figures a year for our clients (collectively). 3. Programmatic Scale top-funnel SEO traffic with automation (AI). - Topic vs topic - Glossaries - Ideas lists Essentially, any topic that has 100s of variables in the keyword framework (e.g. How to calculate [variable]). Tip: Use Byword to make this easy. Programmatic content cost-effectively generates millions of traffic for our clients every MONTH. Don't sleep on it. 4. Content Upgrades Create specific lead magnets to convert multi-channel traffic into email signups. Offer something of utility: - Templates - Checklists - Swipe files - Resource lists These must be an 'upgrade' of the content the user is already consuming in order to get a high conversion rate. Platforms are unreliable and can change tomorrow. De-risk yourself and start collecting emails today. 5. Weekly Newsletter Keep your email signups 'warm' by delivering valuable content via a weekly newsletter. This can be anything your audience finds useful: - Tips - Examples - Interviews - Strategies - Templates - Case studies - Industry news Promote the newsletter wherever you're already creating content to convert more signups. We built an email list from 0 to 13,500 in 6 months, growing by 250 every week (on auto-pilot). Users receive a weekly email that delivers value while also natively promoting our product. 6. Viral Content Create unique content that generates signups, backlinks, digital PR, and virality. For example: - Research reports - In-depth guides - Free tools Rule of thumb: If it feels uncomfortable to give away for free, it’s probably the exact thing that'll set you apart. 7. Distribution Repurpose and distribute content you're already creating for other platforms and channels. - Turn newsletters into blog posts - Turn blog posts into Reddit posts - Turn LinkedIn carousels into X threads - Turn multiple blog posts into lead magnets - Turn X posts into scripts for short-form videos Use all the channels and profiles at your disposal. It's no longer viable to rely on one channel. - Social accounts can be restricted - Search behaviour is evolving - Paid ads are volatile Make 2025 your year of multi-platform content.

The single biggest mistake creators make *after* launching a lead magnet: They don't promote it nearly enough. But if you took the time to build a solid lead magnet, you should promote it consistently for *at least* a few months. That way, you can gather data & optimize it over time. The good news? Promoting your lead magnet doesn't have to be complicated. Here's 11 organic, low-effort ways to promote your lead magnet on autopilot: Tactic 1: Add Your Lead Magnet To Your LinkedIn Profile Link & Featured Section  Update your LI profile link to point to your lead magnet landing page & showcase it in your featured section.  This is prime real estate for driving traffic from LI into your email list. Tactic 2: Use LinkedIn Post CTAs Add a CTA with your lead magnet link to the “PS” section of your LI posts.  This lets you plug your lead magnet while keeping your posts value-packed. Tactic 3: Optimize YouTube Links & Descriptions Pin your lead magnet landing page link to your YT channel. And add it to the top of all your video descriptions.  So anyone engaging with your YT content has an easy way to join your list.  Tactic 4: Send Welcome DMs To New Followers/Connections   When somebody sends you a connection request, send them a welcome DM linking to your lead magnet. This sparks conversations while positioning your lead magnet as a valuable resource.  Tactic 5: Add A Signup Form To Your Website's Homepage Got a website? Add a lead magnet opt-in form to your homepage. It's an easy way to capture emails from people who stumble on your website. Tactic 6: Create A Navigation Bar Button  Another way to leverage your website: Add a button linking to your lead magnet to your navigation bar. Pro tip: Make it stand out visually - so it's easy for people to see it. Tactic 7: Add An Exit-Intent Pop-Up  Trigger a pop-up with a lead magnet CTA when someone is about to leave your website or landing page. This gives you one last chance to convert visitors into subscribers.  Tactic 8: Include CTAs In Blog Posts  Embed a signup form or add a “PS” linking to your lead magnet at the bottom of your blog posts.  Another easy way to convert engaged readers into loyal email subs. Tactic 9: Update Your Newsletter Welcome Email Add a CTA for your lead magnet in your newsletter welcome email.  This is a great way to introduce new subs to your best free resource right away.  Tactic 10: Add a Lead Magnet Link To Your Newsletter Signature  Include a persistent “PS” promoting your lead magnet in your weekly newsletters.  Easy way to keep your lead magnet top of mind for existing subs who haven't consumed it yet.  Tactic 11: Update Previous Lead Magnet Welcome Emails    Lastly, add a CTA for your new lead magnet in the welcome emails of older freebies you’ve launched.  Another easy (but smart) way to drive engaged readers to your new funnel. And that's it! So - which one will you implement first?

Ever wonder why some blogs are simply better at driving sales or leads? Here's how you can turn your blog from a mere information platform to a powerful lead-generation engine. Check out these unique strategies: Embed "Smart" CTAs 🎯 Use dynamic CTAs that change based on the visitor's past engagement with your site. First-time visitor? "Subscribe for More Insights" might be your CTA. Returning visitor? Try "Download Our Detailed Guide". You can also make it unique per the article's subject. Interactive Lead Magnets 🖥️ Why stick to PDFs? Use interactive tools like calculators, polls, quizzes, configurators, or design templates that provide personalized value in exchange for contact details. Micro-commitments 📈 Ask for small actions that don't intimidate—like answering a poll question—to warm up your audience for bigger asks like signing up or scheduling a demo. Content Personalization 🎭 Segment your audience and personalize blog content based on user behavior or demographic data. More relevance equals higher engagement and conversion. Narrative-Driven Sales Funnel 📚 Transform your blog structure into a narrative funnel that guides readers through a story, leading them to a natural and compelling sales outcome. Exit-Intent Offers 🚪 Capture potential leads just as they're about to leave your site with an irresistible offer tailored to the content they engaged with. Flash Consultations ⏰ Offer a 15-minute consultation for questions related to the blog post topic, booked directly via an integrated calendar. Gated Video Content 🎥 Instead of gating a whitepaper, try gating a high-quality video tutorial that goes deeper into the blog topic, accessible in exchange for an email. Leverage User-Generated Content ✍️ Encourage readers to share their own stories or tips related to your blog topic, which can be featured in future posts or newsletters. A/B Test Everything 🔍 Constantly test different headlines, CTAs, and formats to see what converts best and refine your strategy based on data. 👉 Let’s turn your blog into a conversion powerhouse! Who’s ready to experiment with these strategies? 🔗 Feel free to connect or drop a comment if you want to discuss more innovative conversion techniques! #MarketingInnovation #SEO #BlogToSales #ContentMarketing #LeadGenStrategy #GrowthHacking

Publishers today are navigating a digital world where first-party data is gold. With increasing privacy regulations and the decline of third-party cookies, the ability to legally and effectively acquire first-party data from users is more crucial than ever. By leveraging the right strategies, publishers can build rich, direct relationships with their audiences, enhancing personalization and driving revenue growth. Here are 8 major opportunities publishers can capitalize on to legally acquire first-party data: 1. User Registration: This is probably the most straightforward of all data acquisition strategies out there. Users often get access to a free newsletter or other similar content in exchange for providing their email IDs and other personal data. 2. Single Sign On (SSO): Manually typing personal details in the sign-up form is a minor yet still significant friction in the user registration process. This can be easily side-stepped by giving readers the option to sign in with a single click, using an existing account on Google, Facebook, or other established platforms. 3. Progressive Profiling: Progressive profiling is a process where you slowly gather information about a user over time by making incremental requests. This feels less intrusive than asking a ton of questions up-front and can result in an enhanced user experience. 4. Event-Based Tracking: An example of potentially relevant interaction is commenting. Users who are more loyal to a particular brand are more likely to participate in online discussions. Brand loyalty is a highly useful piece of data from a marketing perspective. 5. Click Attribution: Links provided by affiliate networks to publishers contain a unique ID that is used to deliver affiliate commissions on successful conversions. When a reader clicks this link, this action is recorded by the network and is considered GDPR-compliant first-party data. 6. Polls, Surveys, Reviews: Polls and surveys can be effective ways to boost audience engagement and add to your progressive profiling efforts. With the rise of AI tools, the process has become drastically simplified and automated. 7. Publisher Provided Identifiers (PPIDs): PPIDs are part of Google's wider plan to replace invasive third-party cookies with privacy-friendly tracking on the Google Ad Manager (GAM). 8. Gamification: Publishers can use competitions and contests to increase audience participation and collect first-party data. A sweepstakes where anyone can participate by providing their email or other details is a good example. What are your thoughts about these opportunities? Share with me in the comment section. #Digitalpublishing #PublisherSEO #Firstpartydata #SODP

According to data from El Pais, churn is reduced by 22% when a subscriber is signed up to a newsletter At The Financial Times, research has proven that 18% of engaged subscribers would be disengaged if it wasn't for the newsletters. And they're also hugely impactful when it comes to lifetime value. So how are publishers successfully convincing new subscribers to sign up to a newsletter within the first minutes of converting? > Highlight which newsletters are available to subscribers only, proving the value this reader now has access to, like The Independent > An image, a clear title, information on when you'll send the newsletter & how frequently > Make sign up easy - a single click via a check box is often the preferred method, some pre-select boxes for some of the more general newsletters > Quality not quantity - you don't need to feature all newsletters but combine popularity (subscribers & usage) and impactfulness (engagement post-usage & retention rates) to promote the newsletters that add value to your business > Financial Times have build bundles of content to allow a new subscriber to sign up to all newsletters, podcasts and alerts related to a single topic in one-click > Personalize where possible, even if it's as simple as adapting to the reader's location, like The New York Times: "start your day in Europe" > Pop-ups or banners on content, promoting a newsletter on the same topic, like L'EQUIPE ensuring not to frustrate the reader by defining display conditions

I tested 5 ways to collect emails. (so you don’t have to). Please bear in mind these tests have been done on my small account. I started collecting emails with 2000 followers. I’ve used these on clients with 20k+ and the data shows the similar. 1. Teaser posts This is when before you send your newsletter you tease it and place your link. I’ve been doing this every week for 3 months. I averaged 3 emails per post, at an average of 700 impressions per post. This is around 0.4% conversion rate. However since the LinkedIn reels update links only get me 200-400 impressions. Now I’ve been getting 0 most weeks. Only do this if you have a large following. My Twitter and Threads that the post gets only 20-40 views. 2. LinkedIn Newsletter I started with 3000 followers, and have been around 700-800 LinkedIn subs. I get 156 average article reads per newsletter. I post around 30% of my email newsletters then a link for the rest. I see 3 emails on average. However, I used to see sometimes up to 10. However because you subscribe to the newsletter, some of the readers will be repeat readers (old subs). Highly recommend this, as you just have to copy and paste, and it takes a few minutes. My client got 4, 6-figure leads from this in one day (which is crazy). 3. Un-gated lead magnet I tested this for a month. I got only 3 emails. My idea was if I give away free knowledge and for in depth knowledge they should opt-in. However it didn’t work. 172 people ‘read it’. That’s a 1.7% conversion rate. Whereas a recent landing page has a 63% conversion rate. My clients see 40-80% on their pages so a massive decrease in click to capture. 4. Lead magnet in bio/comments I collected 300 emails from this in 7 months. 178 remain in my newsletter, however as a lot of these can be freebie seekerz. 528 views turnt into 300 emails which is a 56% conversion rate. Since I removed dis-engaged subs in my newsletter 33% (178) actually stay with me. I would keep in mind I’ve been small when starting this (2000 followers) as well as I didn’t originally have a newsletter. I just email marketed hence people dropped off. So take that 33% with a grain of salt. This method is simple but is so far given the best results. 5. Squeeze Funnels Giveaways have collected me 300+ emails. I’ve only done 5 over 6 months. Most of these emails never end up reading and you keep around 50%. However recently I focused less on volume and high quality subs. This has got me 18 in 2 weeks, who have been opening emails. And I’ve gotten sales from this 18. I recommend doing this as depending on your size you can add 10-100 emails extra a week. My clients with 10k+ followers got 100+ every time when doing this. PS. gift in comment 👇

10 rules for media businesses in 2025. Here are the lessons I learned building my business to $2M/year and helping media and creator companies add $100M+ in sales: 1. Understand owned vs. rented audiences Owned audience = Direct comms channels you control - Email subs - SMS subs - Podcast subs - Private communities Rented audience = Platform-dependent reach - Search (Google, Bing) - Video platforms (YouTube, TikTok) - Social media (Instagram, Facebook, X) 2. Build an owned audience with email, SMS, or podcasts Primary channels = newsletters/podcasts. Everything else should drive people to these. 3. Start with an email newsletter Email is still king. Use it to grow everything else (social, site, podcast, etc.) later. 4. Email capture = your site's only job. Page views don’t matter. Email subscribers do. Ensure your site is optimized for them. 5. Collect first-party data about subscribers First-party data is information you collect directly from your audience and customers. You can use it for personalized content, ad sales, targeted ad campaigns, and more. To best collect it, get 3-6 key data points after signup: - Interests - Job title - Company name - Job level - Location - Industry 6. Use social media for early growth. Google ignores new sites. Build social first, optimize for search later. Publish 1x/day to start. 7. Email automation works while you sleep. Use automation to: - Onboard subscribers. - Send cart abandonment reminders. - Drive email subs to your podcast/community. - Re-engage and win back subs who stop opening. - Get feedback and data from your audience with surveys and polls. - Sell your products to subs who are engaged or show product interest. - Congratulate subs on milestones like one year subscribed or 100 emails opened. - Send an email after a critical action or event, such as a poll response, referral, or survey completion. 8. Launch free community at 10k-20k subscribers Pick a platform you control (like Circle), instead of ones with platform risk (Facebook groups, Discord). This works as another owned channel you can later monetize. 9. Choose: hyper-scale or hyper-niche Be the New York Times (hyper-scale) or Industry Dive (hyper-niche). Advertisers like one or the other, but not both. 10. Two ways to scale niche media: A. Go horizontal (build a house of niche brands). Industry Dive (acquired for $525M in 2022) has 37 niche B2B publications on agriculture, automotive, banking, and more. B. Use Negative CAC to scale vertically by selling products and services to your audience. Negative CAC is using media monetization (advertising) to finance audience acquisition. Once you have an audience, sell a non-media product or service to that audience. Second part (11-20) coming shortly!

Every day, technical buyers search for answers to their problems. Here's why they skip over you, even if you have good white papers. The issue: you may have a poor content distribution strategy. Yes, buyers want educational content that helps them understand their challenges. But they have to be able to find it. While building my first business, GovCon, I realized that many companies invest heavily in creating technical white papers that few prospects actually read in full. ↳ These resources contain valuable information but aren't packaged for easy consumption. ↳ This means minimal returns on the expensive content investments. ↳ There's a more effective approach: content repurposing. Here's how: ↳ That technical white paper can become a series of focused blog posts. ↳ Each post can generate multiple social media updates. ↳ All can offer the complete white paper as a downloadable resource—capturing email addresses in the process. Case Study: At morebusiness dot com, we applied this strategy with our business plan templates. We published the entire template content on the page for everyone to read. This comprehensive approach helped us rank highly in search results. Then we offered the exact same content as a downloadable, editable document. Dozens of people every day enter their email address to get this convenience. They don't mind sharing their name and email because we're making their job easier. The lesson: create once, publish everywhere, and always include an irresistible offer. P.S. What valuable content do you already have that could be repurposed and turned into a lead magnet? *** ♻️ Like this? Please repost. ➡️ Follow me for daily coaching.

Since scaling our #D2C business in 2020, we've collected more than 400,000 email addresses at Doughp. That’s a LOTTA people. 📧 Best of all, we grew our list without any giveaways to capture emails or importing lists. ❌ These are genuine subscribers who bought Doughp and/or found us and subscribed to our emails! But, in the end… it’s not about the size of the list, but the motion of the sales ocean. 💰 (Did I just say that? 🥴) Well our sales ocean is in motion... 41% of our online sales come from our email marketing efforts! Anywho! Here are some of my top tips to get some #emailmarketing wins: ⭐Provide value: Share meaningful content that resonates with your audience. Authenticity keeps people interested and engaged. For example, our emails with mental health tips, recovery stories, or personal ‘behind the scenes’ emails from me directly resonate with our audience. #CustomerEngagement is everything. They know they’re getting something meaningful and real, not just another sales pitch. ⭐ Warm 'em up: Gradually increase your email frequency. If you’ve been sending one email a month, you can’t jump to four a week without risking getting marked as spam. Increase your send volume gradually to maintain deliverability. ⭐ Clean house regularly: Keep your costs down! Every 90 days, remove anyone who hasn’t opened or clicked an email in the last 90 days, but has received 10+ emails in that time. If they’re not engaging with us on email specifically over an entire quarter, it just ain’t worth paying to keep contacting them in this way! This keeps your list active and your engagement rates high. ⭐ Get in the flow(s): Ensure you capture as many people as possible by setting up comprehensive email flows. Fill the funnel to get people to your site, capture their email effectively, and then build a strong email program to turn those leads into sales. #StartupTips