Case Study: 3 Unique Ways Enchanting Marketing Attracts Email Sign Ups

By Kristen Dunleavy July 13, 2015

When Henneke Duistermaat ditched her demanding corporate job to start her own business, she only had one plan: create great content. She launched her website, Enchanting Marketing, with the goal of helping others do the same.

But to be successful, Henneke needed to gain a loyal following so she could monetize her business. Here’s how she did it with email marketing.

Getting Email Sign Ups with Guest Blog Posts…

Henneke gained about 300 subscribers to her email list before she even started her business thanks to a smart, two-pronged strategy. First, she researched blogs she thought people in her audience would like, and then she started guest blogging for them. Once she began to build an audience of readers, she needed a way to turn those readers into subscribers.

At the end of her posts, she asked her readers to subscribe to her list, offering a free, “snackable” email series to her new subscribers. The series is comprised of 16 quick writing tips that they can start using right away.

“Most people really love it,” Henneke said. “I just got an email from a subscriber saying she unsubscribes from a lot of lists, but she stays subscribed to mine because she knows my emails are always useful.”

…And Kindle Books…

For someone like Henneke who has a lot of content to offer her readers, promoting her list using her Kindle books was a no-brainer. Since her Kindle books are also focused on writing lessons, she prompts readers of her Kindle books to visit her website to download worksheets related to the lessons in her books. As a result, Henneke sees conversion rates of about 40 percent from people who purchase her Kindle books.

… And SlideShare?!

Another unique way Henneke attracts email sign ups is by repurposing her blog posts on SlideShare.

“I looked at what was popular, created a presentation and promoted it to my list as well,” she said. “I never spent any time building a following on SlideShare. But when I posted my presentations, they were featured on the homepage and people seemed to like them. At the end of each presentation, I tell people to click through to get their snackable course.”

It makes sense that Henneke’s opt-in rates from SlideShare are so high – they have to click through 40 or more slides to reach her sign up form!

At the Heart of It All: Awesome Content

Henneke’s email sign up strategy would be nothing without her enchanting content. She attributes the success of her content to the personal touches she adds to every piece she puts in front of her readers.

For example, she creates her own illustrations for each of her blog posts. Rather than sending out her weekly blog updates automatically, she adds a summary explaining what her subscribers will learn. She also includes personal anecdotes that her readers can relate to.

“I noticed that when I started including more information about myself, people connected far more,” she said. “I get a lot comments on my posts.”

Henneke says her biggest challenge is juggling the many projects she has in motion. As she continues to grow Enchanting Marketing, she hopes to release a new copywriting course later this year.

Quick Stats on Enchanting Marketing:

Average email click rate: 30-35 percent

Average email open rate (on her snackable course): 50-60 percent

Average monthly website visitors: 26,000

List size: Almost 8,000