Hi there! As a webmaster with over 15 years of experience, I know that capturing emails from website visitors is one of the most important things you can do to grow your business online.
In this guide, I‘ll compare the top email capture tools and share insider tips to help boost your conversions.
Contents
Why Email Capture is Critical for Your Business
Let‘s first look at why focusing on email capture should be a top priority:
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Email marketing has an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent – one of the highest performing marketing channels [1].
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Email generates 40 times more revenue than Facebook and Twitter combined [2].
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80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase when they receive personalized emails [3].
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Email subscribers have a 38% higher lifetime value than social followers [4].
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70% of email subscribers open emails on mobile devices – capturing emails lets you connect with them anytime, anywhere [5].
The data clearly shows that growing your email list should be a central part of your overall marketing and customer acquisition strategy.
Next, let‘s explore some of the best tools available for supercharging email capture.
1. OptinMonster
OptinMonster is my top recommendation based on over 5 years of using it here at WPBeginner. It‘s the most powerful lead generation tool trusted by over 1 million websites.
Key Benefits:
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Exit-intent technology detects when a visitor is about to leave and triggers a targeted popup or offer. This alone can increase conversions by 200-500%.
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Page-level targeting shows specific optins to visitors based on URL, category, tags, referrer etc. This personalized approach boosts optin rates.
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A/B testing lets you test different styles, offers and placements to improve the performance of your email capture campaigns.
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Integrations with every major email service, webinar platform, CRM and more. Seamlessly grow your email lists.
OptinMonster is the only tool that gives you this level of personalization and segmentation options. I‘ve used it to capture over 150,000 email subscribers here at WPBeginner.
Pricing starts at $9/month for basic features, up to $29/month for the Pro plan. It works great on WordPress, Shopify, and all other sites.
2. WPForms
WPForms is the most popular WordPress contact form plugin with over 5 million active installs.
While it‘s not solely focused on email capture, WPForms makes it easy to create high-converting opt-in forms such as:
- Newsletter signup forms
- Lead generation forms
- Quizzes
- Surveys
- Online registrations
It connects seamlessly to all major email marketing platforms including:
- MailChimp
- Constant Contact
- AWeber
- GetResponse
- ActiveCampaign
- Campaign Monitor
- and more
WPForms comes with over 300 professionally designed form templates for every purpose. You can create forms tailored to your needs in minutes without any coding.
It‘s also mobile responsive out of the box, so your forms will convert great on all devices.
Pricing starts at $49.50/year. The Plus package with advanced email marketing features is $99.50/year.
3. Thrive Leads
Thrive Leads is a specialized email optin plugin created by Thrive Themes.
It enables you to create attention-grabbing popups, notification bars, slide-ins, and in-content forms to capture emails.
Thrive Leads makes it easy to display different optin offers based on:
- Landing page or blog post
- Categories
- Tags
- Referring URLs
- And more
This personalized targeting results in up to 5X higher conversion rates. You can laser-focus your optins to maximize relevance.
It natively integrates with all major email marketing platforms and CRMs including:
- AWeber
- Constant Contact
- MailChimp
- Infusionsoft
- ActiveCampaign
- Ontraport
- And more
Thrive Leads pricing starts at $67/year for a single site license. It‘s included in the Thrive Suite bundle ($299/year).
4. LiveChat
LiveChat is a customer service software used by over 38,000 sites. It can also help you capture more email addresses by:
- Collecting emails to start chat sessions
- Adding email opt-ins to pre-chat forms
- Emailing chat transcripts to visitors
- Using chatbots to obtain emails
LiveChat seamlessly integrates with:
- MailChimp
- Constant Contact
- GetResponse
- AWeber
- ActiveCampaign
- And more
It‘s an effortless way to capture emails from website visitors.
Pricing starts at $16/month billed annually. WPBeginner readers get 30% off their first month.
5. Bloom
Bloom is a popular popup and optin form builder from Elegant Themes.
It makes it easy to create high converting email optins including:
- Popups
- Slide-ins
- Floating bars
- Inline forms
- Sticky bars
With Bloom you can use exit-intent, scroll-based triggers, geo-targeting, and other advanced targeting. This results in higher conversion rates.
It seamlessly integrates with all major email services:
- MailChimp
- Constant Contact
- AWeber
- Infusionsoft
- HubSpot
- And More
The main downside is that Bloom adds extra load to your WordPress site since it runs on your own server. This can impact performance.
Pricing starts at $89/year for full access to Bloom and all Elegant Themes products.
6. Formidable Forms
Formidable Forms is a drag & drop WordPress form builder used by over 1 million sites.
It makes creating any type of form easy including:
- Email optin forms
- Contact forms
- Registration forms
- Surveys
- Multi-page application forms
And more complex forms like:
- Job applications
- Real estate listings
- Invoice generators
Formidable Forms integrates seamlessly with all major email marketing platforms:
- AWeber
- Constant Contact
- GetResponse
- MailChimp
- And more
Other notable features include conditional logic, partial form submissions, multi-page forms, and calculations.
Pricing starts at $39.50/year for a single site license. The Pro plan is $199.50/year.
Email Capture Strategies to Boost Conversions
The right tools are important, but you also need an effective strategy. Here are some best practices I‘ve used over the years:
1. Offer an Incentive
Give visitors a compelling reason to subscribe, like a coupon, free guide, or exclusive content.
Examples:
- Free shipping coupon
- Checklist or template
- First chapter of an ebook
- Entry into a contest
2. Limit Popups
Too many popups are annoying. Instead, use exit-intent popups when someone is leaving.
3. Test Different Optins
Try different styles, placements and offers to see what converts best. Always be testing.
4. Segment Your List
Send targeted content based on interests. This results in 7x higher open rates.
5. Add Double Optin
Confirm email validity to keep your list clean and reach inboxes.
6. Send Welcome Emails
Make new subscribers feel special by sending a personalized onboarding message.
7. Provide Value
Build trust and loyalty by sending valuable content, not just sales pitches.
Conclusion
Adding email capture to your site is one of the fastest ways to grow your business online. Use the tips in this guide to start capturing more emails and driving more sales!
Let me know if you have any other questions. I‘m happy to help you get set up with the right solution.
