I’m curious to learn what you think – do you need an opt-in for your website?
Yes? No? Maybe?
This came up in a conversation I was having with a couple of my 1:1 clients. I did a Facebook Live video on this topic
You can watch the 9-minute video here if you would prefer not to read
I have two clients I’m working with currently. Both have over full practices. Both have too many clients and many people on their waiting list. And neither of them has an opt in on their website.
In fact, one of them doesn’t even have a website.
OMG is that even possible in the year 2020? Well yes, it is. She works full time. She sees more clients than she can handle in a week. And she is completely private pay.
One of these ladies recently had an interview on the radio and as a result got a gazillion inquiries because she’s really good at what she does. So, she then jumped on a chat that we have and said Oh my God I need to be supporting all of these people – I need one of those opt in/ freebie thingy’s.
Well hold on. The problem with so many opt-ins is people are creating them without any intention, without any strategic thought and without really understanding the value that they bring.
Let me help you understand:
The whole point of having an opt in or a freebie on your website is to help people who don’t know you, get to know, like and trust you. That is the whole point of it. To start a conversation.
Now primarily you will use them when you want fill a brand new program or when you want to start a new product or service, as a way of helping people get interested and become engaged about the thing that you’re offering.
There are four problems that I see with health professionals and opt ins (apart from the fact that maybe they’re not necessary).
#1. I’ve been told I need one, but I don’t know what to do.
When I’m having a conversation with someone about their perceived need for an opt-in I usually ask:
Who told you, that you needed one and for what purpose?
What do you want to happen once someone receives your opt-in-or freebie?
Then I will ask:
How do you know if people want the thing that you’re going to offer?
How do you know that you are speaking to the people you want in your practice and how is this thing actually going to serve them?
If you’re going to give stuff away for free (which is awesome and lovely and kind and great) , what’s the purpose of it?
So how do you know if you’ve got no clue what the point of this opt in in is, and all you’re doing is following a rule that someone else has set for you? How do you know that you’re actually going to be serving the people you want to serve because the opt in is the start of a conversation?
It’s not just a place to grow a list of emails of people who never read your stuff.
So that’s the first problem. People don’t know why they need an opt-in.
#2. After the opt-in – NOTHING HAPPENS
The second problem that I see is people create an opt-in and they get people interested enough to exchange an email address for a free piece of content. At this point in time, I, the subscriber am thinking – oh this is interesting, this looks good, I want this thing…so I provide my email, and I receive the FREE thing and then I’m left to my own devices again.
If the opt-in is the start of a conversation, a way to help potential clients to know you, like you and trust you, do you think that we need to be welcoming or nurturing them along a bit?
The gap between someone opting in and then calling you to book an appointment for most people is still HUGE. Remember that our potential clients are vulnerable. They are hurting. They are scared. They want to know that they can TRUST us, so if we provide a useful piece of information or a tool that they find helpful and then we don’t follow up that piece of content – are we simply ignoring them?
It’s the online version of meeting someone, looking them in the eye, them saying Hello, how are you? And then just walking away…
If I sign up for your free thing, I’m telling you I’m interested. However how do you know if I liked it? How do you know if it was useful? What if I have more questions and want more information but I don’t yet know how to reach out to you, or I’m still too scared to reach out and ask for more information?
An opt-in (or freebie) – on its own without a nurture sequence (sometimes known as a welcome sequence) is kinda a waste of time. Your opt-in is the start of a conversation and your nurture sequence is the continuation of that conversation so you can build a relationship with people. In this instance we just happen to be doing it via email.
#3. What if I get it wrong, and what are the rules?
As health professionals, we can become concerned and caught up about the rules and how it’s supposed to be done.
Let me ask you this. Does anyone think about the rules of having a conversation when you’re just doing it in person? Not really, we just know what to do and we just participate in a conversation.
#4. Online marketing metrics
I know one of the things that gets in our way and that is all metrics around how many emails you’ve got on your list.
There’s this whole internet email marketing, online marketing thing about how many emails you have on your list. Back in the day when I started learning about this, 10 years ago, we were taught that if you had a thousand people on your list you could make a million bucks.
Well that’s gone because those statistics are meaningless and useless if no one opens the emails you send your people.
I’ve got examples of people who were working with me or have come to me and had consultations with me who’ve got 12000 people on their list and I’m like that is friggin awesome we can do some really cool stuff. Then I get them to tell me what their open rates are like, their open rates are often well below industry average. All this time, effort and energy goes into writing emails, sending them to a list of people we are accumulating, that no one opens, no one is reading. This is the internet equivalent of someone walking away from you in the middle of a conversation.
Then you keep telling me that Internet Marketing doesn’t work, content marketing doesn’t work. It does. You just haven’t learned to make it work. So please understand that the creation of an optin and then the development of the nurture sequence is a conversation – it’s not about mathematical formulas.
I tried to apply the math for years, just … #dontbejo
All of this opt-in email collection to nurture sequence is about building a relationship, because all we want to do is help clients to know you, like you and trust you. When focussed on this then they become more willing to say, I need your help.
Remember people are coming to us as health professionals when they are incredibly vulnerable. The fact that they’re even reaching out for help is huge. Let’s make it easy for them to say. I choose you. I want you to help me.
In summary
- Not every website needs an opt-in.
- An option needs to be created intentionally and purposefully.
- An opt-in will be more meaningful when used in conjunction with a nurture sequence.
- We are creating conversations not solving mathematical equations.
Until next time
Go be your awesome self.
