Growing your Shopify store’s subscriber list is easier said than done. It gets even more difficult when you’re targeting the BFCM and Holiday Season sale period. You have to compete against other eCommerce sites offering huge discounts.So, as the holiday season and BFCM madness begins, how do you get your site visitors or your potential buyers to subscribe? We have some tried and tested ways that work.

Must-implement strategies to get more subscribers for BFCM

Enable restock alert subscriptions

It’s common for products to get sold out on eCommerce stores. This can be a good opportunity for you to use back-in-stock alerts as a strategy on your Shopify store. It can not only help bring back potential customers to your site, but also grow your lists.Here’s what you can do:

• When an item goes out of stock on your Shopify store, activate the ‘Notify Me’ button. You can use an app such as Appikon Back in Stock to automate this process on your site
• Allow shoppers to subscribe via different channels - SMS, email, Facebook Messenger, and web push. That way you can increase all your lists
• Allow people to personalise their notifications by narrowing down what exactly they want to be notified for. For example, if they're only looking for a particular item in red color and in XL size, they should have the option to do so

Offer shoppers an incentive to sign up

A discount, store credits, a gift… incentives can help boost your Shopify store’s sign up rate. Let’s face the fact - most people won’t sign up without an incentive. You can offer an incentive that works for your brand. But keep in mind, make the incentive irresistible. Shoppers might already have signed up to other brands and may not want to sign up with yet another brand. So, for example, if you offer them a 10% discount, it might not work. Besides that, make it easy for them to sign up.Incentive + easy sign up = subscribed!Here’s an example:

Enable sign ups via multiple channels

Allow shoppers the flexibility and freedom to sign up via a channel that they prefer. Not everyone uses or prefers all platforms. So, it’s best to enable subscriptions on all channels such as SMS, email, Facebook Messenger, web push, etc.

Create a pre-launch BFCM page

Many customers eagerly wait for the BFCM sale because they can buy items at huge discounts. But BFCM is a crazy time and products can get sold out within seconds of the sale starting. This is an opportunity for your Shopify store to entice shoppers to sign up for a BFCM pre-launch. This way they can get early access to deals and discounts. And everyone wants to be the first to own things so this could be an excellent pull for shoppers to subscribe.

Targeted exit intent pop ups

Pop ups have a conversion rate between 9% and 50%. It’s a wide range and your conversion success would depend on how you craft your pop up. Pop ups with more context have a higher conversion rate. And so, here’s how you can improve the conversion rate of your exit intent pop up: tell visitors that the BFCM deals are around the corner and you can send them reminders. Then, allow them to subscribe via the channel they prefer. But don’t get your hopes high. Unless you share an exciting incentive, it’s going to be hard to get sign ups. Offer them a discount code and see the magic.

Nudge social media followers to subscribe

Most people follow brands on social media to stay up to date on their products and announcements such as sales. It’s possible that your social media followers haven’t signed up for any of your lists such as email or SMS. You can use your social media platforms to nudge them to subscribe for BFCM.One way to do it is to run a special campaign to build your BFCM list. If you don’t want to run a special campaign, you can simply share one-off posts that share announcements related to your BFCM sale and invite them to sign up for updates.Make sure you:

• Add a link for sign up in your posts
• Have a clear message
• Add a clear call-to-action
• Some social platforms aren’t link-friendly (such as Instagram). Add a call-to-action button in your bio.
• Add a sign-up button on your social media page

Here’s an example

Push subscriptions for your blog

Most eCommerce sites have a blog. Depending on the nature of the business and the industry, they use the blog to publish informative content. You can publish blog posts related to your BFCM sale. Promote these blogs on social media, and request for sign ups via the blogs. One way to increase sign ups is by promoting blogs on social media and making them gated. Meaning, people can read the blog only after they sign up.Here’s an example:

Promote BFCM sale through paid ad campaigns

54% of people said that ads on social media and online search engines influence them. You can use this strategy to reach out to your potential subscribers. Run your paid ad campaigns for a stretch of period before the BFCM sale so that your potential subscribers see your ads repeatedly. As you move closer to the BFCM sale, make it exciting for them with offers and deals, but keep an element of surprise. Don’t reveal the exact deals.

Add ‘subscribe’ button on all product pages

Your product pages are perhaps the most visited pages on your site, apart from the customer account page. For example, studies show that fashion shoppers visit 32 pages before making a purchase. Now imagine, if you optimize all your product pages with the same message (sign up and subscribe), it will register more shoppers’ minds. Hence, optimize all your product pages by adding a ‘Subscribe to get notified of BFCM discount’ button. But remember, you should start this exercise a few weeks or months before BFCM.

Add an announcement bar on your website

Many shoppers start exploring new stores before the BFCM sale so that they can make the best selections. This is a good time to catch their attention. Let them know that your BFCM sale is coming up and that you could send alerts to them if they subscribed. The best way to share this information is via an announcement bar. Place the announcement strategically at a spot where your site visitors can’t miss it. Most websites have it on the header or somewhere on the top of the home page.

Run a BFCM giveaway contest

Run a BFCM contest or giveaway. But make it compulsory for people to subscribe to participate in the contest. Contests are a great way to engage shoppers. Not only that, studies show that contests have a 34% conversion rate, too. What is more, 94% of the time, contestants share information with others, which means you can get more sign ups.

Gather BFCM email newsletter sign-ups

Plan a newsletter dedicated to your BFCM sale. Promote this newsletter and invite sign-ups before BFCM. You could share information such as the deals and discounts, what products are going to be on sale, any special highlights of your BFCM sale, pre-launch dates, etc. Promote this message on social media, on your website, in your regular updates to customers etc. Shoppers who are eagerly waiting to make purchases from your sale are more likely to sign up.Here's an example:

Offer subscriber-only benefits

Offer exclusive benefits to subscribers only. But here’s the thing, make the benefits exciting and worthwhile. For example, offer them first access to your new collections, or special access before your sale opens to everyone, or additional discounts. These are just a few ideas of subscriber-only benefits. This will entice shoppers to subscribe to your list.

Remind shoppers of subscriber-only benefits

Next, keep reminding shoppers of subscriber-only benefits. Your site will have new visitors everyday and if you don’t share this information multiple times, some shoppers might miss out on this information. You can remind shoppers of subscriber-only benefits via pop-ups on your website, social media, product pages, your website homepage, etc. Enthusiastic shoppers will surely sign up so that they can avail these benefits.

Grow your lists through collaborations

It’s common for brands and eCommerce sites to team up for marketing promotions. Why not use this strategy to gather each other's contacts. You can do so by offering shared discounts, bundle products from both the sites and offer them as one, and other such offers. Promote these exciting offers before the BFCM sale through various channels - social media, email, SMS, web push, website, etc. Offer incentives in return of sign ups.For example, you and your collaborator send an email to your respective lists about each other's BFCM sale. This way you can both grow your lists faster.

Gather contact details from purchases before BFCM

BFCM is just a five-day affair! And to make the most of these 5 days, you’ll have to start preparations months and weeks in advance. Amp up your efforts of collecting contact details before the BFCM sale. Here’s what you do: nudge shoppers to share their contact information for different purposes such as for delivery updates, to request feedback, etc.Example 1:

Example 2:

Give the subscriber more control

Here’s the thing -- every shopper is not interested in every category of products. This could be one reason why they don’t want to sign up. But what if you narrowed down their communication to only the products that they’re interested in? For example, shoppers choose the categories that they are interested in and sign up for updates and announcements for those categories/products only. This way you can make your BFCM communication more relevant and personalized to the different shoppers.

Highlight sign-up information in your headers

Your website header and social media page headers are excellent real estate for you to promote your timely messages. Use these to talk about your upcoming BFCM sale and entice your audience to sign up via call to action buttons within the headers. Many websites have static headers that are common across all the pages of their website. This can increase your subscription chances further.

The bottom line

So, you’ve already started growing your BFCM subscriber list? Well done! But don’t just gather subscribers' contacts. Make sure you put these lists to use pre, during, and after BFCM. Your aim should be to keep your subscribers engaged. Don’t forget what they subscribed for. It’s always a good idea to plan your BFCM subscriber list strategy ahead. So get started now!