I see a lot of subscription box brands using a "10% Off Your First Box” lead magnet on their homepage to capture emails. Here’s my hot take on why I think it’s one of the worst email capture strategies you can use...
Broadly speaking, your site traffic is broken up into two groups:
1. Those that are “Checking it Out” or in the Awareness/Consideration phase of the customer journey
2. Those that are “Ready to Buy”
Let’s first think about the “Checking it Out” people...
These people will make up the majority of your site traffic. You want to capture their emails so you can nurture them and turn them into "Ready to Buy" traffic down the road. But here's the thing...
A discount like 10% off is usually not enticing enough to get people in this phase to convert. So these people are NOT going to opt into that offer because it doesn’t apply to them at the phase of the customer journey they’re currently in.
There are better ways to capture leads that are more attractive to this “Checking it Out” crowd. You could use an application funnel, you could use a quiz funnel, or you could use a content-based lead magnet that ties into their pain point. For example, if you’re a dog toy subscription box, you might create a PDF download for something like “5 Signs Your Dog is Understimulated” or “7 DIY Dog Toys You Can Create At Home.” With lead magnets like these, you’re meeting people where they’re at, collecting their email and adding value (while pre-selling your product), and now have the opportunity to convert them down the road.
Now let’s think about the “Ready To Buy” crowd...
These people WILL opt-in to this 10% off offer. But here’s why that’s a bad thing...
MOST OF THEM WOULD HAVE PURCHASED AT FULL PRICE ANYWAY.
So now you’re unnecessarily cutting into your margins for people that would’ve paid full price, while simultaneously diminishing the perceived value of the product, which will negatively impact retention.
AND… by placing a discount offer front-and-center for the world to see on your homepage, you’re training your traffic to look for discounts. The only way to create a more enticing offer once you’ve already shown your cards is to go steeper on the discount, which exacerbates the problem.
Instead, I’d recommend using these discounts more strategically (and more behind-the-scenes). For example, you can send discounts to select segments of your email list that have indicated that they’re “Ready To Buy” but price is an obstacle for them. This might be the segment of customers that have abandoned cart once they saw the shipping price.
There's certainly a time and a place for discounting. It's not on your homepage for everyone to see.
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