Add an email form to your ‘Coming soon’ page

In the tutorial below, we’ll show you how to add a pop-up email form to a ‘Coming soon’ page using the Getsitecontrol form builder. You’ll be able to customize the form, connect it to your email marketing list, and track its performance – without any technical skills.

Here is how to add a pop-up email form to your ‘Coming soon’ page

There are several popup types you can use for an email signup form: modal popups, slide-ins, sidebars, and fullscreens. To see them in action, go to the template gallery and click around to find the format you like the most.

However, if the template above works for you, just click on it and follow the prompts to add it to your Getsitecontrol dashboard:

From there, follow the steps below.

Step 1. Edit the copy

On the first screen, start by changing your call to action. Simply click on any text field and type your copy.

At this point, you can add more fields, too. In the menu on the right, hit +Add field and select the desired field type.

💡 For instance, you may want to add an extra comment field to ask people how they have found your website, or what their expectations are.

Step 2. Change the design of the form

You can change any aspect of your email form including sizing, color theme, font, and style. To make these adjustments, use the Theme menu at the top or the CSS editor if you are familiar with CSS code.

If you’ve selected a template with an image, you can replace the image as well. Just click on it and proceed to 'Change image'. From there, you can either upload your own creative, or select a stock photo, a GIF, or a sticker from the built-in gallery 👇

Step 3. Specify when and where the form should appear

By default, the email form you’ve created will pop up on every page (or the only page) of your website as soon as a visitor lands on it. If you want to specify the URL where it should or should not appear, use the first field in the Targeting tab (1).

Another important question is when to display the form. If you scroll to Start showing the widget, you’ll see that the default condition is ‘automatically’ which means as soon as someone lands on the page. This option works well in most cases, however, each ‘Coming soon’ page is different. Feel free to remove the default start trigger and display the form after a visitor spends a couple of seconds on the page, or when they start heading to the exit.

Step 4. Create a submission confirmation email

Once people join the waitlist, it’s a good practice to send them a confirmation email with further details. This is especially important if you’re offering an early-bird discount or any other incentive to your first subscribers.

Here’s how you can set things up.

Go to the Follow-up tab and click +Add follow-up email.

First, fill out the email details on the right (subject, email preview, sender’s name, contact email, unsubscribe link text):

Here are the subject line and preview examples you can use to welcome people to your waitlist:

• Thank you for joining the waitlist – you’ll be the first to hear about the launch
• Welcome to the club! – here’s your early-bird discount
• Nice to meet you, {name} – we can’t wait to show you our new store

Once you’re done with that part, proceed to type the email:

When you are happy with how things look, format the text using the formatting menu on the left. To add images, buttons, coupon boxes, and dividers, use the menu on the right.

Click Done to finalize your edits. Pick a delivery time and don’t forget to Save & close your form.

And that’s it! Your follow-up email is ready to be sent.

Step 5. Decide where you want to store email addresses (optional)

By default, the subscribers’ addresses will be stored in your Getsitecontrol account. To view or download the emails, go to the main dashboard screen and hit Responses on the popup card:

Alternatively, you can connect the form to your email marketing app, CRM, or even Google Sheets using the Integrations tab – in this case, new submissions will be automatically sent to the app of your choice.

At this point, the popup is ready. Once you save and activate it, the form will instantly go live on your website.

Now that we’ve discussed the ins and outs of creating an email form, let’s talk about what comes next.

How to get people to join your waitlist

Creating a ‘Coming soon’ page with an email form is easy. A bigger challenge is to encourage people to hit that “Subscribe” button and join the waitlist.

Some people might be excited about your product launch and sign up for the updates without hesitating. The rest will be looking for the added value, and here is how you can deliver it 👇

Provide early access to the product

Whether it’s an app or a physical product, there is probably a technical possibility to provide your subscribers with a chance to sneak peek at it before anyone else. Not only will it be a strong incentive for people to join your list, but it may also inspire them to spread the news about the launch. Exclusive early-bird access makes everybody feel special.

Offer an incentive

Perhaps for some people being on the waitlist for the launch is already exciting. However, most will try to avoid signing up for yet another newsletter, unless you offer something really enticing.

Consider offering a discount, free shipping, exclusive content, or any other perk to your first subscribers.

To deliver the promised incentive, just add the coupon code or download link to the follow-up email we talked about earlier.

Bonus tip: display the subscription form twice

It happens all the time. People close popups absentmindedly, sometimes even without reading the copy. They also get distracted and forget to subscribe, even if they were planning to do that a moment earlier.

For you, these are lost opportunities.

The solution? Make sure there are at least two email signup forms on your website. For example, you can have an embedded form and a pop-up form. Or a sticky email capture form and an exit-intent form reminding visitors to subscribe right before they leave your website.

Wrapping up

Let’s recap. Want your ‘Coming soon’ page to start generating leads before the launch? Then make sure to check the following boxes:

• Write clear copy to spark people’s interest
• Use popups to proactively encourage visitors to sign up
• Consider offering incentives in exchange for email addresses

If you’re already sending traffic to your ‘Coming soon’ page, having a working email form is essential. By the time your website or product goes live, you’ll have a list of people looking forward to checking it out! Not only does this guarantee you page visits on day one, but it can also become a source of first sales and insights.

P.S. Working on a coming soon page for your Shopify store? Read this guide to setting up a Shopify coming soon page.