A goal that a lot of clients have with their website is to grow an email list. It’s the perfect way to build a loyal following of people you can communicate with on a regular basis. A question I get from a lot of clients is, “Do I need LeadPages?”
They want the nice-looking pop-ups and easy-to-create landing pages, but are usually hesitant about the high monthly cost.
I used LeadPages for one year. When it was time for my subscription to renew I knew I needed to find a different option before I saw that $400 pulled out of my bank account. With everything available on WordPress, there’s absolutely no reason to be paying a high monthly fee for a different service. Luckily, my search was successful.
Before we dive in, know that helping your clients find low-cost or free alternatives for things that have popular paid services is great for everyone. Your client is saving money and the fact that you helped them do so builds trust between the two of you and is another way for you to provide value in the project.
Let’s dive into a few of my favorite alternatives and then talk about the steps you can take if your client is already using LeadPages, but wants to use something else.
LeadBox Alternatives
I always thought that LeadBoxes were the most amazing things invented in the email marketing world. It was so easy to make some quick customizations to a form, hook it up to a list, and connect it to a button. When I went on the hunt for an alternative I knew that I needed to be able to:
- Make it look good
- Create loooots of different pop-ups that connect to all my forms (I currently have 37)
- Connect those pop-ups to buttons without a ton of hassle
Let’s check out my two favorites.
Bloom
The option I fell head-over-heels with is Bloom by Elegant Themes. Now, if you don’t already use Elegant Themes for your client projects, Bloom might have a price tag that isn’t worth the cost for you. Since I knew I could use it for client projects in the future and wanted to play around with Divi (which I ended up hating), I got in on a special lifetime deal and haven’t looked back.
Bloom has a ton of different layout and customization options, integrates with almost all of the big email marketing platforms out there, is easy to use, and doesn’t place a limit on how many pop-ups your client is allowed to have. There’s even a place for custom CSS so you can make it look just right.
One problem I did have was that it didn’t directly integrate with ConvertKit and adding the ConvertKit embed code looked awful. Luckily, I was able to put my coding skills to work and created this tutorial so everyone else could make it happen too.
If you already have a subscription to Elegant Themes, Bloom in place of LeadBoxes is the way to go.
Easy Content Upgrades
The second LeadBox alternative is the Easy Content Upgrades plugin by Boss Plugins. I haven’t used this one myself, but I’ve heard great things from my friend Kory.
Ashley, the plugin creator, provides great support and always keeps the non-coders in mind to keep it easy on your clients.
Landing Page Alternatives
For many, myself included, the easy-to-create landing pages were just as important as the LeadBoxes when paying for LeadPages.
However, doesn’t it seem silly for your client to pay for something monthly, when you can create something for them once and be done with it?
I’ve got one alternative for LeadPages. Are you ready? Wait for it….
It’s their own website!
Anything that can be done on a LeadPage can be done right on a WordPress website for no additional cost.
If you need to create a gorgeous landing page, use a tool like Beaver Builder and create your client a template they can use over-and-over. Then, use one of the LeadBox alternatives we talked about to connect it to their email marketing platform.
Need a great Thank You page with the option for people to share? Add a free plugin to WordPress to take care of it or show your client how to create their own click-to-tweet.
Or, does your client love hosting webinars with chat boxes? Instead of embedding the code in a LeadPage, embed it on a page on their website.
While LeadPages might be the easy way to go, it makes a whole lot more sense to use a website to it’s full potential and avoid another monthly or yearly cost.
What if my client is already on LeadPages?
If your client is already on LeadPages, it’s totally your call. If they’re happy with the service and don’t mind the added cost, there’s no reason you should convince them to use something different.
However, if it seems like they’d appreciate a way to save a little money, bring up these alternative options we went over today. You might even get an added project for yourself or a techy VA friend in moving all of the LeadBoxes and LeadPages over to their website.
What do you use?
I love the services that LeadPages offers, but it is so nice to have found an easy way to do it all myself with tools on my own website.
If you’re not a LeadPages user, what tools do you use? And if you are, are you thinking of trying any out?
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