How to get accurate subscriber information: Part 1

Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on September 03, 2008

One of the longstanding debates in email marketing is how much information you ask for when someone signs up to your email list.

You obviously want an email address, but what other data should you require?

You might, for example, want a first name, so you can personalize the email. Or a zipcode, so you can send targeted announcements about in-store events. Or you might get people to select specific topic categories they're interested in, so you can send them content that reflects these interests.

The problem is there are conflicting objectives in play.

The more information you have about a subscriber, the better you can target and personalize your emails. Which is a good thing for both sender and subscriber.

But...as you ask for more information before accepting a subscription request, so you get fewer people completing the process. You also get more people entering fake data, a topic that has stimulated much debate in the blog world of late.

So, do you focus on list growth and clean data and ask for no more than an email address? Or do you focus on targeting and insist on getting more data, knowing this means a smaller list and some bad data, too?

The answer is neither.

Because of this very conflict, marketers have developed tactics and strategies to improve sign-up rates and ensure you have the kind of subscriber information that lets you send more relevant email.

Today's post looks at what you can do before you get the sign-up. Tomorrow's Part 2 looks at what you can do after the sign-up...

If you insist on would-be subscribers handing over personal data before you accept the sign-up, you have quite a challenge on your hands. But not an insurmountable one.

The golden rule is not to ask for any information you don't really need in order to send people better (for them) and more effective (for you) emails.

In a marketing world obsessed with data, it's easy to collect all sorts of information just for the sake of it. Resist the temptation.

Demonstrate value

You can see a sign-up as a transaction. I lend you my email address and in return you send me emails I want.

The more information you want from me, the more you're asking me to "pay" for those emails. And the more value I expect in return. Equally, the more value you offer, the more likely I am to "pay" in data.

It's another reason to be explicit about the benefits of being on your email list. Don't expect people to sign-up to "our email list" just out of curiosity: we've all been burned too much for that to happen. Tell people what they will get and how they can benefit.

(Not to mention that setting the right expectations is part and parcel of good email list management.)

Demonstrate trust

There's also a correlation between a willingness to submit (accurate) data and the degree of trust in the company behind the emails.

Unfortunately, the base level of trust when it comes to giving marketers an email address is, um, not high...to say the least. So establishing that trust before the sign-up is difficult, even if you have a nice, "trustworthy" brand.

Privacy and email certification program seals, memberships of relevant business or standards organizations, explicit privacy policies, reassuring privacy statements etc. can all play a potential role here.

But while such visual clues may have value, you establish trust with today's empowered subscriber by showing, not telling.

It's not enough to say you're trustworthy, you have to live it. Your actions as an email marketer will give you an email reputation which might reach prospective subscribers, too.

Which means respecting permission, accepting accountability and all the other things listed in the New Email Marketing series. This, in turn, will also affect how existing subscribers respond to your emails and future sign-up opportunities.

Demonstrate the connection

The easiest way to encourage submission of accurate data is to make it clear how the submitter benefits from doing so.

I'm not giving you my zipcode and date of birth to sign-up for your email newsletter. But I might if I know this means you'll tell me about special offers in stores close to my home and send me a special birthday coupon: two examples cited by Janine Popick.

Sometimes, the connection between the required data and the value of the emails is clear without explanation (e.g. everyone understands why you need to submit a valid email address to get future messages). If it's not clear, make it so.

Get the data post sign-up

None of these techniques are a foolproof panacea to the sign-up abandonment and false data problem. So many marketers prefer to get the sign-up and then use various tactics to draw information from subscribers further down the road.

We'll explore some examples tomorrow...

Tags: email marketing, list building, database management

[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
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