How to get accurate subscriber information: Part 2

Collecting data in the sign-up form is a challenge (see Part 1).

Which means many marketers now focus on other opportunities to gather the kind of subscriber information that lets them send more relevant emails.

Here a few examples...

Tactical tracking

Most specialist email marketing software and services allow you to track who is clicking on what links in your emails. And many now integrate with website analytics so you can continue this tracking through the subsequent website visit.

The information gleaned from email and website tracking is the meat behind many advanced tactics such as segmentation and trigger messages.

However, the use of click data for planning future emails tends to be a secondary benefit. After all, those links are primarily there to facilitate a desired response (like a sale).

Consider, then, making innovative use of email links specifically to gain more information about subscribers.

For example, many marketing emails contain navigational menus or headers in addition to the main email message. These menus/headers allow recipients to click through to different parts of the website, even if the main call to action in the email isn't relevant.

You can design these navigational elements so they reveal more about the clicker.

For example, eROI describe how one t-shirt retailer's email presented a series of gender/size combinations as navigational links.

Not only does this let the recipient click through to relevant products (those that match their size and gender), but the resultant click gives the sender important information: this particular email address is likely a male, size L.

The two-stage sign-up process

A common tactic is to require just an email address and perhaps first name on the sign-up form, but the page displayed after the "submit" button is clicked (the sign-up confirmation page) gives people the opportunity to provide yet more information about themselves.

Since the sign-up is already complete, this does not dampen subscription rates. And since the information is entirely voluntary, people are much less likely to bother putting in false data.

The advice on data collection in sign-up forms regarding trust, value and subscriber benefits applies equally here.

Preference center updates

Subscriber preference centers are online web pages where a subscriber can go and update their information: change email address, manage their list subscriptions, change content preferences, modify sending frequencies etc.

These are often the pages that appear in the two-stage sign-up process outlined above.

Preference centers reflect modern thinking about returning control to subscribers and are widely considered a good thing, at least in part because of the information they give you on (surprise!) subscriber preferences.

Those email programs that use such preference centers tend to link to them unobtrusively in the footers of their emails.

But most subscribers will never bother to visit the link...unless you give them good reason.

Consider, for example...

• making the link more prominent
• sending entire emails reminding people of the value of using their preference center (see "Demonstrate the Connection" in Part 1), or
• give them a special incentive to pay it a visit

Selective opt-outs

Subscribers often want to selectively opt-out from an email list. Which means they want to stop some kinds of email, but keep on receiving others.

A common example is when online media sites send article summaries and standalone ads out to their subscribers. The latter might want to stop the ads, but keep the summaries.

Selective opt-outs let people stay on your list but unsubscribe from "these kinds of emails."

A sports retailer sending out tennis and golf promotions to their main list could put two unsubscribe links in each email.

One takes the recipient off the list.

The other puts a stop to "tennis-related messages" (appears only in tennis-related emails) or "golf-related messages" (appears only in the golf promotions).

This keeps people on the list and lets them self-select the content they want.

Surveys

Another option is simply to ask, a data collection tactic Stefan Pollard highlighted in a recent article on building better segments.

Like preference centers, it can take some effort to get people to respond to surveys. Jeanne Jennings has some tips, but you can use the link tracking tactic explained above here, too.

Instead of hoping people clickthrough to a formal survey page, ask a single question and get people to indicate their opinion by clicking on the most relevant answer in a list.

Each answer is a link taking you to a "thank you for your feedback" page. Track the links to match answers to email addresses.

Nick Usborne includes a one question survey in each issue of his plain text Excess Voice newsletter.

Survey participation is part of a broader and better email experience for subscribers. And the answers can make good content for future issues. But I bet Nick's also using the results to plan future newsletter content, too.

Cross-referencing

The obvious one saved for last...don't forget that email marketing does not take place in isolation. An email address may be associated with an existing customer or website visitor account which already contains data you might use to send more relevant, valuable emails.

So, your turn...any other ideas for getting accurate subscriber information?

Tags: subscriber preference centers, email marketing, email tracking, list building, selective opt-outs, surveys, database management

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