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Subscription Boot Camp
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Balancing list growth against your need to know more
When collecting data, many email marketers find themselves torn between the desire to collect
as many email addresses as possible - pursuing an acquisition strategy and the need to gather
detailed information about each new subscriber - a segmentation strategy. Asking for too much,
too soon might chase prospective subscribers away, taking with them your opportunity to develop
a long term, profitable relationship. For some - those who only care about list growth or those
who can or will not accept any compromise when it comes to collecting information; this is not
an issue at all. However for the vast majority it is necessary to strike a balance between
list growth and the need to know more about subscribers, unfortunately this often leads to a
situation where you optimise neither. But you can achieve both by using a two stage subscription
process where you capture additional data from those willing to give it without losing people
who are only prepared to share their email address.
Our
First Law of Email Marketing states that your email marketing program should be the primary
way your customers and prospects visit your site and interact with your brand online. As email
is the most cost effective way of getting someone to interact with you online, it is important
that you have the email address of as many customers and prospects as possible. To achieve this,
the process of acquiring an email address should be as quick and simple as possible - after
all a valid email address (with consent) is the only piece of information that you really need!
Allowing a customer or prospect to provide you with nothing but their email address does not
mean that you forgo the opportunity to segment or target for ever. The point about having an
email address AND permission is access to the customer or prospect. As long as you have that
you will have plenty of other opportunities to build your understanding of their preferences
and collect data for future segmentation and targeting. If you do decide to ask for more
information at the point of email address capture you may want to consider making any other
questions optional.
If there is another piece of information that is mission critical you may be able to build it
in to the form in a way that does not get in the way of collecting the email address. ASOS
have built gender capture into the submit button, which is both creative and effective.
The first opportunity to ask for more information post email address capture is your subscription
confirmation page or your welcome message - valuable opportunities that are often overlooked.
If you feel that this is too soon you may chose to wait until you have built some trust before
you ask.
Many people tend to be wary of providing significant amounts of personal data so a general
rule of thumb when considering what data to collect is only collect information that you
will definitely use in the next 12 months!
It also helps to "sell" the additional value they will gain from providing you with more
information. The use of incentives can also be effective.
Don't worry too much if significant numbers of the people who sign up do not provide you
with any other information at all; the great thing about email is the fact that you can find
out a great deal about any given subscriber is interested in by tracking opens and clicks.
We use this information to do what we call Inferential Targeting here at Alchemy Worx.
Landing pages are another effective way of delivering targeted content and offers to
self selected segments of your list.
Remember, if you fail to maximize the number of people who have given you their email
address and permission to market to them - you are breaking a fundamental aspect of
The First Rule of Email Marketing.
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