A recent report issued by ReturnPath looks at how UK email marketers are using (or not using) their subscribe forms. It makes for interesting reading, and I recommend you download it.

What really stood out for me was this stat: 85% collect personal data they don’t use. These marketers are putting off people (how many abandoned filling out the sign-up form because of all the mandatory fields?) and are wasting opportunities to use the information to good affect in crafting personalised emails to subscribers.

I consider opt-in forms to be an essential tool in starting and nurturing a new relationship. Here are some of my thoughts on maximising yours:

Build it!

• The sign-up form is not a market research exercise. For most subscribers there isn’t even a relationship with your company at this point, so they’re not about to give you much without knowing what they’ll get in return. Capture the least amount of information that still gives you the ability to provide the most relevant, timely and targeted email newsletters possible.

• The more required fields you include, the higher the abandonment rate during the subscription process. Unless you have good reasons to accept a lower subscribe rate, then a good rule of thumb is to keep your form to no more than 5 – 7 fields. Explain why you need the information (and it better be to give better value to the subscriber). Don’t waste any fields asking for data such as first and last name if you are never going to personalise your newsletters by name.

• It’s interesting to note in the study that 38% of respondents require subscribers to create an account with username and password just to sign up for the email newsletter! This is a huge barrier. Allow users to sign up for newsletters without having to go through this process. The only reason you should require setting up an account is if it’s a paid newsletter or membership/association value-add publication.

Then test it!

• JupiterResearch found that marketers who tested any aspect of their email marketing efforts saw a 68% increase in ROI (over nontesters). That’s how significant testing in email is. You should test your own form to make sure that it works all the way through the sign up process. Then, test the results of the form itself – tweaking layout, descriptive text, fields and appearance to ascertain if you are losing or gaining subscribers during the sign up process.
• Check out Anne Holland’s new website WhichTestWon, which often tests the opt-in form and publishes the results.

And use it!

Use the data you collect. Follow these links for further reading resources:

• Tips for tailoring your newsletter to each subscriber
• Segmentation and targeting in email

Posted on August 6th, 2009 under Email Marketing, HTML email newsletters, ezine strategy, segmentation .
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