I’ve been working alongside a client for a few weeks now. They want to increase the subscribers to their e-newsletters and also get excellent opening rates. We’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming; trying to come up with ways to make their monthly newsletters more personal and relevant and at the same time offer value to their subscribers.
One thing which didn’t take a lot of brainstorming and was agreed by everyone is that the best email subscription forms ask for very little information to begin with. A name and email address are all that is required.
We all know that the more personalised the e-newsletters the better the response you’ll get. You therefore need to come up with ways to get more information from your subscribers after they’ve already opted in so that you can ensure that you are sending them relevant interesting information.
Here are a few ideas we came up with:
Thank You Page – This is an excellent place to get more information from your subscribers. This can be true of an opt-in thank you page, and a product purchase thank you page. Create a form for the page where your subscriber or buyer can click to provide more information about them to help you serve them better.
Polls – Occasionally, it’s helpful to send your list subscribers interactive information in the form of a Poll. This will help engage your list subscribers and open them up to providing further information about themselves so that you can personalise your interactions with them even more. There are many sites which you can use such as Survey Monkey and EasyPolls
Coupons and Codes – Any time a subscriber takes advantage of a coupon code is a good time to collect more information about them so that you can personalise the information you send them. You have only collected an email and name when they first opted in but when they redeem the code, ask for just a bit little bit more information.
Surprise Gifts – You probably gave your subscriber a freebie when they signed up for your list. You can use the same tactic within your subscriptions to get more information from them. Offer them a new free gift for an action taken.
Subscriber Preferences – A good way to get more information is to offer your subscribers various preferences they can choose for the type of information they want. If you have more than one type of list, why not give them a chance to get on other lists that you have at this point? My list is small in comparison to some, but I still segment.
Behavioural – Moving your subscribers from list to list due to the behaviour that they demonstrate is an excellent way to personalise the information that your subscribers receive. i.e. If they click through to buy a specific item or read further information within an email, they should be moved to the relevant list.
Don’t just try once to get more information from your subscribers. Take time to build the trust between you and them and as time goes on, ask more questions and collect further information. The more personal your messaging is to them, the more response and opening rate you’re likely to get.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be focusing on e-newsletters in my weekly blog. I have reams of notes on nearly every stage of the e-newsletter process. Next week I’ll be writing about the ‘Freebies’ you should give away to entice people to opt in to your subscription list.
