First of all, let’s define this much misused and often loosely interpreted word ‘opt-in.’
When a potential customer makes a conscious decision to join your list, she has exercised an option, or ‘opted-in’ to your mailing list. She has also demonstrated a pre-determined interest in whatever it is that you are offering, making her a ‘targeted’ opt-in subscriber.
However, many common methods of collecting email addresses have nothing in common with a true opt-in process. In other words, a list of true opt-in subscribers is not . . .
– Gathered from postings to links directories, FFA pages, or online classified ad pages.
– Not other ‘members’ of a ‘safe-list’ you belong to.
– Not purchased from a ‘hot email leads’ mill.
A true opt-in relationship is a one-on-one situation, between you and the subscriber. She has made a conscious decision to hear more about your offer, and has granted permission for you to send future emails pertaining to the original topic of interest. With that ideal in mind, if your candle factory is the original topic of your subscriber’s interest, it may be considered grossly out-of-bounds for you to arbitrarily begin sending her information about an online business venture.
Beginning From Scratch
First of all, you have to entice people to voluntarily opt-in to your list. It’s likely that no one will subscribe to your list just to help you in your business endeavour, or just because she is a nice person. So, two factors become critical at this point.
Critical Factor #1
– There must be a clearly explained benefit or incentive; something the subscriber will gain in return for taking her time to opt-in and read your material.
In the information marketing business, the offered incentive commonly takes the form of a report delivered by autoresponder, or an electronic book download. When using this sort of an incentive for new subscribers, it is much more than important that you provide valid and useable information in a professional format. Anything less will harm your credibility from the start.
It is also recommended that you be as fresh and original as possible with your incentive offer. Even a truckload of outdated information and worn out ebooks will not generate much interest with potential subscribers.
Other types of business will find that the incentive can be derived directly from the business itself. A travel broker may successfully offer hotel discount coupons. A culinary artist may offer her newest original recipe, or designs for attractive table presentation.
Regardless of the type of business you’re involved in, the cost of delivering the incentive must remain relative to the potential profit that can be earned from any individual subscriber. In other words, don’t give away the farm just so you can sell the cow.
Critical Factor #2
– The opt-in process itself must be as quick and hassle free as possible for the subscriber.
Internet users are notorious for being typical Type A personalities, always in a hurry. A cumbersome, confusing, or time consuming subscription process will kill your list before it even gets started.
The Subscription Process
At the time of this writing, there are essentially two common methods used in fulfilling the subscription process at a website location. Both methods are currently in common usage, and both are touted by divergent schools of marketing thought as being superior over the other.
– Webpage based sign up form box or email link
This is normally a static form box or a simple email link placed on a webpage, usually feeding to an autoresponder of some sort. This method does little to draw the attention of the visitor, and practically nothing toward the tweaking of an impulsive human nature. Yet it provides an inherent advantage in that it doesn’t offend anyone who might be aggravated by a pop-up window.
– Pop-up window with a form box or email link
This is more widely regarded as the most effective method of gaining new subscribers. A pop-up window on a webpage can be, in some ways, likened to the racks of impulse items that are commonly placed near a supermarket cash register. You may not have entered the store specifically for that item, but there it is, and it’s a good deal.
An unfortunate disadvantage here is the growing use of pop-up blocking softwares on many PCs, as well as those being offered by some major Internet service providers.
We suggest that both webpage based and pop-up methods be employed, to maximize the potential for getting new subscribers. If the pop-up window is initially ignored, or is blocked altogether, your visitor will still have an opportunity to subscribe through a static link or form box on your webpage.
Another Question – Forms or One-Click Links?
By forms, we mean the little blank fields where the subscriber is required to manually enter her email address, her name, and possibly other information. A few years back, forms were the preferred method of gathering opt-in subscribers, as webmasters strove to create ‘interactive’ webpages where the visitor could actually ‘do’ something.
More recently, form based subscription boxes have lost at least some degree of effectiveness, seemingly across the board. As Internet users are coming to expect ever faster results in just about every venue, a growing number of people who might otherwise subscribe to your list will bypass the task of filling in and submitting a form box.
Other disadvantages to forms surround the possibility of typographical errors in the email address as well as the subscriber’s name. She may also, at her option, subscribe with her second or even third line email account, where she may not frequently check the inbox.
A one-click subscription process, in our own recent testing (Fall 2002) has proven superior over form boxes by generating better than twice the number of subscribers on any given day from a given number of visitors. An added advantage is found by the greater chance of the visitor’s primary email address being used in the subscription process.
However, a disadvantage can be perceived in the fact that, depending on the identifier configured into her email client, her first name may not be available to your database. This would make it impossible to send any ‘personalized’ email in the future, which is a strong attention getting mechanism in and of itself.
Altogether, there is no single best method for executing the actual subscription process. Each configuration has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. We simply hope this information will enable you to make a good decision to suit your own needs.
Keep in mind that the keys to effectively gathering opt-in subscribers lie in providing an incentive to subscribe, and then providing a subscription process that is user friendly, quick and convenient.
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Dan B. Cauthron runs several websites and publishes his 100%
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