In our last blog post, we discussed the importance of understanding the source and flow of your data as it works within your email program. Once those are under control and fully mapped out, it is time to rethink how you use that information. Let us start with first impressions.
New Subscribers and forms
Your website is generally the first place that a new user interacts with your digital brand. Building the relationship starts here, and first impressions are just as important in the digital world as they are in the real world.
Is your form easy to read? Do you clearly state the benefits of subscribing to the email programs? Does it answer the “what’s in it for me” question? Is it collecting the right information from your new subscriber? Asking too little or too much can have issues with a lack of actionable data or a lower number of subscriptions. Finding the right balance between the two will be worth testing for your organization. Also, it’s crucial to implement security measures, like real-time validation, rate limits, or reCAPTCHA, on your forms to prevent false subscriptions or invalid requests.
Welcome Programs are important
While this is all happening in the background, consider building a welcome campaign that triggers for all new subscribers – remind them and introduce your brand again. Services like Netcore’s Journey Builder tools are a great option for this type of program to introduce the benefits and set expectations for participating in the email program.
Good welcome programs are a single email; GREAT welcome programs are a series of messages telling a story to your subscribers that gets them familiar with your brand.
Example of a simple welcome program:
- Message 1 – Thank you for subscribing to *Newsletter* – A brief note of thanks and delivering confirmation of subscription or a reward such as a discount or download.
Example of a complex welcome program (Loyalty Program):
- Message 1 – Welcome to the program – Start collecting points now with your digital card, frequency, and type of communications to expect.
- Message 2 – How to collect points – Introduction to partners, how to get bonus points, and other collection tips.
- Message 3 – How to redeem points – Examples of point redemption and a short overview of reviewing the current balance or status
- Message 4 – Personal letter from the president – Thank you for being a participating member
- Message 5 – Regular marketing program
Such extended programs build a rapport with your subscribers, answer many questions new members may have, and make them feel important and educated on your services.
To use a Confirmed opt-in (COI) or a Single opt-in (SOI)?
It is a highly contested choice: more engaged users and higher quality subscriptions with a smaller list or a larger list with less engaged users and a higher chance of bad subscriptions data.
If you have many sources of subscribers, you may want to consider a multi-pronged approach. Use COI for high-risk sources (i.e., call centers) that are prone to typos; for low-risk sources (i.e., shopping page checkout), implement a notified SOI with an easy-to-understand consent process and opt-out.
In part three, we will discuss Email Templates and Authentication – what you should be doing and what you should be avoiding.
With two decades of experience in email marketing, he is an industry veteran leveraging the background in privacy and network operations to help customers improve their digital marketing programs.
