Posts Tagged ‘Email opt-in’
Posted by Nic Winters on August 27th, 2010
One advantage of email marketing over many other forms of marketing has always been the ability to track activity and clearly see the actual results related to your messaging. However, this leads to large amounts of information and marketers often get lost in the mountains of data. When taking on this ever-growing mass of information, it is important to identify trends and often your best bet is to look into summary-type reports that allow you to view how results have played out over time.
From time to time we find that three reports within the SubscriberMail interface that clients occasionally tend to underutilize are Subscriber Summary, Subscriber Details, and Subscriber Timeline. These reports provide a wealth of information related to the growth of your subscriber list over time.
Subscriber Summary: shows how many people have been added to your account via opt-in code on your website(s) along with the unsubscribes, bounces, and double opt-ins (if applicable) for a given date range broken out month-by-month
Subscriber Details: shows the details related to each individual that has been added to your account via opt-in code on your website(s) – including the list name they were added to and the webpage on which the opt-in form is located
Subscriber Timeline: allows clients to view day-by-day or month-by-month charts of the gain and loss of subscribers from their lists
Utilizing these reports can provide clients with information related to their opt-in lists and effectively evaluate their efforts to drive list growth.
Contact the SubscriberMail Client Support team at support@subscribermail.com for more information regarding how you can utilize the full SubscriberMail reporting suite.
Posted by Nic Winters on July 9th, 2010
Many of our clients use the opt-in code that we provide so that when individuals opt-in to their email lists on their website the new subscriber’s email address is automatically added to their SubscriberMail account. Once this connection is set up, a welcome email can also be specified to automatically deploy to everyone that enters the account via this method.
However, what if you would like to send a different welcome message to those who opt-in on one page than the message sent to others who opt-in on a second page? Within the SubscriberMail email platform this can be achieved by adding a hidden form field that includes the name of the welcome message version you would like to send and then updating your opt-in code to reference that new field in the code that is passed to your account at the time of opt-in.
Just another step toward adding segmentation into your email marketing strategy – one of the many best practices our Strategic Services team recommends!
Posted by Nic Winters on January 4th, 2010
Welcome again to The First 2 Weeks, where we analyze 3 competitors’ email marketing strategies when it is most crucial… the opt-in process, welcome message, and first few campaigns as these marketers attempt to establish relationships with subscribers.
For this edition of The First 2 Weeks, we have chosen 3 competitors in the grocery store segment: Jewel-Osco (a Midwest division of Albertson’s), Kroger, and Meijer.
OPT-IN PROCESS
Jewel-Osco features the best positioning of promotion for an opt-in opportunity, as they very clearly display an envelope graphic and the words “Email Signup” in the navigation area at the top of their homepage. It is clear promotions in prime positions such as this that lead to the greatest opt-in activity. Kroger promotes “My Kroger Account” throughout their homepage, however it is only at the bottom left that it clearly spells out that this includes beneficial emails you can opt-in to receive. In comparison to these two competitors, Meijer’s opt-in promotion is fairly hidden. You must scroll down to the bottom right of the page to find a note about “Sales Alerts” that includes a form field for your email address.
Along with having the clearest opt-in promotion, Jewel-Osco also features the best opt-in form. They have done a great job at keeping the information collection simple (only requiring first name and zip code) and they set expectations by listing information about how often you will receive email and displaying a sample newsletter. In addition, they feature a great reminder on their thank you page to add their from address to your address book to help assist with future delivery. The opt-in form for Meijer was also fairly simple, however as you enter in your zip code you must then select the preferred location in your area. Kroger takes a more complex approach, requiring a similar store-lookup via zip code, but also requires a password creation. One great feature within the Kroger opt-in form is that they offer the ability to opt-in for 3 different types of newsletters (and most importantly, none of these options have pre-checked boxes).
WELCOME MESSAGE
Greetings from both Meijer and Kroger arrived within 1-2 minutes beyond opt-in – a very timely response to begin the email relationship, whereas Jewel-Osco failed to send any confirmation or thank you via email.
However, even though Meijer did send a welcome, they aren’t that far ahead by doing so. When you send out a message such as this with no true purpose than to just say thank you… you aren’t exactly setting a great tone regarding the value that can be expected in future emails. They just touch on the fact that if you didn’t set up a password during opt-in a random one was assigned, which can now edit if you wish. They do include a link to shop within the header graphic, however they should address this call-to-action within the body of the email – pushing you to click now and save, etc. One final issue found within this email is their choice of from name – ShopForMore, which leads to subscriber confusion as it doesn’t include any indication that the email was sent from Meijer.
As Kroger utilizes a double opt-in list, their welcome message has a very clear purpose… confirming your opt-in. They have chosen to use a simple text only email design that ensures nothing is lost with images disabled, however no branding has been carried through on this key first communication piece. Kroger does a great job however at including a reminder at the top to add their from address to your address book to ensure future delivery and they also list out all of the email newsletters you requested to receive.
Watch for Part 2 in the coming weeks in which we will evaluate campaigns sent beyond the welcome message and preference editing options.
Posted by Nic Winters on December 7th, 2009
Welcome again to The First 2 Weeks, where we analyze 3 competitors’ email marketing strategies when it is most crucial… the opt-in process, welcome message, and first few campaigns as these marketers attempt to establish relationships with subscribers.
For this edition of The First 2 Weeks, we have chosen 3 competitors in the steakhouse restaurant chain segment: Lone Star Steakhouse, Outback Steakhouse, and Texas Roadhouse.
OPT-IN PROCESS
Outback features the best positioning of promotion for an opt-in opportunity, however the wording is a little unclear – with “KEEP IN TOUCH” as the main call-to-action. Texas Roadhouse has a less obvious location (requiring you to scroll down a little) but also has some unclear promotion – using “Become a Text Roadie VIP” as the phrase to pull you in. Finally, Lone Star also requires a little scrolling but features the clearest language as it directs you to “Join our E-CLUB”.
The opt-in forms for all 3 competitors were fairly similar as they all collected information such as birthday, favorite restaurant location, and zip code (all information that could be very valuable for deploying segmented campaigns). However, Lone Star caused a decent amount of confusion as they made their form appear as if no information was required but if fields were left empty you received error messages.
WELCOME MESSAGE
Greetings from both Lone Star and Texas Roadhouse arrived within 12 and 15 hours beyond opt-in (respectively) – a fairly timely response to begin the email relationship, whereas Outback failed to send any confirmation or thank you via email. Both competitors that sent welcome emails also immediately establish the value behind their email programs by providing coupons for free appetizers. This offer not only is rewarding the subscriber for supplying their email address but also hopefully is driving traffic into their restaurants. However, both restaurants should have promoted this welcome offer on their main page to entice visitors to subscribe.
Both Lone Star and Texas Roadhouse did a decent job of creating email designs loaded with branding and imagery but still utilizing alt tags and text to ensure that all was not lost with images off (LS & TR). Both also took advantage of the information they gathered during the opt-in process by personalizing the emails with the subscriber’s first name and Texas Roadhouse went a step further to list the subscriber’s favorite location at the bottom of the email. Both competitors also wisely included a reminder at the top of their emails to add their from address to your address book to ensure delivery of future messages. Overall – a job well done by both competitors, and certainly as step ahead of Outback… which opted not to deploy a welcome.
Watch for Part 2 in the coming weeks in which we will evaluate campaigns sent beyond the welcome message and preference editing options.
Posted by Nic Winters on November 10th, 2009
Welcome again to The First 2 Weeks, where we analyze 3 competitors’ email marketing strategies when it is most crucial… the opt-in process, welcome message, and first few campaigns as these marketers attempt to establish relationships with subscribers.
For this edition of The First 2 Weeks, we have chosen 3 competitors in the arts and crafts retail segment: Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann, and Michael’s.
OPT-IN PROCESS
The opt-in placement on these 3 competitors’ websites was fairly similar, placing the opt-in opportunity near the top right of the homepage – not requiring scrolling. However, Hobby Lobby did the best job of calling attention to the opt-in area. Jo-Ann’s opt-in area blends into the background a little too easily, and Michael’s is practically trying to hide the opt-in area with a very small “Register” link that is quite muted (on top of the fact that “Register” doesn’t exactly scream opt-in for emails).
All 3 competitors’ opt-in forms are quite lengthy, collecting a great deal of information that could be valuable for email segmentation efforts. Both Hobby Lobby and Jo-Ann do however provide the interested party with the opportunity to quickly sign up and skip these additional details (with Hobby Lobby highlighting a required section and Jo-Ann offering an express sign-up section). On the other hand, Michael’s requires an immense amount of fields including a username and password, postal address, and birth date (items that could detract from getting email subscribers). However, overall, all 3 competitors offer some great options during the opt-in process such as your various interests and which types of e-newsletters you would like to receive.
WELCOME MESSAGE
Greetings from both Jo-Ann and Michael’s arrived within 10 minutes beyond opt-in – a timely response to begin the email relationship, whereas Hobby Lobby failed to send any confirmation or thank you via email. However, this is fairly forgivable as they provide you with a coupon right on their website the moment you complete the opt-in form… but they should have promoted this perk on their homepage to entice subscribers!
Both Jo-Ann and Michael’s remind subscriber’s to add their from address to their address book to ensure future delivery. Jo-Ann includes a couple more best practices by including a prominent forward link at the top and by listing the email address that is opted-in (to avoid confusion in cases of old email addresses that have been forwarded, etc.). Both competitors also establish the value of their email programs quickly by providing a coupon in these welcome emails. Michael’s doesn’t feature any sort of graphic representation of this coupon within their message – instead they rely upon a fairly simplistic “Print Coupon” button. Jo-Ann does feature a graphic of the coupon, however they bury below the preview pane… thus it is a good thing that they place a simple link above the body of their message linking to the print location.
Overall Michael’s takes a non-flashy approach to email design, utilizing mainly text – thus, very little is lost with images off. Jo-Ann has incorporated alt tags for many of their images so when images are disabled the reader is not left clueless… however, the largest portion of the preview pane is used by 2 large images that were left with no alt tags. Michael’s also experienced some alt tag issues, exposing a lesson for all of us. As you build an email design, be careful with labels that you intend only for internal use – or you may end up like Michael’s, who display 2 alt tags that say “spacer” within the areas that blank images display with images on.
Watch for Part 2 in the coming weeks in which we will evaluate campaigns sent beyond the welcome message and preference editing options.
