This is very problematic.
- How often is GAP going to email me?
- What is the "special welcome offer?"
- What is the value I will receive?
- Why, exactly, should I give them my email address???
For the GAP, and many others, you should link to a page with the details about the email newsletter program. Give the person an option where they can find out more, without giving you their email address.
Because most email marketers over send, people are growing more reluctant to sign up on email lists.
This email newsletter page should list out the following.
What the benefit IS
You need to sell. What is the benefit to the person for joining yet another email list? This is getting to be a tougher sell each day due to the over-sending nature of many businesses.
Tell them why signing up for your newsletter will make their life better. Focus on benefits, not features.
Frequency newsletters are sent
A best practice is to let your subscribers choose how often they want to receive emails.
Most importantly, tell them the maximum frequency they will receive emails from you.
(It is OK to send less frequent.)
State your privacy policy
If you have a privacy policy page, then link to it. Otherwise, have some text near the sign
up form that describes the privacy of the subscriber's email address. (You won’t sell it or
rent it or do anything evil.)
Don't require too much information (at the start)
You can always ask for more information after you have established a relationship.
Remember, it's a value proposition. You show that you can provide value, your
subscribers will offer up more of their information (about who they are and what they
want). Then you can use those details to send them more targeted messages in the future.
At sign up, ask for email address, first name, and last name. Only ask for more if you
absolutely, positively can use it to their benefit – like a restaurant asking for the birthday.
Don't offer a sign up gift
Many organizations offer a sign up promotion. These can be abused and all too often they
attract people not interested in receiving your newsletter, just in receiving the free sign up
gift. The value from the email should be what convinces someone to subscribe, not the
free gift upon sign up.
Sign Up Cards
Sign up cards are very useful for many retail businesses. Like the online sign up page,
the sign up card should not ask for too much information.
Sign up cards, more than online forms, have a bit higher error rate due to problems
reading what the person has written. If practical, it is best to have the person who
receives the card do a quick “spot check” to make sure the writing is legible. Otherwise
you could end up sending to the wrong email address and be seen as a spammer.
