4 Smart Ways to fetch subscriber information via emails (and enhance engagement)

With 62.26% customers feeling “happy” and “excited” to respond to a personalized message from a retailer, it becomes imperative to send out personalized emails that are more likely to enhance subscriber engagement. Moreover, 55% of consumers have revealed that they like email messages sending out relevant products and offers. In view of these facts and figures, it is quite evident that you ought to send personalized emails to your subscribers if you want the campaigns to perform well.

However, the challenge is that unless you have enough subscriber information, you cannot send pertinent emails that would resonate with them. So, how will you collect subscriber information to send out personalized emails? Although there are several ways to do so, email itself continues to be an effective medium to do so. 

We’ll get to that but first let’s walk through the advantages of collecting subscriber data before discussing the “HOW”. 

Why to collect subscriber information?

A subscriber signs up to your email list with an expectation of getting valuable information that would help them overcome their challenges or pain points. In case of ecommerce websites, they would want to get updates of offers, back in stock notifications, or discount coupon codes during festive occasions. Most of them are looking forward to a personalized experience irrespective of the products or services you offer and the industry you are in. If you want to keep them hooked to your brand, you ought to send them personalized emails that target each subscriber according to his or her preferences. 

Go a step ahead from using the first name and send emails that send them relevant information based on the pages they have visited, products they have browsed for, items they have added in their cart, or resources they have downloaded. While you will get some of these details directly in your CRM tool, you might need to collect other subscriber details that will help you with basic segmentation and customization. Right from the sign up form to the welcome email, you must cash in on every opportunity you get to collect the subscriber’s information. Doing so will ensure that you do not send any batch and blast emails or irrelevant bulk emails to the subscribers. 

For instance: If you are a retail brand, you must ask the subscribers at the outset about the kind of products they are interested in. Ask for the age, gender, and location to start with so that you do not end up sending emails with products that the user might not be interested in. 

Now that you know how essential it is to collect subscriber data, let’s explore some of the ways in which you can use emails to collect it: 

1. Work on your email sign up forms

To start with, you must ask the right questions in the email sign up forms, based on which you can send the future emails. Unless you know what your customers are looking for, you cannot send them personalized emails. Therefore, learning about the customer preferences at the outset will help you send tailormade emails while building your brand credibility and eliminating the possibility of sending any irrelevant emails that might annoy the subscribers. 

Take a look at this exhaustive email sign up form created by Formaggio Kitchen.  

Based on the information the subscriber provides in this form, they send out a welcome email that reiterates the same details and lets them change it in case they want to. Moreover, they also share their email address for the subscriber to reach out to them. 

2. Incentivize the subscriber in return for their information

Everyone loves getting “gifts” and “incentives”. Brands can tap on this psychology to collect customer data without coming off as too demanding. For instance, you could offer them a freebie or discount in exchange for their occupation, demographic information, or their birthday. 

See how Office entices the user with a birthday treat and gift.   

Here’s another example by TITANS. Through this email, they ensure automatic segmentation of the email recipients.  

3. Ask the subscribers why they signed up for your emails

Understanding what made the users sign up for your emails is important if you want to build a stronger rapport with them. This will help you support the subscribers better and cater to their needs more effectively. You can either have them fill a form or pose a straightforward question in a plain text email. 

Groove sends out a nice plain text welcome email to ask the subscriber why they signed up. The personalized copy and “We care for our customers” tone would surely encourage the recipient to share the information by replying to the email.     

4. Send out event invitations

Inviting subscribers to an event is yet another tactic that can help you collect more information about the subscribers. According to your business type, industry, and the objective of the event, you can collect related information from the registrants.  

See the webinar invitation email Asana sends to their subscribers.

Once the subscribers clicks on the “Register Now” link, they are redirected to the registration form that asks for further details. Isn’t it a great way to collect subscriber information?

4 Mistakes to Avoid

Every marketing tactic has a “right way” to do it and certain strict “don’ts” to follow. Collecting subscriber information is a technique-sensitive activity and here are some points you must remember while doing so. 

1. Make sure your sign up form is not too long as it might turn the subscriber off and refrain them from giving out any information. 
2. Do not ask for personal information such as bank details, addresses, social security information, or credit card and debit card numbers. 
3. Avoid requesting details for their street address unless you are sending something to their physical address. Asking for their geographical location would suffice for industries other than ecommerce or retail.
4. Have a “My account” page or preference center to ask the subscribers for more information. However, make sure it is not mandatory for them to do so. 
   
   
   

Wrapping Up

Rather than focusing on building a LONG list of subscribers and sending out maximum emails to them, marketers must channelize their efforts in learning more about the existing subscribers and what they are looking for, segmenting the list, and sending tailormade emails that would have something in there for the subscriber. 

We hope these tips would help you subtly acquire maximum subscriber information and target them accordingly.