There have been a few studies on how many newsletters people will sign up for. They indicate that users will subscribe to between seven and eleven newsletters. This week we’ll review five areas of best practice for increasing your newsletter subscriptions.
*Day 1: The Privacy Promise*
One of the biggest reasons people do not provide their email address is fear of spam. You can immediately remove that hesitation from your potential subscribers by including a small link in your subscribe box to your Privacy Policy.
You can greatly increase the impact of this link through the wording you use for it. Remember your Privacy Policy is a reflection of your brand. If your organization takes special pride in respecting subscriber privacy, then say so. Don’t just say ‘Privacy Policy’, use words that reflect your commitment and your brand, such as ‘Privacy Promise’ or ‘Privacy Guarantee’. Better yet, here are some great examples:
MarketingSherpa.com – The link reads “We value your privacy” and is reinforced with the words, “We will not rent your email to anyone” below it.
Canadian Tire provides a graphic reinforcement below its call to subscribe, “Privacy & Security 100% Guaranteed”.
Best Buy’s newsletter signup page goes with the straightforward approach, “We value your privacy”.
Land’s End continues to provide an excellent example of how to do Privacy right.
And of course, if you think your email is that important, get over yourself at Despair.com’s sign-up page.
In my search for examples I was surprised how many companies do not include this very simple item to increase subscriptions. If you have examples please pass them on.
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the “Subscribe” box.