email opt-in audit imperative #infographic
DESCRIPTION
In a “tip of the iceberg” research study, we tested the homepage email signup process of more than 160 B2C brands, including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, and nonprofits. For most brands, this is their best source of high-quality subscribers, so the breakdowns and delays that we discovered there are likely an indication of more troubles beneath the surface—and untapped opportunities to improve list growth.TRANSCRIPT
B2C brands where email opt-in was not honoredBrands’ websites are consistently the best source of high-quality email subscribers, so these breakdowns are extremely costly.
The Need for Signup Audits
15%
11% B2C brands where email opt-in wasn’t honored until 2+ weeks post signupSubscribers are most active in the weeks immediately after opting in, so these delays squander a significant amount of subscriber lifetime value.
OPT-IN FAILED
27% 20%
OPT-IN DELAYED
OPT-IN FAILED
9% 6%
OPT-IN DELAYED
OPT-IN FAILED
0% 0% Sending a Series of Welcome EmailsNone of the brands from which we received a series of welcome emails suffered opt-in breakdowns or delays, although it’s possible some of the brands experienced opt-in breakdowns before a welcome series could be triggered.
OPT-IN DELAYED
The high level of signup breakdowns and delays speaks to a need to do more subscription process audits, which have become more complex in recent years thanks to...
Platform ProliferationMore devices, more operating systems, and more browsers mean more combinations to check, since they all don’t behave the same way.
Acquisition Source ProliferationEmail signups can occur via:
Website homepage Website checkout Store checkout
Call center Facebook page SMS program
Mobile app List rental QR codes
And that’s not even an exhaustive list. With so many places to subscribe, track your subscribers by acquisition source to uncover signup issues. Bonus: You’ll also see which sources are valuable and which are not.
If you haven’t done an acquisition source audit recently, it’s probably time to do one as you could be unknowingly losing valuable subscribers.
Sources: All data based on signup experiences with 163 B2C brands during the first quarter of 2013, using anonymous email accounts.
Using Con�rmed Opt-In (COI) Opt-in breakdowns and delays were 81% more common among brands that used a confirmed opt-in process where consumers confirm their subscription by clicking on a link in an email sent to them.
Sending a Welcome EmailOpt-in breakdowns and delays were 40% less common among the brands from which we received at least one welcome email.
List and email revenue growth are being hampered by opt-in breakdowns and delays.
More than a quarter of all email signups that occur via the homepages of major brands are not honored or experience significant delays in being honored. Check out the stats below based on new ExactTarget research involving more than 160 B2C brands—including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, and nonprofits—and find out how to improve list growth through better signup practices and process audits.
How do these practices correlate with signup breakdowns and delays?
Audit Imperative