So you have already learned the significance of sending targeted email messages, segmenting your list and customizing your content but how are you going to do and apply what you have learned if you only have an email address? Luckily, there are several ways to find out more information about your email list members. Identify first which data points are most significant to your objectives before giving any of them a try.
If you ask for too much information at once, it will backfire on you and it’s not good that is why identifying the most important actionable data points is very essential and you should focus on those.
Encourage Your Email Members to Create a Profile
One of the best ways to start is by asking your existing list members to create their own user profile. Though you can’t always be sure that all your list members will create a profile, those who will create their user profiles can answer some short questions about themselves. Consider whether some of the following would be good questions to ask:
- First and/or last name
- Gender
- Age group
- Location (i.e. city/state, zip code or country)
- Date of birth
- Occupation
Consider applying the profile feature to provide your recipients some control over their account since you are asking for their personal information. There are several organizations these days that allows individuals to select how often they will receive mailings. This can be a good technique for those that deliver a lot of emails or to those that offer several publications.
Taking a Survey
Normally, individuals won’t mind answering some demographic questions since they’re already expecting that when you take a survey, they will be asked about their habits and opinions.
You might ask your respondents a few questions about their age group or income level if your survey is about vacation preferences. Their answers can be used to help you analyze the results but can also be kept on file as information about the individual recipients.
Be Detailed When Creating Your Sign-Up Form
During the sign-up process, if the only information you ask from your recipients is an email address, you should also consider adding some questions. It is also acceptable to ask a name of other basic information from your recipients that can help you target your mailings though a brief approach is good.
Encourage Your List Members to Update Their Profile
Make a periodic request to those of your list member who have created their user profiles to edit or make an addition to their profile. This not only helps you to keep their information up-to-date, it gives you another chance to ask them for some demographic data. This technique works great specifically when a website contains highly original and valuable content.
Sales Records Attached to the Email Addresses
Integrating information from different customer touchpoints such as retail centers, registration databases or online sales is one of the big tests for many organizations.
The marketing payoff for this marketing technique is huge though you will be needing the expertise of an IT professional or database experts to attach these sales records to your list email member’s email address. You can then take hold easily on your valuable member’s information such as event registration, purchase history and detailed consumer preferences and interests.
Another advantage that you can get from this strategy is that you can gather valuable demographic information without bothering the customer. The customer goes about their normal routines, while the most significant data points from these transactions are made readily available to you.
Seek for Other Opportunities
Many organizations have several touchpoints that they can optimize though a newsletter sign-up form is one of the most common places for collecting information. Seek at other chances to construct your email subscriber base and collect demographic data in the process:
- Events, trade shows
- Contest registrations
- Online order forms
- Point-of-sale locations
Keep in mind that collecting demographic data is an unending process so there is no need for you to hurry in finding out all the information about your list members at once. You can always ask for more information later on.
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