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Surpisingly... NO EMAIL service has this basic feature??

by Amod Oke
19 replies
Hi,
Here's a simple scenario:

  1. User comes to the site.
  2. Likes content, subscribes to newsletter, or freebie, etc.
  3. To increase signups, just 1 field is asked - email.
  4. Now, the user is in a follow up sequence.
  5. Somewhere down the line, the user is brought to another awesome piece of content, and this time, a small form asks for just his first name.
  6. This is added to the same list/segment/profile he is in.
  7. With this, the next time he can receive "Hi John" kinda personal greetings.
In short, first asking for just the email, and on some subsequent visit, asking for their first/last name while keeping everything else same.


THIS IS NOT AVAILABLE THROUGH ANY POPULAR AUTORESPONDERS!


Is it me or is this asking too much!?


Have tried with mailchimp, aweber, getresponse, constant contact, arpreach, none of them can update contacts this way.

For those who have this feature, they ask the USER to "edit their profile" and have them click gazillion links! (If we wanted that, why wouldn't we just ask them the info in the first place!! )
#basic #contact #email #feature #form #profile #service #surpisingly #update
  • Profile picture of the author ShoppingSignals
    I agree that this would be a useful feature. In theory you could provide a link in an email. That link would point to a form on your site and the user's email address embedded in the link (so that they don't have to enter it again). They would enter their name and submit. The email service would then gracefully validate the user and add the name to their existing account.

    I haven't looked very hard to see if this truly isn't available from any of the major players, but it would seem to be simple enough to implement.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Originally Posted by Amod Oke View Post

    Is it me or is this asking too much!?
    I don't think you're asking too much...

    But if I was an email marketing service...

    I would simply say just ask for the name when they originally sign up
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    • Profile picture of the author LGT
      Who did your sales page? It is awesome!
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  • Profile picture of the author Richelo Killian
    If your ESP has an API, you could code this on your side.

    Even if an ESP was to add this feature, you would still need to do some basic coding to identify the subscriber in the 1st place.
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  • Profile picture of the author jkennedy
    Banned
    As a feature suggestion, it's a decent idea.

    But I'm with James on this one. If you want their name, just ask them the first time.
    If your content is of any value, they will have no problem putting that in.

    I've tested both ways and honestly the numbers are pretty much the same.
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  • Profile picture of the author MickK
    Hi Amod,

    I'll pass on your suggestion to my product management team.

    To gather more information from a contact once they subscribe to your list I suggest the following work around:
    1. Create a survey in GetResponse and link the response fields to the contact - How do I include the survey link in my message so the respondent data isn't anonymous? - GetResponse Support
    2. Add the survey to your autoresponder
    3. When the user completes the survey it updates the contact
    4. Rinse,lather,repeat

    Cheers,

    Mick

    Originally Posted by Amod Oke View Post

    Hi,
    Here's a simple scenario:

    1. User comes to the site.
    2. Likes content, subscribes to newsletter, or freebie, etc.
    3. To increase signups, just 1 field is asked - email.
    4. Now, the user is in a follow up sequence.
    5. Somewhere down the line, the user is brought to another awesome piece of content, and this time, a small form asks for just his first name.
    6. This is added to the same list/segment/profile he is in.
    7. With this, the next time he can receive "Hi John" kinda personal greetings.
    In short, first asking for just the email, and on some subsequent visit, asking for their first/last name while keeping everything else same.


    THIS IS NOT AVAILABLE THROUGH ANY POPULAR AUTORESPONDERS!


    Is it me or is this asking too much!?


    Have tried with mailchimp, aweber, getresponse, constant contact, arpreach, none of them can update contacts this way.

    For those who have this feature, they ask the USER to "edit their profile" and have them click gazillion links! (If we wanted that, why wouldn't we just ask them the info in the first place!! )
    Signature

    Mick Kitor - Affiliate Manager

    Phone: +1 585.286.1819 | Email: mick.kitor(at)erevshare.com | Skype mick.kitor

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  • Profile picture of the author The Printer Depo
    You can use google forms, script them to APIS in your database where you keep your list, and use a drip campaign to retrieve the info, piece by piece.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheGP
      Wow, cant imagine i see this question now))

      I solved it 2 weeks ago by simple script. It will remember all data entered and autofill it next time. Actually, i hiding forms by this too, so subscribers see only "download" button without any fields.

      If somebody wants, i can make this script available for free and add simple instructions on english.

      Autofilling will work seamlessly, just by adding script on page, but i added simple way to show different content for non-subscribers and subscribes. For example, i show subscription form in the end of my blog for non-subscribers, and link to a products catalog for subscribers.
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  • Profile picture of the author ineagu
    Since this feature depends a lot on your site is not something that an email marketing company would do.

    But other people said, feel free to hire a freelancer for few hours and implement this using the API .
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    • Profile picture of the author Amod Oke
      Since this feature depends a lot on your site is not something that an email marketing company would do.
      More information about your end subscribers to segment and send relevant sequences, is the key to next gen email marketing my friend...

      The email marketing companies that still want you to treat your most valuable business asset as a "list" are soon going to be "that email service you knew"...
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      • Profile picture of the author RDJLabs
        CPA comapnies run this as an offer called email submits don't they? affiliates get paid like 50 cents to a $
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  • Profile picture of the author candicef
    Silverpop do this OOTB but it should be fairly easy to achieve with any API. I would recommend passing across UI (email address) as a hidden mandatory field each time.
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  • Profile picture of the author LGT
    Simple ideas are often complicated to implement.
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  • Profile picture of the author nmchant
    "In short, first asking for just the email, and on some subsequent visit, asking for their first/last name while keeping everything else same."



    Oddly enough, I tend to open the emails that have my first name far more than the ones that don't.

    The generic ones that don't i usually dismiss unless theres something incredibly compelling that jumps out at me (subject matter, answers i was looking for, etc).

    I'm sure its some unconscious response, but it feels more friendly to see my name.

    There's something to be said for building a sense of connection straight out the gate.

    And something as simple as first name can have the power to do this.

    Think "John, you're not alone." (Lol, supposedly the 'you're not alone' headline has one of the highest open rates.. makes me think people must be pretty lonely)
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    • Profile picture of the author rbates
      Originally Posted by nmchant View Post



      Oddly enough, I tend to open the emails that have my first name far more than the ones that don't.

      The generic ones that don't i usually dismiss unless theres something incredibly compelling that jumps out at me (subject matter, answers i was looking for, etc).

      I'm sure its some unconscious response, but it feels more friendly to see my name.

      There's something to be said for building a sense of connection straight out the gate.

      And something as simple as first name can have the power to do this.

      Think "John, you're not alone." (Lol, supposedly the 'you're not alone' headline has one of the highest open rates.. makes me think people must be pretty lonely)

      This just goes to show that people do things for different reasons.

      Not everyone is going to open up an email just because it has
      that "Catchy" headline. It may be a "Stand-Out" headline for
      some, but not worth the time for others.

      As far as using the name, how many people actually put
      in their REAL name when they opt in to a list?
      Most of the names that I have gotten have been something
      like grb25@, or lyn4tns@. So, does the subscriber
      really relate? That said, I guess most of us know our
      usual alias.
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  • Profile picture of the author Amod Oke
    CPA comapnies run this as an offer called email submits don't they? affiliates get paid like 50 cents to a $
    Did you read the OP?
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  • Profile picture of the author jaypoole
    Old thread I know Amod Oke but this is available in arpReach - not sure how you tried to set this up, but since there is only one contact record for each email address then this is a simple set up and actually does not require anything different to be done except including the additional fields you want to include in the subscription form.

    Possibly if you tested this by trying to add the contact to the same autoresponder as they were already on, and you'd checked the box to prevent multiple subscriptions to the same autoresponder, then maybe this was why you saw what looked like a failure. Try setting up a second autoresponder and for the subscription form for that one then just include the additional fields you want. Upon subscription with the same email address then the contact record will be appended to and include the new information.
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