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Anybody Ever Test This...

by Pete223
14 replies
Hi Warriors,

Did anybody ever test if using name or firstname
on an opt-in form changes your opt-in rates?

Thanks, Pete
  • Profile picture of the author imvideos
    I know this does not directly answer your question but if there is just a "name" box, i only enter my first name on an optin form, unless of course there is "first name" + "last name" separate boxes.

    Stevie
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  • Profile picture of the author Christopher R Everson
    One thing that I've noticed directly affects my opt-in rate is if I actually tell them to opt in or not. It's easy to forget to add that line "Subscribe now and I'll show you xxxxx" above the squeeze page. I generally tell the visitors what to do with the headline.

    Something else that works you may not think would: Having an image of an arrow circling your call to action, and guiding them directly to the optin box increased one of my pages from a 34% optin rate to a 45% (roughly). I was pretty shocked it actually worked.

    On a squeeze page little things can make pretty big changes. Overall though, it's pretty easy to get a squeeze page converting at 30% with any decent quality of traffic, so if yours is very low, look at where the traffic is from, and if you have any serious flaws (or just a lousy offer!).
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    • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
      I never ask for just 'name' on a subscription form because it's ambiguous. The subscriber won't know whether I want them to to enter 'Fred Bloggs' or just 'Fred'.

      And if they enter the 'wrong' one, then the personalization of emails to them goes wrong too, and messages containing shockers like:

      Dear Fred Bloggs

      ...get sent out.

      So I only ever use 'first name' and email address.

      Or 'first name' and 'last name' and email address.

      But recently I've stopped asking for last name because:

      (a) it's not information I need
      (b) it's just another hoop for the subscriber to have to jump through

      Cheers,

      Neil
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      • Profile picture of the author Steven Fullman
        I love your answer, Neil.

        Ambiguity breeds...well...worse results, I expect.

        TELL your prospects what they need to do...EXPLICITLY.

        Sorry for the caps, terribly bad form, I know.

        Steve

        Originally Posted by Neil Morgan View Post

        I never ask for just 'name' on a subscription form because it's ambiguous. The subscriber won't know whether I want them to to enter 'Fred Bloggs' or just 'Fred'.

        And if they enter the 'wrong' one, then the personalization of emails to them goes wrong too, and messages containing shockers like:

        Dear Fred Bloggs

        ...get sent out.

        So I only ever use 'first name' and email address.

        Or 'first name' and 'last name' and email address.

        But recently I've stopped asking for last name because:

        (a) it's not information I need
        (b) it's just another hoop for the subscriber to have to jump through

        Cheers,

        Neil
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        Not promoting right now

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  • Profile picture of the author Rich Rollend
    I have name and E-mail on my optin page but when I look on my autoresponder I noticed almost everyone uses a full name, hope that helps.


    Rich
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Personally I don't really care what these people write as the first name. Some use it to keep track of were they got the information from. Others find it funny to put other words in there.

    I still ask for First Name and Best Email (The only reason I ask for First name instead of just Name is because it lines up better with Best Email... LOL)

    For the most part though I am getting away from personalizing my emails with the users first name and instead leaving a double spaced line and getting on with the message.

    Mike Hill
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
    Good thread. I would bet that a simple email address would be better, but who knows. It may depend on the niche.

    Offline a marketer discovered that asking for a mailing address rather than "Your name and mailing address" improved response yet most of those responding still provided their name.

    I changed the Name to Full Name and make the field optional. I also put it above the email address for no other reason than I think it looks better there. I've shamefully done no testing on this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    I was reading recently that Ryan Deiss changed to just requiring an email address and saw an immediate 5% bump in opt-ins.

    I think the novelty of a "personalised" email is rapidly wearing off now.

    Sometimes, I'll just put "numbnuts" in the name field. It tends to liven up some otherwise dull copy


    Frank
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    • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
      I was reading recently that Ryan Deiss changed to just requiring an email address and saw an immediate 5% bump in opt-ins.

      I think the novelty of a "personalised" email is rapidly wearing off now.
      Maybe (even probably) in the IM niche but I'm not so sure that would be the case in many other niches.

      Cheers,

      Neil
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      • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
        Originally Posted by Neil Morgan View Post

        Maybe (even probably) in the IM niche but I'm not so sure that would be the case in many other niches.
        Neil
        Neil, I'm sure you're right when it comes to the actual communication with the subscribers. But maybe just asking for the email gets you more opt-ins in the first place (?)

        Although, if you have an elaborate and profitable sales funnel in place, I accept that the quality of subscriber is probably more important.

        Frank
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        • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
          Neil, I'm sure you're right when it comes to the actual communication with the subscribers. But maybe just asking for the email gets you more opt-ins in the first place (?)
          Personally, I've never tested just asking for the email address and not the first name. I'm in the middle of setting up a new subscription form right now so I might just take that opportunity to test this out.

          Cheers,

          Neil
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  • Profile picture of the author websitemoneynow
    I prefer to use my full name as it can sort of be branding in many ways
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  • Profile picture of the author Pete223
    Thanks gang for the input... I asked because
    I was thinking that maybe people would be willing
    to give out their first names easier then their
    full name, and yes, it would "look" better when
    you send personalised emails...

    But I guess it doesn't matter much when you
    have a good offer... it's the email address you
    want after all!

    I don't think someone that wants to learn more
    about your offer will decide not to because you
    asked for is full name, or name and not is
    first name only...

    but, as Frank noted above, and
    the email address being are ultimate goal, maybe
    we should just ask for the email??
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    • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
      Apart from the personalization of the emails, one reason that I ask for the first name is so that I can display it on the 'thanks for subscribing page'.

      Now that's impressive

      Cheers,

      Neil
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