Can You Convert More Ad-Driven Traffic This Way?
Email Marketing - Justin Premick - April 24th, 2007 - Permalink
Looking at email campaigns and websites as often as I do, I’m used to seeing a lot of similarities among online marketing tactics.
For example, you space your messages out differently than other users, but you’re still using autoresponders. Or, you send an HTML message while the next guy just sends a plain text one with a link to an online message.
But every once in a while someone does something really different, that diverges significantly from what most of us do.
I recently rediscovered an advertising tactic being used to dramatically increase opt-ins and sales, one that goes back to the beginnings of AWeber and what we started out doing… I felt compelled to share it with you.
Building a List With Ad Traffic - How It’s Typically Done
Many businesses use online and offline advertisements to build a list, and they tend to follow the same format.
They create and put out an ad with some copy and a link to their landing page (or in some cases, homepage). If the ad is offline, they include the URL of the landing page.
On that landing page, they then have an opt-in form which they try to entice visitors to fill out. If a visitor does, then s/he gets onto that business’ mailing list.
| By the way, if you’re not collecting opt-ins from your ad-driven traffic, I strongly recommend that you start doing so. Otherwise, you’ve got one shot to convert your visitors to customers, and if they don’t convert, that’s it, you’ve got to wait (and pay) for the next visitor. |
This tactic has one significant shortcoming: visitors have to take a number of actions to go from your ad to your list.
- They have to see your ad
- They have to click on your ad (or type in your URL)
- They have to look at/read your landing page
- They have to locate your opt-in form
- They have to fill out your opt-in form
And that’s just a minimum. For example, what if you didn’t put your opt-in form directly on the page, but used a clickable link or button to bring the visitor to that form? That’s another step.
What Kind of Results Are You Getting Now?
So you’re running online and/or offline ads. And you’re sending people to your landing page and opt-in form.
I have a question for you:
What percentage of visitors does your landing page convert to opt-ins?
5%? 10%? 25%?
Let’s Give You the Benefit of the Doubt
For our example, we’re going to say your page gets half of the visitors to fill out your form. 50%. That’s a phenomenal rate.
But it also means that half of your visitors don’t sign up. And that means you have no way to follow up with them. Sucks, doesn’t it?
What if you could convert more ad respondents? Cut down on that 50% abandon rate?
A Totally Different Path to Try
Why send your ad respondents to a landing page? Why send them to any web page at all, if it’s a friction point between that ad and a successful opt-in to your list?
Why not send them straight to your autoresponder email address? After all, that’s how autoresponders originally worked - by the subscriber sending an email message, instead of filling out a web form.
Why Might This Be Better For My Paid Traffic?
Well, let’s say you have 2 ads running. Your opt-in form/landing page converted half the people that clicked through to it. It required at least 5 steps for someone to go from reading your ad to opting-in.
If someone responds to an ad by emailing your autoresponder… that’s it. They email your autoresponder. One step, not five.
So that means that 100% of people who responded to your ad, opted-in to your list. Versus our 50%-converting landing page, it gives us twice the number of opt-in subscribers.
Not bad, huh? Even up against a killer landing page, this tactic holds water.
So… Why Isn’t Everyone Doing This?
- Situational Differences. Remember, we’re speaking in hypotheticals here. If you’ve tested driving your ads to your autoresponder address and found it to not be the right tactic for you, then you need read no further.
- Not every ad company or service allows this. Google, for example, requires you to provide a web page to send AdWords respondents to. So this won’t work for AdWords. Check with your ad networks/partners to see if they’ll permit you to do this.
- Branding. Your autoresponder address is @aweber.com. Your subscribers would need to email that address directly (for deliverability reasons, you can’t auto-forward/redirect to that address from another one at your domain). You may not like the idea of having aweber.com show up in your ad. If that’s a deal-breaker for you, this tactic isn’t for you.
Where Do I Find My Autoresponder Email Address?
It’s easy to find your autoresponder address in your account.
When you’re logged in, your list name appears in green on the left-hand side of the page:
Take that listname, add @aweber.com to the end of it, and voila! You have an autoresponder email address.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 8:12 am and is filed under Email Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment response, trackback from your own site, or permalink.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:55 am
How would one "send them straight to your autoresponder email address" via a PPC ad (with instructions on what to do?
April 24th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Hi Dewald,
Check with the service/network for that PPC ad and ask if you can have your ad generate a mailto: link rather than directing people to a web page.
Then, just have the href for your ad be mailto:(your autoresponder address).
April 24th, 2007 at 10:45 am
I looked at using the autoresponder e-mail address once in the manner you described. If I remember correctly the only options were to collect minimal information - that being e-mail and one line name. I wanted at least a first and last name with the e-mail. I have found that if there is only one box for the name on a form, most people will only put one name in despite prompting for both names. If I’m wrong and there is a better way to get both names and e-mail using a direct signup link and an aweber address, I’m all for it.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:49 am
David,
When people sign up by emailing your autoresponder, we automatically capture the name out of the "from" line of their email. As you can’t control what your subscribers use as the "from" line for their outgoing emails, you’d have to go with whatever they gave you.
If they are using a full name (ex: John Smith) there, then you can personalize your messages with their full name, first name only or last name only by using the appropriate variable:
{!name}
{!firstname}
{!lastname}
April 24th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Justin,
Has that actually worked effectively for other people?
If I clicked on a PPC ad, which then unceremoniously opened a new message in my email client, I would think, "WTF?" and immediately close the window.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Using my e-mail as an example, my name would be captured as "scr" - not very personal, at best.
I realize that people may or may not use their real name when they are required to input one, but I think most do - I know I do. Also, people signing up on my form want information for dealing with insurers after a car wreck, be it body shops or consumers and the attorneys that represent them. I’ve found they tend to be more honest when they need what you are offering as opposed to just checking it out for entertainment.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Dewald,
Using this technique for PPC is probably not something you want to do. I doubt many, if any, PPC providers would allow use of an email address as a result page.
Where this method is used most effectively is offline display advertising such as your local paper or industry magazines.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Great idea. I have many persons clicking on my google ads and then given an opportunity to opt in on my website. However many don’t bother.
Does anyone know if this is okay with Yahoo or any other advertising programs.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Not as effective in our experience, mostly due to the complete loss of variables that allow personalization.
We ran this type of ad head to head, and yes, the subscription rate was higher, but who cares about subscription rates? I don’t and my list is over 240,000.
I care about CONVERSION rates, and in conversion rates, the inability to personalize made these subscribers fall flat on their faces.
These types of sceanrios have to be thought through from beginning to end, thru all the levels, not just the numbers of subscribers.
There is MUCH more to this than subscription rates.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Ron,
I agree 100%, there’s absolutely more to a campaign that subscription rates. We have seen this work for some customers though with incredibly better results than normal response methods. As the old adage goes, test, test, test, and then test some more. Your results may vary.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I agree Tom,
I think it is important for folks new to this type of marketing to understand the test, test, test part.
I really like the fact that the AWeber system is designed to allow split-testing of a number of components on the fly.
As you know, Tom, successful marketing, on the web or off, is more of an evolution than a condition, and there is no magic "formula", only great tenacity and the willingess to try different thinghs to see what works for them.
April 25th, 2007 at 7:58 am
I consider all alternatives to increase subscribers and conversions, but always from the viewpoint of the subscriber, or potential subscriber.
I personally have clicked on a few of these ads, and had an email response box open, and always felt deceived… muttered WTF… and left.
I did not want to interact with any website that I perceived was trying to trick me, and therefore, less than fully honest. And I believe my potentioal subscribers would react in similar fashion.
Good luck to those of you who wish to use this tactic.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:24 am
I love the idea. It’s a great concept except for one small detail. It doesn’t work with the dominant PPC providers.
How about suggesting ideas that actually have been tested and work!
April 25th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Charlie,
As mentioned above in comments, this technique is primarily used effectively in *offline* advertising. It’s not recommended for PPC advertising.
May 1st, 2007 at 8:33 am
I think it is a great concept that I will try to drive traffic tomy affiliate marketing website. I will test it in 2 or 3 different versions and see what works best.
Thanks for the advice.
May 1st, 2007 at 11:50 pm
I am trying this out with a PPC campaign I am running. I took a different approach to creating the mailto: link in PPC click url. I simply posted on my site about a special subscription program I set up and explained how the process works.
Sometimes a quick explanation will make your prospect feel more at ease. As mentioned in theses posts you don’t want them to think you are trying to trick them. So take simply explain to them how this works. This also helps build your credibility.
There is another very good reason to do this. I have a fairly good knowledge of spam filters and programs and it is my understanding that a large majority of them will automatically white list the address that the person sent to.
Of course I am a complete newb at marketing so who knows if this will actually work but from a technical point of view I see a lot of value in it.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:05 am
I thank you so much for the information I have read,eventhou I may not understand it all,sense I am a newbie.If and when I get a list of names I will contact you.Guess I will run a add in the paper.Thank you again.Haft to make some money,then I can contact you.
Betty