A Direct Marketing Agency - Helping Brands Acquire and Retain Customers

Did you ever ponder the question: How much information should we capture from a customer who is signing up to our email list? Or, how many pages or clicks will the customer endure to get added to your list?

As I was shopping the other day on columbia.com I noticed that they do several things great so I will use that example to show that you can get all the information you need to email and postal mail the interested customer while adding value to the shopper's future experiences.

Click 1: Notice that the "Sign up for the E-Newsletter" is prominently placed on the home page. It's as easy as entering your email address without an additional click to a single page to enter your address.

Click 2: Clicking submit next to my email address takes me to this page. I don't have to enter information that has already been entered, and am directed to complete a few more questions, which could be expanded to include postal mailing information should you offer a catalog and they clicked to receive a catalog.

Click 3: The final page of the process directs my path on the site by showing me product by category which will allow me to shop for items that I am interested in.

Is it possible to capture email and postal address information, as well as some product preferences in 3 pages? Yes it is by taking this site as an example of making good use of your customer's time while asking for enough information to keep them connected with your brand.

Getting good information every time your customer is willing to raise their hand and ask to be contacted is critical to effective one to one database marketing. And having a strong marketing database will allow you to keep your customer's informed to the level they have indicated.