Getting best results from opt-in forms and free downloads
Howard Lake | 12 June 2005 | News
Offering a free download such as a screensaver or game in return for the user’s email address is a popular method for organisations keen to build up an email opt-in list. However, it is easy to get this process wrong and end up with lots of giveaways but a poor subscriber list.
They key to generating a good quality opt-in email list is to collect accurate information. Too often, when faced with a free download, website visitors give inaccurate or fake email addresses, simply to get hold of the free information.
Often, organisations don’t bother to verify the accuracy of the email address, but still allow the visitor to navigate to the next page and thereby gain access to the free download. In this case the organisation will have given something away but for no return: if the email address is fake, the organisation will not be able to communicate again with the visitor.
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A more effective way is to verify the email address given, and make it explicit that the link to the download will only be provided in the email the visitor receives upon confirming their subscription.
In this way, the individual has an incentive both to register and to provide a genuine email address.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.