Isn't It Time You Had a World-Class Preference Center?
Five tips to help you build a preference center that offers your subscribers the control they want and helps you deliver relevant, value-filled messages.
Five tips to help you build a preference center that offers your subscribers the control they want and helps you deliver relevant, value-filled messages.
B2B email marketers in the U.S. don’t have to ask permission to send an email message to a business contact as long as they allow that contact to unsubscribe. As a result, many marketers seem to bend over backwards rather than encourage someone to opt in to their email list.
However, those B2B marketers with opt-in lists have less attrition, stronger sender reputations, and better response rates.
Encouraging your contacts to opt in may seem counterintuitive if you are trying to build your list, but your goal is to focus on the quality of your subscribers rather than the quantity. Quality subscribers who want to receive your messages generate more high-quality leads.
The secret is to offer subscribers a preference center that allows them to control which of your messages they would like to receive. This week, I’ll focus on what it takes to create an effective preference center and the potential repercussions of not offering this benefit.
5 Tips to Get You Started
A preference center puts your subscribers in the driver’s seat when they are signing up to receive your communications or when they are deciding if they want to unsubscribe. But how do you know what information to ask for and what choices to offer to your subscribers?
The following tips will help you build a world-class preference center that offers your subscribers the control they want and gives you the information you need to deliver relevant, value-filled messages.
Asking for too much information before you have built a sufficient level of trust can result in a lost opportunity to obtain an email address. Let subscribers decide how much information they want to offer and when. You can always follow up later and request more details.
Collect only the information that helps you effectively deliver relevant content.
As you look at your email engagement metrics, you will often find that subscribers underestimate how often they find your messages valuable. That is, they might say they want to hear from you once a month, but they end up responding once a week.
Frequency caps often hem you in and can prevent you from sending a highly relevant massage that is triggered based on some click or browse behavior. Continually track your engagement metrics, and adjust your cadence accordingly, but don’t put this in your subscribers’ hands.
Don’t Fail to Act
Not building a preference center can have several possible implications for your program. The most crucial are these:
The Last Word
Make it easy for your subscribers to opt in and out through your email preference center, from your sales collateral, on your website, and through your email messages. Offer multiple category-based message choices for opt-in, and include prominent links to managing email preferences in all email communications.
Successfully building a world-class preference center that lets your subscribers choose their own content will lead to a quality list that, in turn, will yield higher-quality leads.