We all know the drill; you go to a website because you are thinking about buying a new TV, a shiny pair of shoes or find out about the next festival coming to a wet park near you and what do you find? A ‘Sign up to our newsletter’ form.

So what would make you want to sign up? Do you really care what new things are happening inside your website of choice? Chances are you do a little; otherwise you wouldn’t be on the site.  For online marketers it’s turning that interest into a potential customer that’s the trick to successful online sales. Here are some useful tips:

•    Keep it punchy.  If you want to gather a lot of information then split it into a two page sign up.

•    Incentivise it.  Don’t just state ‘Sign up to our newsletter.’ Think about their motivation.  If the newsletter is purely for information then a more powerful message might be: ‘Be the first to know about recent developments at xxx.’ Or, if you are selling, then ‘Sign up for some awesome offers.’

•    Remember to put the sign up form on every page of your website.

It’s the simple things that can make a massive difference with email marketing solutions and by applying these effective changes to your sign up process not only will you gain more email addresses, but you will also find your customers more willing to give you that precious information allowing you to segment your data effectively.

And we all know what lots of detailed segmented data means – effective marketing campaigns.