Online marketing is all about creating an optin lists and finding new ways to keep building them. Designing an email marketing campaign that works effectively is the primary method. There are two sides to this – the actual campaign itself and the recipient’s experience of this strategy in terms of signing up. It is not unnatural for an affiliate marketer to focus on designing the email marketing process without paying enough attention to the optin sign up page and where the subscriber lands after the sign up. Here’s a look at these two aspects.

The Optin Sign Up Page

Optin list building basically implies that visitors to the website signed up voluntarily and have permitted the affiliate marketer to send them email messages. There are instances when the visitor to the website can go away without signing up due to some reason or other. Getting a visitor to sign up with the website can be maximized by following this checklist:

• The signing up process must be an easy one. Visitors should not have to search for the sign up page. The sign up should preferably be on the site’s home page.
• Having to fill up too much information can be quite off-putting for visitors. The initial sign up must be simple and ask for the minimum information.
• If visitors are forced to actually create an account before they can expect the newsletter from the website, they can get discouraged and wont sign up at all.
• Preferably only the name and email address must be asked for.
• It is better to inform up front about what the subscriber can expect in the emails they will receive.
• If information regarding the visitor’s specific interests is requested at the time of opting in, then these must be adhered to so that they only receive information they want.
• Any questions asked at the time of opting in must be relevant to the subscriber.

Where Does The Subscriber Go Via The Email?

Usually, an affiliate marketer who is getting started sets up a micro site, which is where the subscriber lands when they click a link in the email received by them. These micro sites must be designed well, so that subscribers are happy about signing up. These landing pages need not be of any specific size – it could be of a page or more than one page. In affiliate marketing, of a bigger priority than the size of the micro site is how the subscriber feels about it. Some tips on ensuring that email marketing campaigns and micro sites are well designed are:

• The email, which the subscriber receives, and the micro site where they land up must have the same tone so that there is continuity. The subscriber must be eager to know more as a result of the experience on the micro site.
• The subscriber must get the feeling of being treated specially since they have privileged access to a part of the website as a result of being a subscriber.
• The micro site must be personalized since there is no point sending a personalized email when the micro site is not. There is nothing more discouraging than receiving a friendly customized email only to reach a free-for-all web page which could have been done without bothering to sign up.
• Micro sites are usually set up for the duration of a special promotional offer. It can be quite annoying when subscribers save an email in their favorites with the intention of going back to it later, only to find a 404 error staring them in the face. It is therefore essential to make sure that the subscriber is redirected to an active micro site or at the very least, let them know what their options are.