MarketingSherpa surveyed 1,000 email marketers about what information they collect with opt-in forms and how they subsequently use it.
A guiding principle in designing opt-in forms is that less is better when it comes to data collection. The more fields you require your subscriber to fill in, the more “friction” (resistance) you create in the user’s mind.
I have seen some truly challenging opt-in forms where the merchant’s completely over estimated their user’s interest or desire for whatever incentive is being offered. If truly stubborn, merchants will even turn a blind eye to analytics. “A 1 in a 1,000 opt-in rate isn’t so bad, is it?”
From my experience, 5 or 6 fields is the upper limit in terms of what you can ask for, unless you have a really great incentive. Coincidentally, that number range corresponds exactly with how many qualifying questions a prospect will tolerate in a telemarketing cold call unless they are really interested in what you’re calling about.
Beyond email and contact name, I think most of the data collected in the above chart has more to do with analyzing visitor demographics or feeding other marketing channels. Unless I’m sending some sort of a formal announcement, I just don’t see including the subscriber’s company name, title, mailing information or telephone number in an email as a way to foster warmth (personalization).
