Dishing on the Newsletter Sign-up Marketing Ploy

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Sound familiar? It’s a safe bet that you’ve encountered a similar request online at some point. To enter a contest, register for a webinar or other event, or even just to gather some research information, you often must “enter your email address” AND “you will receive our newsletter.”

I completely understand the marketing ploy behind this irritating request. But if you’re like me, chances are you already receive their newsletter, which is how you learned of the event or intriguing opportunity.

Entering your email address to validate the entry or registration is a necessary evil; and I’ll bet your next thought is, “I already receive their newsletter; if I do this I wonder if I’ll receive multiple issues?” (And you may not even want the one you currently receive).

Of the hundreds to thousands of opportunities encountered over my many years online, if I’d been keeping track, most likely a count of less than ten, provided the option to check “I already receive your newsletter.”

I know that technically speaking it’s a simple matter to add another choice to their query responses – and even if their system discards duplicates, WHY don’t they provide this information as a courtesy to ease our inquiring minds?

When the system is sophisticated, a reassuring note could state, “If you already receive our newsletter, thank you! You will not receive duplicate issues.” That would settle the matter and decrease our level of irritability. (Heaven knows the Internet gives us enough frustrations without one that could easily be remedied.)

If their response system is not capable of discarding multiples, then again, an option that allows you to check “I already receive your newsletter” would probably capture those who don’t want to take the chance of receiving yet a duplicate e-publication subscription.

I cannot begin to count how many times I’ve opted against entering my email address yet again for a company – regardless of what fantastic promised goodies await me if I do – in order to avoid the possibility of multiple subscriptions. Junk mail can’t be deleted fast enough to keep my Outlook clean as it is.

So dear marketers, think about it. Next time you run a promotional campaign, extend an intelligent courtesy and give us the option to advise you that we already receive your newsletter (and actually that would be good information to accumulate, don’t you think?), but still want to participate in your promotion. While you’re at it, offer the golden option too: “No thank you, I prefer not to receive your newsletter at this time, but please accept my entry (or send the information, or allow the download).”

We’ll think more highly of you and may be more interested at a later date because you conduct your business with class.

Cheers!