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Half of my subscribers are not confirming their e-mail address

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by Michelle., Dec 6, 2009.

  1. #1
    actually more, maybe 60%. Is this normal, is there anything I can do about it? I've just checked one of my lists and it appears I have two active subscribers from about 100 hops, and 5 subscribers who did not confirm the link in the confirmation e-mail.

    I have their e-mail addresses so I was wondering if I should just send them the follow-up e-mail anyway?
     
    Michelle., Dec 6, 2009 IP
  2. smile633

    smile633 Peon

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    #2
    How about giving them an incentive to confirm their emails? Like a free video?
     
    smile633, Dec 6, 2009 IP
  3. GameFriends.com

    GameFriends.com Peon

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    #3
    People are typically lazy so smile633 brings up a great point...incentives, but if they don't confirm I would still send those emails out to them until they either block, confirm, or realize they gave a fake email.
     
    GameFriends.com, Dec 6, 2009 IP
  4. LiftBigEatBig

    LiftBigEatBig Well-Known Member

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    #4
    Make sure you let them know that they have to confirm their address. Also, like others mentioned, offer something free like an e-book or something!
     
    LiftBigEatBig, Dec 6, 2009 IP
  5. JamesKPowers

    JamesKPowers Peon

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    #5
    Hi,

    Make sure that you have a thank you page which reminds them they have to confirm their email address. You'll need to give them step-by-step instructions to do this and bribe them with some series of bonuses (with lots of real world value).

    Some people will have given you a fake address, so you will always have some degree of unconfirmation but your current rates are far to high!
     
    JamesKPowers, Dec 6, 2009 IP
  6. Michelle.

    Michelle. Peon

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    #6
    Thanks for your replies everyone. I think I may remind them they need to confirm their e-mail address if they wish to receive the link! perhaps I should I have that message on my website in bold. How hard is it to access their e-mail? Lazy sods!

    I already have this set up. As soon as they enter their e-mail address they get taken to a confirmation page asking that they activate their link which they receive in the e-mail shortly...
     
    Michelle., Dec 6, 2009 IP
  7. rukn2002

    rukn2002 Peon

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    #7
    you can remind them when they visit the site and also send mail to their account.
     
    rukn2002, Dec 6, 2009 IP
  8. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #8
    Yes, that is very normal.

    That is why you need to show them the info upfront, and then sell them after that.

    Are you doing a squeeze page? Those simply do not work.
     
    Perry Rose, Dec 7, 2009 IP
  9. Michelle.

    Michelle. Peon

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    #9
    Yeah I am. However all the information they need is on the sales page of the merchant's site surely? I'm trying out different methods at the moment. I'm going to test a landing page with an opt in and see what kind of results I get. Just waiting on lazy Ezine to get my articles approved.
     
    Michelle., Dec 7, 2009 IP
  10. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #10
    Yes, but there are a lot of lazy people out there. You have to start selling to them almost right away. ... Get them interested right then and there.

    And that's another thing squeeze pages cannot do.

    Yeah, I am afraid that testing is the only real way for you to find out on your own.

    Good luck with it.
     
    Perry Rose, Dec 7, 2009 IP
  11. Michelle.

    Michelle. Peon

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    #11
    thanks, so for example if I'm promoting fatloss4idiots and I write an article on how to lose weight, I then direct them to a landing page that pre sells the fatloss4idiots product but has an opt in form (with a freebie) so when they subscribe they get the freebie and then I try to market them the fatloss4idiots product as they have already seen the page so already have a bit of backround info and will be more inclined to buy..... is that what you mean?
     
    Michelle., Dec 7, 2009 IP
  12. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #12
    Oh, sorry, I didn't clearly understand that you are doing article marketing, that then takes your readers to a squeeze page. Oops, I wasn't paying much attention, sorry.

    Do you have a lot of, what looks like to be fake addresses? Like, say, ?

    There are a lot of idiots out there who like to play games, so....

    Also, I don't know why it is, but the lower class of potential customers go to article dumpers, like Ezine. It seems to draw them in, along with bored Internet surfers who click on links, just to click on them, especially when they are at work.

    Then many of them who go to your site are either half-interested or idiots who like to play games when sending you their e-mail address.

    Make sense?

    If you have ever noticed, experienced affiliate marketers do not mess with squeeze pages.

    They sell them, and then get them to buy, right then and there. "At the heat of the moment."

    I am not an affiliate marketer, but I sell my e-books and subscriptions by really selling to my visitors who click on my ads, and then going as far as putting the ordering form right underneath the free tips and sales pitch. I try to reel them in at the heat of the moment.

    I guess you are just going to have patience with those who do not confirm and concentrate on those who do.
     
    Perry Rose, Dec 7, 2009 IP
  13. Michelle.

    Michelle. Peon

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    #13
    No it's ok, my fault. I don't think I made it clear.

    I did think a few of the address looked a bit bizarre come to think of it! One of them was a gmail address and had spaces between the words. I didn't think you could create an e-mail with spaces! I got lucky actually and sent the e-mail to the addresses which hadn't ben confirmed anyway, and guess what? i made a sale, am I lucky or what, mind you I have no idea where it came from.... :D
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2009
    Michelle., Dec 8, 2009 IP
  14. Augra

    Augra Member

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    #14
    If you create a landing page, it should do one thing, not two. Either the landing page pre-sells and directs them straight to the site or you use it as an opt-in form.

    In my opinon, opt-in form is the better option for the long term.

    Make your landing page the place where they can get the freebie. Did the freebie come from Fatlossforidiots? They should have given you an ebook that could be rebranded with your affiliate link in it and a re-branding tool.

    That allows your visitor to download the free ebook for reading, but your affiliate link to the fatlossforidiots site would be in there, too, should they decide to join the site. (Cloak the link as well).

    If the freebie is not re-brandable, that's okay. At least you got people in your list. But don't just start promoting the site in the first email. You have to build the relationship.

    Say in the first email, for example, something like..."hope you found "whateverthefreebieiscalled" useful. I found that blah, blah, blah works better if you do, than what they say in the "freebie". (You know...something useful)."

    2nd email. similar thing.

    3rd email. This is where you promote the product.

    4th email. helpful tip.

    5th email. helpful tip.

    6th email. If you haven't checked out "fatloss for idiots", this can really ramp up your weightloss by...


    My other question is: are you giving people access to the freebie as soon as they stick there name and email in the opt-in form.

    For example, they stick name and email and voila freebie appears right in their face.

    If you do this, they will not have to confirm email. They got the freebie. So you would want to create a download page first. They have to confirm before they even get to the freebie.

    So it should go: opt-in, confirm email, download page appears with a "click this link to get your freebie", then freebie appears. You have list of names and can nurture relationship to promote.
     
    Augra, Dec 8, 2009 IP
  15. donluttrull

    donluttrull Peon

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    #15
    If they didn't confirm their email then you shouldn't email them until they do. Make sure that BEFORE they get anything whether it be a download, newsletter, tips, access to a site that they MUST first confirm.

    Usually even with this after they get what they want they will simply unsubscribe which is common BUT you will hold better retention.

    Are you sure your emails are going through correctly?
     
    donluttrull, Dec 8, 2009 IP
  16. PHPGator

    PHPGator Banned

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    #16
    Are they able to get anything without confirming? I've seen a handful of sites do this. For example, you require registration to get an ebook, but as soon as they type in their email you send them to the page where they can download it. There is no reason for them to confirm their email addresses.

    If you are enticing them and then they aren't following through, you should make sure there is little or no delay in when the email is sent to their email from the time they give it to you. The delay should only be caused by the mail servers, nothing more.
     
    PHPGator, Dec 8, 2009 IP
  17. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #17

    heh heh Over a year ago I experimented with having a newsletter. Many of the addresses I got were pretty screwy. It was obvious they would type anything in.

    Either they were fooling around out of boredom and or stupidity, or they didn't want to give their real address and was hoping they could get in to read more.

    The latter is usually the case. Even I do that because I do not want to give out my real address but I still want to get in.

    I never confirmed addresses. There was no reason to. I mean, why do it???
    I just sent them the info. If it reached them, great, if not, oh well.

    I no longer use newsletters, and that page, but every now and then somebody will find their way there, and they will fill out the form. To this day just about all of them have been fake addresses.

    So, I can feel ya here.

    You also may want to consider having a sales page along with an opt-in form. That way you can sell to the ones who do not like squeeze pages (and believe me, you will lose a lot of potential customers with those things because most people do not like them), but also collect addresses.

    Many super affiliates do this. They give their visitors a choice, not just one, where a visitor has to sign in, JUST to get into a site.

    A lot of people hate that. You made one sale from it, but think of how many more you lost.

    I don't bother with squeeze pages or collecting addresses, period. I give them samples, free tips on my sales page, and then ask them to buy. If they do not buy right then and there, the odds are that they will not buy later anyway, so....

    A lot to think about, huh? :D
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2009
    Perry Rose, Dec 8, 2009 IP
  18. Michelle.

    Michelle. Peon

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    #18
    sorry for re-digging but just wanted to post to say thank you for your replies and all the tips. I have taken on board everything. I guess the only way to know myself would be to test and see what works which is what I'm doing.
     
    Michelle., Dec 9, 2009 IP