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Increase Your Opt-in Rate By 5-8% Instantly

by JP Wilson
33 replies
If you've been paying attention to what a lot of the top guys in the industry are doing these days, you may have noticed that quite a few of them --including guys like Walker, Kern, & Reese-- are removing a key component of their opt-in/squeeze pages that they used to rely very heavily on.

When I kept seeing this happen over and over again by intelligent, high-level marketers, I realized that it wasn't just the result of someone simply trying to make a "fashion statement" by going against the grain just for the sake of it. But rather, the decision was based on months of testing and consideration of all of the pros and cons involved. I finally stumbled upon a video by Ryan Deiss that confirmed my suspicions and gave real, solid proof and justifications for him joining the bandwagon, making the change to his sites, and therefore being rewarded with instant opt-in increases of 5-8%. Kern also made a vid, but this one's a little bit more detailed... and still only 5 mins brief.

Hope you find it useful.

#58% #increase #instantly #optin #page not found #rate
  • Profile picture of the author Desmond Ong
    Agreed. My conversion increased by 12% ever since I stopped asking for name in my health business.

    I actually saw all the gurus doing it, so I do the same.
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  • Profile picture of the author Charlie Parker
    One of my niche sites has a drop in box asking for the opt in, I've been split testing just asking for the email vs asking for both name and email and after over 2000 submissions the name and email form wins by a margin of 1.5%.

    Not much of a difference but it goes to show you should always do your own testing.
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    • Profile picture of the author jasondinner
      Originally Posted by Charlie Parker View Post

      One of my niche sites has a drop in box asking for the opt in, I've been split testing just asking for the email vs asking for both name and email and after over 2000 submissions the name and email form wins by a margin of 1.5%.

      Not much of a difference but it goes to show you should always do your own testing.
      Couldn't agree with you more.

      What I've been noticing is a bunch of people "blindly" using these recommended "Add To Cart" buttons and ditching the name field on the optin box just because someone else had
      a certain result in THEIR business.

      Sure, use them, but test for yourself.

      You may find that using that button on YOUR particular site may hurt your conversions.

      Just because it increases someone else's conversions doesn't automatically
      mean it will do the same for you.

      Those guys are brilliant though (Ryan Deiss and Perry Belcher)

      They are mad testers.
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      • Profile picture of the author Easy Cash
        Originally Posted by jasondinner View Post

        Couldn't agree with you more.

        What I've been noticing is a bunch of people "blindly" using these recommended "Add To Cart" buttons and ditching the name field on the optin box just because someone else had
        a certain result in THEIR business.

        Sure, use them, but test for yourself.

        You may find that using that button on YOUR particular site may hurt your conversions.

        Just because it increases someone else's conversions doesn't automatically
        mean it will do the same for you.

        Those guys are brilliant though (Ryan Deiss and Perry Belcher)

        They are mad testers.
        Great comment.

        It pays to check for sure.

        The worst thing you can do is - simply listen and apply someone else's idea without testing.
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        • Profile picture of the author tdj
          I still like the idea that follow ups can be personalized. Not sure if anyone here has split tested the same offer with a name and without adding a name in the e-mail.

          Todd
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  • Profile picture of the author ebizman87
    How would you do that if your're using Getresponse to capture emails?
    I tried to remove the "name" section but can't..
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    Is this for real?
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  • Profile picture of the author mefein2303
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author JP Wilson
      Glad it could be helpful. Charlie I completely agree with you bro. This particular tweak has worked well for me, however, I have had times where the advice of other marketers, although given with the best of intentions, turned out not to be the best advice for my biz. This has been the case with me particularly with headlines. It all depends on your market and/or the nature of your offer. Nobody should ever take something at face value. Try it, test it, and if it works for you then so be it. If not, well, at least you were thorough.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony M.
    I am split testing this right now ! Will report asap on the results.
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  • Profile picture of the author AlexKaplo
    Good info, I'll have to try this one!

    Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author epik-marketing
    Thanks for posting this!! I will also run a split test as well and share results
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  • Profile picture of the author dhudiburg
    Thanks for sharing. Haven't tested this one myself, but it's next in the cue :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Clemons
    I have tested this myself, and my conclusion is this - wow, I should have just left the name field. The optin rate difference is hardly noticable, but it seems as if I get MORE response when the name field is used in the subject line.

    Please note, this is just MY experience with it. I'm sure some people may get a better result with only an email address form. just my $0.03
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  • Profile picture of the author ericjohnson1981
    Yes personalized follow ups is definitely the best way to increase conversions in my experience.
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  • Profile picture of the author Takuya Hikichi
    I have been using this myself after watching Ryan's video when he first posted a while back.

    I made the change a while ago so I can't remember exactly how much opt-in rate increased after, but I think it was something like 4-6%.

    In fact, the simpler opt-in page gets, it seems to increase opt-in rate.

    I have been testing it with three separate landing pages.

    Page #1 has about 120 words text, it converts at 13%
    Page #2 (pop hover) has only 11 words with email form and converts at 24%
    Page #3 has 22 words, converting at 18%

    So sometimes, the less is more. It's simple and very "zen".

    Thanks for the thread!
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Bartlett
    I think alot of what works is down to how its presented. I dont mind filling out 5 fields if I feel it is worth it and the information really is required. If I feel they are just collecting information I wont do it.

    Equally, if the offer isnt strong I wont put my email in, let alone email and name. I suppose in todays rushed society, just an email is quciker and therefore might provide a better % opt in but overall, I think name and email would work fine if its presented to the user in the right way. (Presentation is everything and I am not just talking about graphics, I mean HOW its presented)

    Saying this, nothing beats your own testing, what works for one niche/site/product doesnt neccessarily work for another
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony M.
    Okay... after 500 people visited the squeeze page...
    Name+Email gets 17.8% optin rate...
    Email only gets...


    ...
    drum roll...

    13.3 % !

    I'll wait a little more (till I reach 2000 visits or so) but I'm yet to be convinced by that trick.
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    • Profile picture of the author JP Wilson
      It's always interesting to see/hear about the results of other marketers when they adopt certain practices for their own businesses-building efforts. Clearly this particular strategy is something that has worked for some marketers but not others.

      Your results were very interesting tony. Equally interesting was the success that you had teamfire.

      I think that a lot of it has to do with the way the offer is presented.

      Frank kern, when he employs this strategy, gives a lead-in to an excellent piece of information and simply says something to the effect of (paraphrasing), "just tell me where to send it", essentially implying that he simply needs their email address so that he can send them their info. Now of course, that's what we're all trying to get across, but sometimes it's not an effective guise when you're also asking for the name.

      I'll be honest, on some of my sites, not only do I ask for the prospect's name but further custom data. I've even considered marketing through text messaging and asking for cell phone numbers... It's all a matter of how the offer is presented and who is presenting it. I would never want anyone to simply take the advice of the so called "gurus" at face value. But when the best in the business are making a significant paradigm shift, I think it's worth my while to at least give whatever it is they're doing some serious attention and consideration. Which, from what i've heard in this discussion, is something that I think we've all done.

      This has turned into an excellent thread with some interesting points and great feedback. Thank you all for participating.
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  • Profile picture of the author MyOnlineSuccess
    It definitely will increase optins, but it also increases dud subscribers and leads to lower conversions.

    If you look closer at what the "big gurus" do you will find that they usually only do this "email only" optin box with traffic that comes from email promotions from other marketers, so the traffic is already pre qualified.

    I would not recommend this with PPC traffic. In the end it's all about conversions and not subscribers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ron Herman
      I recently posted a squeeze page where I added a field for a telephone number, but I added that it was optional. So far about 75% of the optins put their telephone number in the field too.

      I am getting a good optin rate on the squeeze page, but then again I am saying "just enter your name below, then use your primary email address as your password for the download."
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony M.
    OK,
    400 conversions total on the split test, and my conversion rate drops from 19.2% to 17.6% when I remove the name field.

    I'm putting it back !

    @Ron Herman : I need to test this call to action !
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    • Profile picture of the author Ron Herman
      Originally Posted by Tony M. View Post

      OK,
      400 conversions total on the split test, and my conversion rate drops from 19.2% to 17.6% when I remove the name field.

      I'm putting it back !

      @Ron Herman : I need to test this call to action !

      Let me know how it works out for you please.
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      "Pros are not born, they are created. Every successful person
      I know has at least one coach or mentor who has guided their
      journey from amateur dabbler to expert-level pro..." ~ Ron Herman

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  • Profile picture of the author Tyrus Antas
    In some cases removing the name field might lead people to think the offer is less legitimate: "this guy only wants my email, must be a spammer!" which leads to lower conversions.

    Tyrus
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    • Profile picture of the author James Spinosa
      Originally Posted by Tyrus Antas View Post

      In some cases removing the name field might lead people to think the offer is less legitimate: "this guy only wants my email, must be a spammer!" which leads to lower conversions.

      Tyrus
      I ran across a marketer a few days back that had his opt-in page just looking for email and that got me a little skived myself. I would also miss looking through my opt-in lists and seeing all of the fake names
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  • Profile picture of the author kckaz
    Great thread. Ryan Deiss also has a website: 43 Split-Tests and Other Sneaky Marketing Tricks with other things to try.
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  • Profile picture of the author vistad
    I think most of us have gotten so used to seeing the name and email fields that anything else would stop us for more than a few seconds. I for one would certainly feel nervous.

    But the increases reported by some sites when the name field is removed needs to be examined once more.
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  • Profile picture of the author mmslax2
    I've tried split-testing and found that I have gotten neck n neck results. From my experience I've noticed if people don't want to truly give their name they will create a fake name.
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  • Profile picture of the author havefunandlive
    I hear a lot that taking out the name field increases results, but I can't figure out how to disable it on getresponse.

    Does Getresponse support no name field opt-in forms?
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  • Profile picture of the author MelanieandMiles
    Just beginning to develop an opt-in list... Thanks for the information. Going to put this into action from the get go!
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    • Profile picture of the author infopreneur
      On the other side of the coin...

      I have a site with a VERY wordy opt-in page (711 words) and the opt-in form requires name, e-mail address AND 7 other pieces of information.

      Converts at 35%.

      I have tested against a similar page requiring just name and e-mail address, and that page converted at less than 17%.

      So make sure you test a bunch of different versions! Don't just put up a video with an opt-in box and assume that is the best way to get optins...

      Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author rbthanders
    Can this be done with aweber? I hadn't noticed if it can . . .

    On the topic of personalized emails - If there's a really significant increase in opt-in conversions with just the email field I would think it's worth it.

    Personalization (and I haven't tested anything about this) could probably be done well enough just by writing "personal" emails.

    I also noticed this a while ago, and while alot of these guys are doing it, a few in particular are really good with writing "from a friend" type of emails. Even their subject lines are similar to the types of emails that would get forwarded to you from friends, co-workers, etc.

    I'd like to test running just the email field for myself though. Will post the results in a couple of different niches after I get some data.

    Rob
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  • Profile picture of the author Humphrey
    Thank you, an interesting proposition that helps reveal the psychology behind encouraging people to opt-in. As previous posts have stated, this may not be suitable for all sites/products, going to start testing asap.

    Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author jakesellers
    Personally I'd rather have a full demo submit that converts at 1% than an email submit that converts at 20%. More information about your prospects gives you more marketing options, more options gives you more opportunities to optimize.
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