In email marketing the customer relationship usually starts with a prospect filling out a newsletter subscription form.

Many businesses, however, still do not pay the necessary attention to precisely this important aspect, although the application rate can often be increased just by making a few small changes.

The most important aspects for the optimal structure of application forms are:

1. Place the newsletter registration form as eye-catching as possible in your website. If possible, the form should be an integral part of the page layout (i.e. below the navigation).
2. Describe the newsletter in two to three sentences: why should the interested party subscribe to the newsletter? what advantages does a subscription bring? how often is the newsletter sent out?
3. Put a link to the current edition of the newsletter, because prospects usually want to know what they should subscribe for.
4. Clearly declare that you are not dealing with email addresses - independent from the specific link to your Privacy Policy.
5. Avoid terms such as "order" or "subscribe", instead speak of the fact that the prospect will receive interesting information "for free" in future.
6. Pay special attention to the submit button at the bottom of the form. A text like "free entry", "OK" or "Go" is more inviting to click rather than a terrifying "Order!"
7. Keep the registration form as short as possible. Initially you should just ask for their email address, as more data can be collected at a later date. (Note: In any case, it should be possible to receive the newsletter on an anonymous basis as well, so actually only the form field for the email address has to be a mandatory field - keyword "data economy").
8. Two-stage forms can indeed be a very effective method: first ask for the email address and only in the second stage for additional data, as many prospects are willing to provide more information after the initial hurdle.

By Daniela La Marca