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7 Email Capture Questions to Ask Before Launching a Campaign [WITH TEMPLATE]

Email capture is vital to sustain online businesses. Today we are going to run through 7 questions to ask yourself before getting started. Luckily,launching a campaign on your website using Privy is pretty easy. In fact, it usually only takes a few minutes to get a good looking pop up up and running. But taking an extra breath to think through what you are trying to achieve can make a huge difference.  Our template is included at the bottom of this article!

Email Capture Questions to Ask Yourself

1. What is your goal?

This is probably the most important question because it is what you should be focused on in your copy, targeting, and design. Basically, you need to think about what metric you will use to say that the campaign was a success. A few options:

  • New subscribers: New contacts who have opted into your email list.
     
  • New sales:  People who have made their first purchase in part due to your campaign.
     
  • Leads: New contacts who are willing to take a phone call from one of your sales reps.
     
  • Traffic to key pages: New visitors to a key page on your website like a new product collection or featured case study.

2.  Who is your audience?

This question is really asking who you hope to influence with your on-site displays. Knowing who you want to reach will help dictate your audience targeting rules. For example:

  • First time visitors: People who have never visited your store before.
     
  • Returning visitors: People who have visited your site before but not made a purchase.
     
  • Active shoppers: People who have viewed multiple pages on your site but who have not checked out.
     
  • Paid traffic: People who have come to your site based on a paid advertisement.
     
  • High value shoppers: People who have over a certain dollar amount in their cart.
     
  • Abandoners: People who are showing signals indicating they are about to leave your site without signing up or making a purchase. Read the difference between cart abandonment vs checkout abandonment.

3. What is your offer?

Offering a site visitor something special in exchange for their email address makes it much easier to grow your list. But you don’t have to offer a discount, there are lots of options that we see work effectively. Here are some popup examples from customers.

  • Discount: Provide a discount code that gives each shopper a certain percentage off their next purchase.
     
  • Free Shipping: Waive your shipping fees on purchases over a certain amount.
     
  • Unique Content: Offer an exclusive video, guide, or case study.
     
  • Free gift with purchase: Include something special with a purchase for people who have joined your list.
     
  • Sweepstakes: Enter everyone who signs up into a contest to win an awesome prize.

4. Where do you want your campaign to show?

Ideally you are only showing your pop up or other displays on the most relevant pages of your website.

  • Specific pages: Which pages are most relevant for your offer? For example, is it a home page only pop up or something that belongs on specific product pages?
     
  • Device type: Is your display going to show on mobile devices? Desktop? Both? (We recommend creating mobile-specific displays whenever possible.)

5. How should it look?

We have a bunch of pre-designed templates you can start from, but changing the colors and images to your reflect your business will make it more compelling to your target audience.

  • Brand colors: Do you know the RGB codes for the main colors on your site? If so, use them! If not, stick to basic colors that won’t clash.
     
  • Logo: Is a high resolution version of your logo handy? Does it need to be in your displays or is it already very prominent on your website? Using a high quality version of your logo will make it clear that your display is not some third party ad and is a part of the website they are visiting.
     
  • Device-specific design: Are your copy and CTAs short and clear enough to be consumed on the device types you’re targeting? Put yourself in your visitors’ shoes and make sure your display is easy to read, understand, and act on.

6. Do you want to send an autoresponder?

This is a trick question. You should always be sending an autoresponder email to people who sign up on your website. The question is really how will you send it.

  • With Privy: Within each campaign you can create an email that matches your branding and is automatically sent to anyone who signs up. See more about Privy Email Marketing.
     
  • With your other ESP: If you’re using another email service, you should be able to send an automated email any time a new contact is added to your list.

7. How long should your campaign run?

While you should always have some sort of welcome and exit message running on your site, some offers may have a shorter life span. For example, you may want to run campaigns with limited time discounts and timely content for just a few weeks instead of a “set it and forget it.”

Email Capture Summary

Taking a few minutes to plan out each of your Privy campaigns can set you up for success. We’ve even turned this into a simple worksheet you can use on your own. Good luck with your planning!

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Written by Josh Mendelsohn

Josh brings his marketing chops and lifelong passion for jam bands, craft beer, and SMBs to the team at Privy. Having spent time working at SMB and ecommerce leaders like Constant Contact and Salsify, he has a deep understanding of how to help small and medium sized ecommerce businesses be all that they can be. In addition to leading Privy's marketing team, Josh spends too much of his time managing his pug Marvin's instagram account.

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