In a “tip of the iceberg” research study, we tested the homepage email signup process of more than 160 B2C brands, including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, and nonprofits. For most brands, this is their best source of high-quality subscribers, so the breakdowns and delays that we discovered there are likely an indication of more troubles beneath the surface—and untapped opportunities to improve list growth.

1. B2C brands where email opt-in was not honored
Brands’ websites are consistently the best source of
high-quality email subscribers, so these breakdowns
are extremely costly.
The Need for Signup Audits
15%
11%
B2C brands where email opt-in
wasn’t honored until 2+ weeks post signup
Subscribers are most active in the weeks immediately
after opting in, so these delays squander a significant
amount of subscriber lifetime value.
OPT-IN FAILED
27% 20%
OPT-IN DELAYED
OPT-IN FAILED
9% 6%
OPT-IN DELAYED
OPT-IN FAILED
0% 0%
Sending a Series of
Welcome Emails
None of the brands from which we
received a series of welcome emails
suffered opt-in breakdowns or delays,
although it’s possible some of the brands
experienced opt-in breakdowns before
a welcome series could be triggered.
OPT-IN DELAYED
The high level of signup breakdowns and delays speaks to a need to
do more subscription process audits, which have become more complex
in recent years thanks to...
Platform Proliferation
More devices, more operating systems, and more browsers mean more
combinations to check, since they all don’t behave the same way.
Acquisition Source Proliferation
Email signups can occur via:
Website homepage Website checkout Store checkout
Call center Facebook page SMS program
Mobile app List rental QR codes
And that’s not even an exhaustive list. With so many places to subscribe,
track your subscribers by acquisition source to uncover signup issues.
Bonus: You’ll also see which sources are valuable and which are not.
If you haven’t done an acquisition source audit recently, it’s probably
time to do one as you could be unknowingly losing valuable subscribers.
Sources: All data based on signup experiences
with 163 B2C brands during the first quarter of 2013,
using anonymous email accounts.
Using Confirmed Opt-In (COI)
Opt-in breakdowns and delays were
81% more common among brands
that used a confirmed opt-in process
where consumers confirm their
subscription by clicking on a link in an
email sent to them.
Sending a Welcome Email
Opt-in breakdowns and delays were
40% less common among the
brands from which we received at least
one welcome email.
List and email revenue growth are being hampered by opt-in breakdowns and delays.
More than a quarter of all email signups that occur via the homepages of major brands are
not honored or experience significant delays in being honored. Check out the stats below
based on new ExactTarget research involving more than 160 B2C brands—including
retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, and nonprofits—and find out
how to improve list growth through better signup practices and process audits.
How do these practices correlate with signup breakdowns and delays?
Audit Imperative