Send a sign-up link to people who are already signed up?

Now why would we waste valuable email space with a sign-up link, when the people getting our emails (obviously) have already signed up?

Most senders don’t bother: Chad White recently reviewed unsubscribe practices among top retailers and found only 18% included a “subscribe” link in their emails.

There are two main reasons for adding such a link to your email template.

First, people forward and share your emails with others. Others who are not on your list.

Seeing your wonderful offer or content, they want to sign-up themselves. Seize the moment by including an appropriate link in the very email they’re viewing.

Second, people may unsubscribe from your list, then want to resubscribe later when their circumstances or interests change appropriately. They may dig out an old copy of your newsletter to find out where to sign-up.

This is how MarketingSherpa does it:

sign-up in email reminder

Now, the skeptical among you will ask why they can’t simply go to your website and find a sign-up form themselves. Well…

1. The more you make people work to find something, the less likely they are to do so.

2. Not every homepage has an obvious sign-up form or link (another issue).

Excerpted from Email Marketing Reports