Web forms working for you?

What do you do when a brand misses the mark on personalization? 42% of consumers in a recent study said they immediately unsubscribe if they receive an incorrect message.

Yikes.

That leaves us, email marketers, with only one option: double down on data. Because the better data we have, the better we're able to personalize messages with highly-relevant content that builds a relationship over time.?

Data can come from your integrations and IT team (please, please help us!) or...you could simply ask your subscribers to tell you.

That's right, this edition is all about the humble, absolutely critical web form.

— The Inbox team

Email forms are first-party data powerhouses

As privacy regulations continue to shift for digital marketers, the importance of (good) first-party data has never been so critical.

First-party data (n.): the data you collect directly from your customers and audiences via channels you own (transactions, website visits, web forms, etc.)?

With first-party data, your customers are giving you express permission to know more about them. That consent is incredibly powerful because that information is what your customer wants you to know about them. Use that data effectively and to your customers’ benefit. Take care to tailor product recommendations, offers, and email content.

Use web forms to strategically gather first-party data from your customers, but keep two things in mind:

• Tailor questions to your audience? First-party data is most effective when it’s specific. It’s unlikely that one set of questions will be relevant to your entire audience. To maximize how much quality data you gather and how many people engage your question list shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all, but deployed across segments.?
• Only ask for new information? Avoid repeating form fields like requesting multiple email addresses or asking questions that are too closely related. And, if you can help it, avoid asking questions for information you already have, like a contact’s phone number, age range, or email preferences.

For all your questions about establishing a first-party data strategy, check out this article from Litmus, Email: The Perfect Place for Building First-Party Data.

Embedding interactive forms in email: why you should think twice

Yes, you can embed a web form directly inside your email body instead of just linking to a landing page. Logically, that would make it easier for subscribers to fill out your form, so why isn’t everyone doing it?

#1 - Email clients are inconsistent? Formatting and functionality will vary between email clients. Even the big guys like Gmail IOS or the Apple Mail app don’t support embedded forms. That means you’d be taking a gamble sending out an embedded form unless you’re confident all your subscribers are desktop users.

#2 - You’ll risk a security warning? Even if your message gets to your recipient and your embedded form functions as it should, when they hit “Submit” some email clients will display a pop-up security warning. Doesn’t inspire confidence, does it??

The safest and most reliable solution is linking to a web form on a landing page rather than embedding it.

Accounting for all the potential pitfalls of email clients, more of your subscribers will be able to see it and use it—meaning overall participation will increase.

If you’re determined, check out this article from Litmus to see a REALLY good chart on which mail clients do support embedded forms (scroll down a few times) and how to make one.

How to boost your engagement with web forms

If you’re linking to a web form from your email, the first step is to compel your subscribers to click a link. That requires two things: a clear CTA and a reason to care (what’s in it for me?).

Make your CTA bold either as a visual button or as bolded text in a plain-text email. First-person CTA text tends to result in a higher CTR. More importantly, give your audience a reason to fill out a form. Maybe it’ll be educational or entertaining, or maybe you’re offering a sweet incentive.

Ok, so you’ve secured a click. How do you make your web form as successful as possible?

• Keep it simple? You probably don’t want to fill in a form with 20 fields just to get access to an ebook. Make sure the payoff (your incentive or offer) outweighs the effort required to submit a form.
• Check your systems? Where is all your form data going? You want an automation that sends form submissions to your email service provider. You’ll have organized data on which contacts engaged, who filled out the form, and what their responses were—all in one place.
• What happens next?? Be clear about what happens after submission. If a subscriber has signed up for a demo, will they receive a link to schedule it? Will someone call them? Eliminate the ambiguity!

Read Mailmodo’s full blog post to get all the insider tips on maximizing your email forms for more data efficiency, more conversions, and better product development.

Is Gmail shutting down?

A fake email screenshot posted to X (Twitter) revealed plans that Google was going to sunset Gmail in 2024. That single tweet rocked the internet and sent some of us spiraling (shout out to the email marketers who went panic mode).

Google quickly stepped in and assured us that its 2 billion users weren’t going anywhere. All shockwaves aside, it was a great reminder for the world that we are all so very dependent on our emails. Get the full Gmail hoax breakdown from Forbes.

How to spot a bad apple (a brand that’s sold your email)

Have you ever handed over your email to a brand and noticed an uptick in spam? As email marketers, we love using forms to collect leads but as consumers, it’s a real pain in the a** when we can’t trust a company to handle our data securely.

Today’s tip is for you as an email receiver, not so much an email sender. Here’s how you can find out which brand dropped the ball on privacy:

#1 - Add a prefix to your address? Gmail allows you to add more text to your email using the + sign. [email protected] → [email protected]. Gmail ignores the plus sign and any text after it. Each time you hand out your email, change the ‘+’ text to something unique like [email protected].?

When unwanted emails start showing up, check the “Send to” field—whatever address was used will lead you right back to the brand that gave you away.

#2 - Dodge the problem? If all else fails (or you don’t have the energy to enter a unique email every time), create a secondary email address you only use for sign-ups, downloads, and purchases. Sure you might get spam, but at least it’s not in your main account.

#3 - Use InboxFlows? Create a free InboxFlows account and generate a new email address (or multiple!). You can sign up for as many email lists as you want, and they’ll never clutter your personal inbox. Use InboxFlows in tandem with tip no. 1 if you don’t want to keep track of all your addresses and check multiple accounts.?

Find more ways to protect your inbox from unwanted senders—and what to do once you catch a brand that’s sold your email—in this blog post from Make Use Of.

You’re in top form old chap

Ok yes, you got us, this isn’t a traditional form…but hear us out. If you can’t shake the idea of being able to embed a form in your email, we’d like to present you with the next best thing.?

This is a smart take on an interactive quiz using simple skills every email marketer can master—three CTA buttons, directing subscribers to three different pages. With each click, you’ll gather information from each subscriber on their preferences, just like you would with a form.?

You’ll capture that information on the spot, so it delivers the instant validation of an embedded form, but you won’t have to risk all the downsides of embedding a form in your emails.

Was one of your recent campaigns a hit? Forward it to [email protected] – we’d love to feature it.