I’m not going to answer the question–I’m asking you.
At WGU, we use a pretty robust Request Info page that asks for full name, address, phone number, email address, etc. On most retail sites, I only see an email address asked for. It’s not really a page, more of a pop-up window-type placement that grabs that little bit of information.
I’m not sure why most retailers have limited themselves to this. But I guess it boils down to this:
Quantity vs. Quality
This sort of balancing act confuses me. Maybe I’m weird in that I’d prefer to ask for more information and get better leads, than just getting the leads in the door and hoping that they are intrigued enough to act. I know there’s a risk of losing the lead when you ask for too much. My counterargument would be that some of the best emails I’ve received are the ones that have a sort of localization to it. Here’s a great example:
The subject line here is: “New this week: Check out the deals at your Riverdale Target store.” That’s the store down the street from me. That’s incredible. That’s local. Granted, they wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t purchased something online, but the point is you can use that demographic information extremely well provided you have it.
In email marketing, the ultimate answer to anything is “It depends.” In terms of how many questions to ask and what information to gather on Request Info pages, I’m sure it’s the same way.
So I’m wondering what sorts of different success folks have had with Request Info pages. Let me know what works, what hasn’t, what industry you’re in, etc.
I’d be very interested to know.
