Webmaster Column - Office News - No 4: Mailing List Subscription Integration
The Webmaster Serie
Hello
The arrival of Spring brought a lot of administrative and technological changes for W+M Services. A new www.web-plus-marketing.com domain, moving the material to a new website hosted on the Squarespace platform, and redistributing the content on social media. And yes, since March 13, 2024, you no longer read the articles of this blog from the jeffmaheux.com domain, since it is my personal site. The content of the W+M Services agency now has its own website, with the aim of putting an online email subscription system. Here is the webmaster column of the month: the integration of the subscription form to a mailing list.
Note: the column on site transfer will be posted online in May, to go with the topic of the month : Website Platforms. Sign up to receive it by email ;)
The webmaster column on the management of websites on a daily basis, Office News, presents: 2024-04, integrating a subscription e-mail system.
Integration of subscription to a mailing list
I've been finding it difficult over the past few years with business pages and accounts to reach followers on social media. We don't always want to set budgets for each post to reach the followers of our accounts, often reserving budgets to find new members and prospects via ads.
Although I personally find receiving too many emails and spam of all kinds, I made the decision to integrate a free mailing subscription to allow W+M visitors receiving future blog posts by email, rather than following the social media to keep up to date with new posts.
Responsibilities for data collection
In a business project, the first perception of customer data, whether it's a database of prospects we start using an application or putting a contact form online on a web page or integrating an automatic email-subscription form for a mailing list, there are certain responsibilities and legal information to disclose.
If you are put your first visitor data collection system, in terms of privacy, liability disclosure guidelines and other legal details, I just wrote this article to help you: Web Policies - Part 2 - Mailing and Form.
Once your policies page is online, I invite you to embed the link in the subscription form you are going to program. Here's an example:
The choice of the sending system
I researched several options and read a lot of comments and reviews about several distribution systems. The most popular is MailChimp, which offers the free option to start a mailing list of less than 500 subscribers. No matter which system you choose, they all seem good and have their pros and cons, the choice will be in terms of prices and options.
For W+M, since there is a database for French-speaking readers and a second for English-speaking readers, I decided instead to use the integrated subscription system of the website's hosting platform, for an additional cost of the package of about fifteen dollars per month.
I suggest, before choosing the sending platform, we consider the type and number of communications to be sent, and the time it takes to program and schedule these communications. For example, for W+M, which sends articles by email in two languages, there is the option to automatically send from my website platform each article at the time of publication and share it on social. This $15 investment is saved in labor; rather than using Mailchimp's free system, for example, which requires me to do programming. However, the company produces a publication every 10 days. It's not an e-commerce or newspaper of multiple daily publications asking for an html page, or an email summary, to be scheduled every day. Imagine receiving an email every time an item is programmed in a web store, we're all going to go crazy. Sending automated scheduling is not recommended in these cases.
A Subscription System is an investment
The decision to use an email delivery app, programmable or automated, is unique to each business.
Although subscribing option requires responsibilities that may seem complicated without explanation, the whole thing is quite simple and will be profitable. It is important to have a contact link with a regular customer base via the email subscription. The goal is a bit like social media management, to establish and keep the habit of producing good content.
Programing the registration form
When we program the sign-up form, subscription confirmation messages, and email templates, it's important to think about branding. Let's take the time to put our logos, colors and visuals in our communications, so that we will be recognizable. Visual memory is important in branding.
In terms of programming the subscription form on the website, after a search, it seems, and I agree, the ideal location for a sign-up form to a mailing list is in the footer of the website. This means the programming block is visible on every page of the website.
A subscription web page
I do, however, like to create a dedicated subscription page on the sites I manage and then use the link from that page in ads and social media to encourage subscription.
I also like to add a tab in the top section of the website. The subscription option can therefore be found at the top and bottom of every page of the website. (Scrolling through your image now, you will see at the top of the page the E-MAG button that leads to the subscription page; at the bottom of the page the sign-up boxes for the subscription of each blog.)
Other Spotlight for your subscription announcement
I'm making a list of places where it's good to put a subscription promo:
As a pop-up message on your website.
In a pinned banner and in the information section of your social media.
Every email signature of your employees.
QR code on your print and visual campaign materials (poster, counter poster, physical or virtual ads, and employee t-shirts).
Every administrative message, purchase confirmation, automatic email response, and even answering machine.
Add a checkbox in question to your contact forms and contracts: Would you like to add your email to the mailing list?
Monthly Partner Advertising
Hey Marketers,
Did you find this Orange Guy in the head picture of this article?
Yep! Look carefully to find all Color Fruit Family members in the Office News Chronicles.
Conclusion
Regardless of the distribution system you choose and the way you use your mailing database, I wish you the best of luck in your communications distribution starts.
For the experts, feel free to comment on the article to guide us. For my part, I am continuing the integration of the W+M subscription and the promotional campaign should start around mid-April, the time to complete the W+M logo. Do you like the new raspberry color of the top bar of the website? It's my favorite color!
Let's talk soon,
Jeff
Cr Images: W+M Services
Music Theme: Florinda by JM Musique
Production: W+M Services
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I edit the content of existing sites via CMS in addition to creating sites with WordPress and Squarespace. I have been producing website content as a webmaster since 1998.
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Although I know programming for website building, I delegate programming tasks to a senior level by intermediary internal department to ensure a better price for my clients.
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