My favorite author just announced me as his co-author! Okay, he didn’t really mean it and he’ll say the same about you, but what a brilliant way to earn a subscription to your emails – assuming, of course, you keep permission in mind.

Donald Miller’s co-author game gives the email marketing sign-up process a creative twist. Its format is likely to attract a flood of participants. And yes, it indicates my interest in his brand.

But it never once hints that I’m opting into his campaign. So although I like his emails and am pleased to have found them, I am annoyed that I wasn’t offered a choice.

The steps of the sign-up game are laid out below. Scroll down to marvel at how brilliantly it attracts subscribers. Then note how to improve this process in your own campaign by adding the most critical element of all: permission.

Step 1: Tweet the Bait

A few keystrokes in exchange for fame and glory – who can resist this offer? It’s fun, it lets people celebrate themselves and it’s sharable by nature.

It’s brilliantly attractive to fans of Donald Miller, which is ideal, since they’re the most likely audience to enjoy and engage with his email campaign.

Step 2: A Creative Sign-Up…Wait…a What?

This form invites participants into a fantasy role that they can show off to their contacts. It’s fun, but there’s no indication that this is an email sign-up form.

All that’s needed is a note that tells me I’ll now be receiving emails from Donald Miller. Then I can make an informed choice of whether or not to continue.

Step 3: Not Your Average Thank – You Page

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a thank-you page. It’s a very creative use of a tool every opt-in campaign has, and it’s likely to get a high response. Talk about incentive! Participants are now on the lookout for this email.

But this thank-you page only tells me to expect one email. That’s not what I ended up with…

Step 4: Is This a Confirmation Message?

I know to expect this email, so I’m glad to see it. It links me to the final part of the game, which motivates me to click the link.

In permission-based campaigns, though, this would be known as a confirmation email. Clicking the link would confirm my interest in receiving further emails. If that’s what happened here, I would have liked to have been told.

Step 5: Fantastic Engagement, No Confirmation

This is a nice delivery of the page I originally signed up for. I’m pleased with Donald Miller and pleased with this process – that is, until…

Step 6: The Promotional Emails Begin

I know I played the Donald Miller game, but I also know I never signed up for emails, so I’m a little surprised to find this in my inbox the next day.

I’m displeased that I was emailed without permission. I’m also interested in these tour dates. For me, the benefit of the email’s content outweighs my chagrin that my personal boundaries were crossed – at least for now – but others may not feel the same.

The Lesson

Someone who is pleased to get these emails may not unsubscribe now. But they also probably would have checked a box to opt in in the first place, especially if Donald Miller’s emails bring this same playful voice and level of fun.

Someone who wouldn’t have checked that box in the first place probably still doesn’t want these emails, especially since they arrived without any sort of request for permission. These people are likely to unsubscribe or remain as disengaged dead weight.

Even worse, some people who might have knowingly opted in to these emails may now be annoyed enough to mark them as spam or unsubscribe anyway.

So the lesson is this: fun and games can attract hordes of potential subscribers to your sign-up form. Once they get there, though, they’ll appreciate being told exactly what is happening – whether they want your emails or not.

And in the end, asking people to knowingly subscribe to your emails is the best way to build an engaged, long-term, appreciative list.

Tweet This