Getting the Right Email Address
 By Mark Brownlow, owner, Email Marketing Reports Website

A recent end-user survey by ContactLab found that over 60% of respondents had at least two email accounts.

Which one are they using to get your emails?

It's an important question because not all email addresses are created equal, even when the owner is the same person.

Some accounts are checked less often than others. Some are relatively free of clutter. Some contain so much commercial email that your message disappears into a black hole of unresponsiveness.

So, how might you persuade would-be subscribers to give you the address they pay most attention to?

Build trust and value before they subscribe
One answer lies in understanding why people have multiple addresses. The same end-user survey reveals, for example, that two such reasons are:

1. "I use some accounts to receive emails that are of no or little interest to me."
2. "I use some accounts without my real name to protect my anonymity."

Clearly, anything you can do to build trust and highlight the benefits of a subscription is going to help persuade the would-be subscriber to give you their "best" email address.

Trust and value are heavily influenced by previous experiences with your Website or organization. But your sign-up copy is also important. The posts 22 ways to build trust and Best practices for sign-up forms have relevant advice, but you might, for example...

• Post up samples of your previous emails (pick out the ones that triggered the most interest).
• Display testimonials from happy subscribers.
• Give control to the subscriber. For example, give them a preference center so they can choose the kind of content you send them.
• Solicit subscriber information on a voluntary basis: require very basic information for the initial opt-in, then give people the opportunity to reveal more information only if they want.
• Keep to high permission standards: make the opt-in very clear...no misleading text or pre-checked boxes.
• Set content and frequency expectations: make it clear what they're going to get and how often.
• Provide obvious access to clear privacy information.

• If a Webmail address is the user's main address, it will likely remain valid for a long time. "Work" addresses can die as people shift jobs.
• Major Webmail services offer users far more email storage space than typical corporate mail accounts.
• Major ISPs and Webmail services usually cooperate with one or more email certification services and offer feedback loops so you can monitor spam complaints. Deliverability management can be harder for work domains, since you can never know exactly what systems are processing your emails.
• However, a greater number of independent domains on your list can spread the deliverability risk. If a significant proportion of your list is at one email address service, then a deliverability issue there hits you hard.
• Webmail addresses are likely to be accessed throughout the week and day, perhaps with a bias to evenings and weekends, but may also only be checked infrequently. A "work" domain is likely to get checked more often during the working week from a working environment.
• A Webmail or ISP address rarely provides any insight on the origin or location of the subscriber. A "work" domain offers clues to the subscriber's organization and identity.

• Submit your work email address.
• Enter your main email address.