I was watching the news today and one of the stories focused on what is a really amazing email marketing list building idea. Obama is going to announce by email or text message who his VP candidate choice is going to be first.
I had to find out more. When I went to Barack's site I was pleasantly shocked: I found that his entire home page was replaced with an email sign up form "Be The First To Know".
On the page that displays after you sign up with your email address, you're asked to tell a friend. On top of that when you text them to be added to the text list you're asked to "please forward". Great viral components. (Is "viral" still the term these days?) Frankly, I think they are doing a great job using every opportunity they come in contact to get voters to promote them.
How can you use this in your business? Here's an idea to test: when someone comes to your website display a splash page with an email newsletter sign up form. It would be even better if you had something great you're going to announce and like Obama, you give them the opportunity to get the news first. Make sure you also include a "Skip This Page To Go Directly To The Store" link so you don't lose or annoy anyone. Do it for a few days and see if it has an affect on sales or your list size.
If this is too crazy of an idea for your business then you might want to keep your home page and apply this test when your visitor clicks to a sub-page.
Here are other sites that are doing similar things: Wilson Web (stay on the page for 5 seconds) and MarketingSherpa.
If you're doing this with success, let us know!
Hey! That is so good. This confirms what I always believe, that a succesfull political campagin is perfect case study for a marketing success!
Posted by: EBUN AKINKUNMI | August 13, 2008 at 01:29 AM
Does anyone know how to make the pop-up that comes up on MarketingSherpa.com?
Posted by: Peter | August 12, 2008 at 06:04 PM
Why doesn't VR do text message alerts?
Posted by: Jared Fox | August 12, 2008 at 02:58 PM
We've been tracking how the Obama campaign has been using social media, and the lessons small business people can learn from what they're doing. This is just another great lesson that small business folks can put into play for themselves.
Our latest podcast is on the tips we as small business folks can pick up and use from how he announced this latest move via Twitter. It can be heard at http://www.barack20.com.
Thanks for pointing this out!
Posted by: Brent Leary | August 12, 2008 at 12:34 PM