Sometimes there is a thin line between communicating two little and two much. Below, I will share to common situations online where this is particularly evident; with opt-in/confirmations and with newsletter lists.

 Opt-ins and confirmations

Nowadays we are used to getting some kind of confirmation when we sign up for a service, a newsletter or what it might be. An opt-in och something else.  we don’t get this confirmation, regardless of what it is for, many of us begins to question if we did it all right. Did I really order that service or not?

On the other hand, if there are to many steps, email we might refer to them as this time, we get annoyed. We feel “spammed.” For example, if you opt-ed in for a service and then receives a thank you email with no more useful information than that. This might be received a spam instead of the second confirmation that it was intended as. For some services it might be necessary to have a double opt-in, or some other type of double confirmation.

The suggestion here, seems to be, what ever confirmation/opt-in that brings some kind of value for the receiver is granted. Could be more security or a easier adaptation to the service.

Newsletter lists

From experience I rarely sign up for newsletters before I now what I will receive. For example a company who says “product info, new etc” but not gives any indication on how many times they send them, I would never accept. Mostly, because many companies seem to have problems with the “unsubscribe” button. The same goes for companies who offer a whole list of newsletters that they have for different subjects.

However, a few weeks ago, I tired one of those lists and signed up for a few newsletters that I found interesting. BIG MISTAKE! It turned out that each of the newsletters is delivered once or more per day, which was never said in the list. Which means that I now barley even check the box that they comes to, because I want to start reading but it is too overwhelming.

Conclusions

Ask your subscribers what they think works and don’t work with your communication. This way they will feel more included, and you limit the changes for you to be viewed as a spammer or that they feel like you fooled them. Be honest and share! But not to much ;)