Increase opt-ins by ditching the name field
13. Aug, 2008 
67 Comments
This is one of the more surprising tests I’ve done in quite a while:
I actually increased my opt-in rate 5 – 8% (depending on the site) just by removing the name field from my opt-in forms.
In the video above I show where I got the idea and my take on why it improves opt-ins. Oh yeah, and if you’re worried that ditching the name field will hurt your ability to personalize your emails, DON’T!!
In the video I also cover why that’s not a factor, and why NOT including a “Hi Name,” at the start of every email can actually make your mailings look MORE personalized.
Check out the video above for all the details, and be sure to post your comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and how it works for you in your business.
I thought that without the name in emails, CTR would drop just as much as the the decrease in optins with the name field and work out roughly the same but what you said is really interesting. I’m going to take a look at your 43 split tests product.
You could always grab that name from them later, whether it’s from a product purchase or just mass email and tell them to update their subscription.
Great stuff Ryan, thanks!
Dan
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Another great video, thanks for that!
I am proud to say that I instantly implemented your suggestion, and the webpage already looks cleaner, less pushy, and more inviting.
http://windowcleaningbusinesscoach.com/
Thx a bunch. Really appreciate it.
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its not surprising that reducing the humber of fields increases conversions. i’ll bet that most people will see the increase. again, no surprises there. someone’s first name can be used for personalization in many different places other than the start of an email. its true that Hi %fname% is not as effective as it used to be, but that points more to the way you use it and not simply the use of someone’s first name. fwiw, I would still collect first name. tons of ways you can use that bit of data. I would look more at why someone has so much anxiety over giving just their first name and address that. just like collecting cc number for free trial vs not. definitely going to see increase in free trials without cc but less revenue without it. hth
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Hello all,
This is for Jason and anyone else who tried to visit Ryan’s other site,
43 Split Test, and got an error or arrived at a different page. The site address is http://www.43splittests.com, not 43splittest.com. Ryan left out the “s” at the end of the address in the video.
Great info Ryan, although I have not yet tried this I am going to do some testing myself and see how it goes. Thanks for helping remind us to keep using our brain pan, and trying and testing different ideas.
Mike
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Ryan,
This is interesting..I gotta test it with my service.
-Janak
http://www.PREasy.com
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Ryan,
I just applied this technique and within 20 minutes, my latest sign up came in.
I think I am going to stick with this method from now on. Great idea. I am sold now.
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Hey, Just wanted to give you a heads-up on the sample page you showed us in the video – Your squeeze form still reads “Enter your NAME and email address”, then just shows the email form field.
Just a heads-up.
Mark
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Thanks for sharing, does make sense.
All the Best,
HP
http://hpshappy.blospot.com
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This is gold! Thanks Ryan for sharing, will be testing it out soon.
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Thanks for sharing your spilt testing results with us.
Think I really need to do some testing. 5-8% increase is good you know
Looking forward to your next post.
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Thanks Ryan for giving us another gem we all can use, very much appreciated keep up the great work!
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Nice article .. Yeah I keep an eye on what motley fool does also ..
It seems a year ago they had the lightbox style pop up .. now its the promise of a good article at the bottom only to be lead to a free report signup ..
Maybe thats the new strategy .. Im sure they are testing it though ..
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Ryan – Funny I just got this email.. & I was just considering this myself..
I think my Infusionsoft requires the first name min.. Hope not.
I will test your theory on the new site launch coming up 9/1 – Great Vid..
Hey Brett Smith.. Long time no talk.. We worked together on the LoanResolve Project..
Staying Tuned Mike..
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Ryan,
You’ve always provided top notch info and strats.
I’m going to put it to the test on a few of my sites
and closely monitor the results.
5-8% will make a big difference for anyone getting tons
of prospects to an opt-in page.
All the best to you and yours!
TL
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Hi Ryan,
Interesting video. And one that really made me stand back and think about the issue.
I do however disagree about the effectiveness of being able to use the [firstname] field in outgoing emails having done fairly extensive split-testing myself on it.
By using the [firstname] field in the subject line of emails I am able to increase my sales by about 12-17%. So although you may increase the signups by 8%, you may be losing sales of a higher percentage.
In addition, and I don’t have the figures to back this up, it is likely that the person who does give you both their email address AND name are more serious prospects and are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. So although this 5% increase may get you MORE subscribers, the quality of those subscribers may be lower.
Anyway, good to touch base with you. Be in touch.
Ben Shaffer
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Hi Ryan,
I just watched one of Frank’s videos where he refers to your add-on gift of the 43 split tests as a proved marketing method.
The interesting thing about dropping that name line – and the wider acceptance – seem to prove a more realistic or if you like even more honest approach of a marketer and the responding reactions of prospects which I personally appreciate of as well.
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It’s interesting to see that ditching the name field can increase your opt-in rate. I’m just wondering if you changed anything else on your tests that may have affected the subscriptions.
Was your copy different? What about the colors, the layout, optin form position?
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I always thought people would just make up a name with a throw-away email to get the info. This makes a lot of sense.
Thanks Ryan
David
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Hello and thank you so much for that information. I have never used names in my sign up pages, only email addresses. The reason I have not used them was that I had not worked out yet how to incorporate the name into my sign up pages. I was worried about not having that name part in place and how it might affect my sign up rate. Thanks to your research I will stop worrying.
Thanks so much. I love your products by the way.
Avril Harper
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Hi Ryan, thanks for writing this post about testing the name field, you’ve really made me think.
What I especially like about what you said is how you’ve encouraged us to brake the mold of an Internet Marketing standard… “personalization”!
I’ve got to test this idea out ASAP!
What other molds need breaking that can increase conversions?
Thanks again,
~Brian
http://BigSellingWebsiteDesign.com
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When I started my listbuilding some 4 years ago, the script only allowed to enter the email addy. Later i switched to an other script, that also allowed the user to enter additional data like first&last name, city etc.
I selected all those that had only provided their email and mailed them a notice that they can update their profile so I can make the mails more personal based on the fact that the communication with my visitors is from human to human. These mails were always well received and about 20% updated their profiles (those that didn’t received a reminder with the next wave).
Now my mails are sometimes personalized and sometimes not. Works out OK.
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Thanks for the great free advice.
What about getting the phone number.
Thought that was a good thing…
Clay
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Interesting Ryan… you addressed what my biggest concern would be with this strategy, which is “I can’t personalize!” In fact, because I THOUGHT personalization was a major deal I almost didn’t watch this vid, because I wasn’t interested in losing that ability! But after hearing those stats, I am going to change one of my squeeze pages and see how it goes…
The Custom Dream Home Guy
http://www.MyDreamHomeforLess.com
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I was totally thinking that not having the name would hurt conversions. But since you’ve tested it you’ve found that it doesn’t have a negative effect on conversions. Good work!
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Trying to get someone to set up a web site
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Terry:
Can you provide a list of autoresponder companies that allow this?
-Floyd
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I went to your 43splittest.com page but it error out?
Jason-
http://www.ItMakes6Figures.com
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I totally agree. I get kind of pissed when someone I don’t know
is already address me by my first name because I know it’s fake, and I
believe it’s more in personal.
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Wow, Ryan I never knew that losing the name field in the opt-in was such a good idea. Guess that explains why you should never stop testing. Was interesting to hear your take on personalization as well…Thanks!
Matt
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Hey {FirstName!},
Very interest concept you’ve got there. I have actually tried this myself ages ago and it does work. Gonna do more testing now that I’ve seen this video though… Cheers!
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Great info.
I think people realize that when they see ‘Hi name’, it’s not personally written.
I know I’d be more apt to throw my email in there and go to the next step quickly.
Ron
Never Have a Boss Again
http://www.NoExperienceNeeded.info
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hi will be trying this out !! Sounds great
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Very interesting video Ryan. Cool concept. Will probably be trying this out myself!
Fabian
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I’ll have to test this on our site that has older web surfers visiting — financial services industry. There may be a difference, and the only way to know is to test!
Sarah ~
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I’ve found that you can’t assume anything when it comes to what improves conversion rates. I test EVERYTHING. Just like in your test I’m often surprised how some of the things I thought helped my sales actually hurt them.
Thanks for the videos,
~Bill
http://www.billmcintosh.com
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Hey Ryan,
Great tip, I’ve noticed some of the big names doing this recently, but haven’t tested it myself. I sure will now.
Thanks for sharing this idea.
Cheers,
Rocky
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Thanks for the tip. Going to give it a whirl and see what the fall out is — hopefully an increase.
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Thanks for the useful tip, Ryan.
I always knew that reducing the amount of information requested would increase the opt-in rate but felt that it would hurt to remove the personalization from my emails.
I would imagine that in some markets removing the personalization will have more impact than in others, but certainly in the Internet Marketing arena personalization probably means nothing now.
Regarding your split test, what about taking it to the next stage and split-testing the use of software that picks up the default email address automatically and do away with all the fields, using only the submit button?
Best Wishes
Joe Bradley
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Good morning, Ryan!
I think there will be a difference in opt-ins depending on what market you are targeting. The IM market has developed pretty tough skin to many (most?) techniques used to persuade response results. However, I believe that when approaching other markets, specifically consumers, using their name and other personalization fields greatly enhances results.
As online marketers we are so comfortable with our world of electrons we readily share information and want our path to the information we seek to be as short as possible. Filling out an extra box slows us down.
However, if my Mom or my best friend gets email from someone they don’t know, they’ll delete it without opening it. If the email personally addresses them, they are many times more likely to open it.
Think about this: If a person reads your message (sales page, landing page, etc.), and feels secure enough to give YOU their personal information, you’ve established the basis of a sale: know, like and trust. That person is much more likely to be a buyer than a tire-kicker. Having a list of buyers is far more valuable than having a list of email addresses.
To be as effective as possible, we must consider who we’re addressing when we send our message. If there’s more than one viable market for our service/product, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t be the best we can do to assist them.
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Ryan,
Thanks for the vid. I’ve never thought of asking for just the e-mail. I’ve always seen at least name and e-mail and that’s what I did.
This kind of opens your eyes to testing other things that I hold as truths.
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Hi Ryan,
Very interesting idea on opt-ins. My next question for you would be:
What effect does this have on the quality of the opt-ins?
By this I mean, if your opt-in rate goes up like in your example of 5-8%, how does this reflect into actual conversions into paying customers from your leads list?
Does the improvement actually mean more people looking for “freebies” have joined your list?
As our buddy Armand says, “if someone is not willing to give you their name & email address, chances are they won’t give you their credit card details either”.
I guess like you said, everyone needs to test this to see how it works for them in their market.
Thanks for the tip.
Steve
Trainer and Mentor to Passionate Entrepreneurs
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None of my friends, families, or colleagues put my first name in the subject or message fields.
I never get a message from Mom saying, “Robert- check this out!”
When I see my name in the subject line, it still DOES catch my attention, only it triggers the thought, “Spam.”
It was a lame idea to begin with, much like the slimy salesperson who uses my name in every other sentence.
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If you could please reload it—I got no sound? Restarted my computer, checked the actual YouTube posting…..Checked another video, Which I did get sound, but not on this one?
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Hey Ryan,
Great video!
I have always wanted to test first name, last name, email address versus just email address.
Very interesting resutls…
~Brett
http://www.FreeTrafficBigProfits.com
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Interesting, Ryan. I just checked emails from guys like Frank Kern and Mike Filsaime and (especially with Frank’s), there’s no “Hi Name” – they just go straight into the message.
Obviously they don’t do things without a reason… and without testing first… which is why it’s worth paying attention to what they’re (and you’re) doing.
Like Frank’s recent “bad news” video, it’s the little things that can sometimes make a big difference. And you’d only know through testing. So definitely worth testing this out.
Thanks for the video… for the “Aha!” moment. And I do like the cleaner design you’ve got here.
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As always – you give us something to think about.
I’ll be giving that a go on my website.
I know quite often I’ll make up a name when entering my details in opt in forms – I have no idea why – I just have a “thing” about giving my name, yet I have no problem handing over my email addy as I have one especially for my subscriptions, then everything to that email addy goes straight into a folder to be read & it keeps my in box a bit neater. That’s prob more than you wanted to know – ah well, sorry folks!
So thanks Ryan
Stef
http://NewbiesDiary.com
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That’s a really surprising result Ryan – thanks for sharing. I love to hear the results of tests like this.
Alex
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Hey Ryan, great vid and tips to boot, sometimes less is more…everyone these days is doing the same opt-in tactics so being different stands out, on the initial sign-up, it can be so much less intrusive if the email format is kept simple.
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Ryan, thanks for the video. It’s interested how alot of things
your thought you can still tweak it to produce better results.
And we know that testing is the key to our website performing
it’s best, I can see why people would only put their email
instead of their name…
Terrance Charles
http://www.terrancecharles.com
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wow!
very impressed! i was wondering abotu ditching the name field, and now i’m going to!
very cool.
cheers,
animoto tone
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