You may remember Mr. Manyhats, a busy man who suffers subscriber fatigue. His wife, Mrs. Manyhats, has the same problem. She has so many emails, she doesn’t know what to do.

But she likes that the emails provide her with suggestions and offers that match her interests. One of her interests is craft projects, so she goes to Michael’s Arts & Crafts website to sign up for their emails.

But when she gets there, she changes her mind.

Would You Fill Out This Signup Form?

There are thirty-eight fields on this form. Thirty-eight actions to take or decisions to make. Thirty-eight chances to decide enough is enough and quit.

Mrs. Manyhats is not going to fill out thirty-eight fields. She does not have that kind of time. And is she really going to provide her phone number and street address for a craft store’s emails?

Lesson Learned

When creating your web form, think about the sign-up experience. You can add up to 25 fields with the new web form generator, but consider each addition carefully.

What stats might you want to segment by? What sets the right expectations for your readers? And what information might subscribers balk at providing?

Keeping some fields optional and only requiring a few is one move subscribers may appreciate. Leaving unnecessary fields out is another. When in doubt, run a split test.

Michael’s Arts & Crafts is a successful business, but their overwhelming opt-in form may hinder the success of their email campaign.

Avoid overcomplicating your forms and keep them simple, and fewer would-be subscribers will abandon them.

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