Users Less Willing To Share Info For Content

If you are looking to build your mailing list through online ventures, then you should really take the time to read this.  Edelman

recently conducted a study on the number of people who are willing to divulge personal information about themselves to obtain free content.  The results unfortunately are not pleasing.

In short, as portrayed by the graph below, the majority of people are not willing to give out their personal information for free content.

Even though only 13% of the respondents from this study were willing to give private information for free content/entertainment, social networks seem to show some different results.  Luckily, these are more promising.

The survey asked respondents if they considered social networks as a form of free entertainment.  Three out of five respondents agree with this, particularly when dealing with young adults.

This research conducted by Edelman provides some very strong insights that everyone should be aware of that is interested in collecting personal information from others.  It should come as no surprise that people want their personal information protected, as portrayed with all the privacy changes being done by social media giants.  Even though only 13% of the respondents were willing to give their personal information for free content, there are ways you can increase this percentage for your own lists.  Here are a few options worth considering:

1. Have a Privacy Policy - Having a Privacy Policy easily viewable on your website helps you build credibility and trust among your visitors.  In addition, it’s good to have for SEO as well!
2. Provide Links To Your Privacy Policy - When you are requesting personal information from a visitor, make sure they are aware of your Privacy Policy.  To do this, be sure to add links above and/or below your forms.
3. Provide Content Of Value For Information - Asking people to give you their personal information is just not enough.  You need to provide content they really is valuable to them; valuable to the point where they’ll want to give you their personal information.  To develop valuable content, make sure it is relevant to your niche, give it a reasonable monetary value, and display how it will fulfill the visitor’s needs, fix their problems, or answer their questions.  Just ask yourself, “Would I be willing to give away my personal information for this content?”
4. Less Is More - The less information you require from a visitor, the more likely they will fill it out.  For example, a form that requests a first name and email address will yield a higher submission rate than a form that asks for first name, last name, email address, phone number, and mailing address.

Another thing worth considering is to figure out a way to integrate social media with your mailing list.  If roughly three out of five people consider social networks as entertainment, it could be a great resource to leverage for building your list.

As more people become cautious of divulging their personal information, it is important to figure out new and innovative ways to make them feel comfortable with giving their information to you.  While giving away content can work, think of some innovative strategies to get people wanting to learn more about you and your services.  If you can figure out a way to create enough demand for your services, they will be much more likely to give you their personal information.  Just make sure they know that you will keep their information safe.