Obviously landing pages are very common with regards to collecting email addresses and ive seen that this might be especially helpful for startups that are more in the direction of social apps as they want to get as many email addresses as they can for plenty of users to be in place when they are ready to beta test or launch, clearly some startups are so focused on "buzz" that they seem to prioritize this, although im not sure that they are focused on the right thing there.
But for an app that will be targetted at businesses and beginning the customer discovery process and using/having a landing page in place as part of this (not relying on this alone) as i understand the importance that real conversations will play by actually meeting with them, do you think that it is a good idea to try and collect email addresses where you make it clear to them that you invite and encourage discussion? Instead of the usual message that you see near the email submission on a startup landing page that usually says something like "Join our email list and we will let you know when were ready"
Im not ignoring the need to meet with them, but just looking at the email collection differently, obviously even a small number of email addresses could lead to more intense discussion, even phone discussions and trust to meet with some to chat in person.
I feel that if im collecting some email addressses as part of the landing page then if i make it clear that im not after their email for the sake of building a list but to stay in contact with them from that point that i will avoid what i guess many other startups do which is leaving them guessing and probably not contacting them for months.
At this stage i wont have an app built for them to try and since its so early in the process (customer discovery) i feel that email collection for discussion will be more beneficial than email collection that sometimes appears like its more for the sake of having high numbers at launch.
I think that people that give up their email must wonder at times when they hear nothing, no follow up, no discussion, left waiting and probably at times the launch never happens.
Would it be appropriate to encourage people to join an email list but making it understood to them that the main focus would be to discuss things with them further, rather than the traditional expectation of receiving a newsletter or being notified when something is ready for them to try?
