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E-mail marketing is evolving
at a rapid pace as an increasing number of direct marketers deploy
e-mail based campaigns and release new e-mail lists. Even our lexicon
is changing, with new Internet-centric terms being added on a regular
basis. Old terms phase out, and new terms phase in. Overall, the
change is good.
The latest evolution
relating to e-mail marketing is centered on self-regulated practices
and good common sense: Permission based e-mail marketing further
defines how we should ethically collect e-mail data for direct marketing
purposes.
The establishment of
true permission-based e-mail lists are essential for us as an industry
to continue the positive momentum in the arena of direct response
marketing via the Internet. So what, exactly, defines a permission
based e-mail list? There are several key attributes that are needed
for an e-mail list to be in rentable shape:
• Ask for permission
to share the e-mail data with other vendors. This should be a simple,
clear and concise message that states exactly the intent on the
usage of the information. Copy that has been popular with many permission-based
e-mail lists state “From time to time, we will share information
with companies with products and services you may find of interest.
Click here if you would like to participate in this program.”
• Do not precheck the
answer of “YES.” Allow visitors to make their own decision and physically
click a check box to give you permission to use their information.
• Make sure that the
granted permission has a one-to-one correspondence with the Web
site of the company which has an actual product, service or publication
that was of interest to the individual in the first place. With
this, the individual will most likely remember the company through
the branding or uniqueness of the product/service, and, most importantly,
will remember to give permission to use their e-mail information.
In my opinion, this is very different than the mass-compiled e-mail
databases. Each e-mail list should be individually identified. You
cannot brand a database at this early stage of e-mail — the consumer
needs to understand the true source of the communication.
• Don’t be afraid to
ask twice. That’s double permission, which benefits the approved
list renter by providing a more qualified and responsive list. It
also benefits the list owner who will enjoy added revenues from
the continuation usages.
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Also, you should take
note that just because an individual submitted their postal name
and address information (either via the Web, subscription, purchase
transaction or registration card) it does not necessarily give you
permission to match and overlay their e-mail address. There is no
shortcut to obtaining more data at this stage of e-mail marketing.
While postal address/e-mail
information is being collected and warehoused by several organizations,
in my opinion, the use of such services will have negative repercussions
throughout our industry. The bottom line is that while these individuals
have given their mailing address— they did not provide their e-mail
address. They did not provide you with permission, either direct
or inferred, to perform a match and append their e-mail address.
And while we, as marketers,
will license data from external sources to append items such as
age, income, or SIC code, the ultimate purpose of such overlays
is to improve the targeting so that the recipients receive offers
that will be more in line with their purchasing habits and needs.
The appending of e-mail data does not enhance targeting —it simply
changes the medium of delivery. Quite frankly, the appending of
e-mail address information could be viewed as downright intrusive,
and extreme caution should be exercised. This is the ultimate nonopt-in,
nonpermission-based type of list or database. Years ago I said,
“Just because the information exists, it does not make it marketable.”
Combined, these guidelines
make sense, yielding an end-result of a clean and marketable list
that will be receptive to external offers. As we all push forward
with this phenomenal electronic medium, the implementation of permission-based
e-mail practices will make it better for everyone, especially the
consumers.
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