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It's amazing how a person's feelings can change from those three
little words we all wish to hear. In the past those three little
words would have been "I love you" or "I miss you" -- but that was
then.
Today, two words have changed. "You've Got Mail!" has become the
feel-good saying of the '90's. Sure, there are the 10 percent of
the emailing population who get more email in one day than most
normal humans get in a month. Let's forget them for the moment and
focus on those email users who still get a rush when clicking their
inboxes in hope of some acknowledgment of their online existence.
These people represent the future of online advertising. We're
not talking about SPAM, which is unfortunately alive and well.
Drop Out, Opt In
We're talking about Opt-In Email, which has presented a new and
acceptable online advertising medium. When someone is surfing the
web and subscribes to a service, or a newsletter, they are many
times presented with a question regarding the future use of their
email address. It usually reads like this:
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"From time to time, we will send you special offers from vendors
who we feel offer goods and services that will be of interest to
you. If you would like to opt-in to this program, click here."
You might assume that if given the choice to receive email advertisements,
the overwhelming response would be absolutely not. However, you
would be wrong.
When my firm and others in our field initially expanded our services
beyond traditional mailing list management and list brokerage to
the email arena, many concerns were raised. Out of these concerns
developed the Opt-In option. Opt-In essentially allows web site
visitors the ability to elect to receive email advertisements and
enabling web site owners to provide another service to their visitors,
which would actually generate considerable amounts of ancillary
revenue for them.
I was excited when some of our early Opt-In Email List Management
properties would report that they were receiving 30 to 40 percent
Opt-In returns following new customer purchases or subscriptions.
Why would anybody want to receive email from an assortment of
companies offering various products and services?
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