Building Opt-In Mailing Lists - Part 2
- by Paul Nichols
Outsourcing the List
Buying or renting a mailing list is an alternative to using your in-house
list, but can also be a complement to it:
Rent outside lists, and use them to market your free e-mail newsletter.
We've come full circle. If you rent outside lists, maximize your return
by giving respondents the opportunity to add themselves to your house
list. You should see a higher response rate with a free offer than
with a purchase offer (especially if your product is high-dollar).
You'll have umpteen more chances to sell these folks once they're
on your house list. This is also a good way to skim the cream of your
prospects from the list and be able to go back to them without hitting
people who weren't interested the first time. [2]
Clint Symons, the publisher of Opt-In News, says that "A recent study
by the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) suggested that brick-and-mortar
direct marketers are shifting away from outsourced e-mail delivery
services, focusing more on building in-house methods. In addition,
the study showed a growing demand for professional e-mail marketing
software." Those trends go hand-in-hand and apply equally to the adult
Web. Nevertheless, third-party mailing lists can still form a valuable
component of an in-house strategy.
You can always buy an e-mail list, whether from a list broker or list
manager. It's important to be able to tell these apart. [10,11]
List Manager. Employed by the list owner to represent and manage the
list. Some list managers have aggregated many lists into a network
of 20 million or more e-mail addresses that can be sliced and diced
by demographic and interest characteristics.
List Broker. Works for the advertiser to find appropriate lists in
which to advertise, and coordinates the process of procuring the lists
from list managers and getting the e-mail message approved and sent
out. A List Broker operates like a media buyer, specializing in opt-in
e-mail lists.
Both types can range from high- to low-end. At one pole you have (expensive)
quality full-service shops, at the other a $19.95 off-the-shelf CD
full of questionable addresses. Lists vary widely in source, quality,
price, and what kind of value you ultimately receive. I've mentioned
the red flags before: "Traffic may come from only a few ISPs, they
may be non-mainstream or foreign ones, your visitors may not be unique,
or may be poorly targeted. You might not get the promised number of
clicks, or they may be delivered over an unacceptable timeframe. Finally,
the conversion rate achieved may be very poor." [4,5]
The downside is well-understood. And, Rodney Much, the associate editor
of Opt-In News, stating the obvious when warning that "If you're going
to use a network to build your list, make sure to be skeptical going
into the process. The companies you deal with are probably there to
generate revenue and not assist you in building a successful list."
[3] Some basic questions he thinks you should ask off the top are:
- Where do the recipients come from? Make sure to get the sites
used and investigate the opt-in process.
- What is the average bounce rate? Find out if there are any assurances
given that the addresses received are fresh and valid. If bounces
occur are you refunded or given credit for additional addresses?
- How are the recipients qualified? Can I be descriptive in the
acquisition process to ensure a qualified lead?
- Are there incentives to register? Does the network
offer recipients an incentive for them to opt-in to receive offers
from third-party advertisers? If so, doesn't this taint the quality
of the lead?
Defunct sites and other dubious sources, such as sweepstakes, often
form the basis of an outsourced list. Although good ones can be
found, there is something to be said for doing it slower and better
by your self. "Advertisers should weigh the decision of whether
or not to use an inexpensive and fast route over a more reasoned
plan. By leveraging sites and solutions geared towards the target
of the needed audience, an advertiser can build a more qualified
list." [3]
In "Quantitative versus qualitative marketing," David Wolf [12]
points out that there are basically two forms of widely used marketing
strategies in the adult world, quantitative marketing and qualitative
marketing. "The philosophies of each style are diametrically opposed:
one favors bulk processing and the mob concept of power in numbers,
while the other relies on fewer, yet stronger pillars of support."
His example focuses on search engine listings, but of course, the
two strategies are an issue for e-mail marketing as well.
"Is it worth it to acquire one million names in a month if more
than 70% of the registered users you've paid for are crap? I am
defining crap as bounced e-mail addresses, untargeted recipients,
non-existent e-mail addresses, and incentive-based registrants."
[3]
Part One: Building the List
Part Two: Outsourcing
the List
Part Three: Opt-In,
Opt-Out
Part Four: Sources
& Resources
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