Innovating Email List Marketing

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of co-presenting the webinar, “Best Practices for Growing and Monetizing your Email Lists” with Jeanne Jennings, in conjunction with WhatCounts. Perfect timing, too. As we head out of this recession, consumers and businesses alike are starting to open their wallets. Companies of all types are aggressively looking for new customers, and enticing them to spend with their companies. To fast-track customer acquisition efforts, businesses are turning to list rental, but to rent smart, you have to know what is lurking in the depths.

Let’s face it: the list rental waters out there can be scary. Perhaps some of you have already tested out this route, and found the experience and results to be less than satisfying. And when every dollar must yield strong ROI, is it worth it? Yes! List rental does provide strong opportunities to convert leads in to customers.

In this blog series (Bad Lists are Lurking in the Depths: List Rental Pitfalls to Avoid), I’ll share three pitfalls to avoid in your quest to find that perfect list; the first of three pitfalls to avoid as you navigate the list rental channel:

Pitfall #1: “Trust Me!”

If you are looking to use professional services, don’t rely on the old adage of “trust me”. Think about it…If you’re looking for a great used car, it’s akin to buying a car without a CarFax and a test drive. Good lists exist, and responsible list owners and list management professionals should not be afraid to share tangible results with you. What to look for?

1. Insist on proof. All campaigns sent to the list should have basic success metrics. Insist that these are visible to you. The basics are a must – delivery rate, open rate and click through rate. Look for positive signs. And reports.
2. Deliverability. Another must have. If you’re investing in renting a list, you want every assurance that the list has a high degree of deliverability, and specific metrics that prove past performance in this area. At minimum a list should deliver at 90% or higher, and 95%+ deliverability is ideal.
3. Performance. How has the list performed with previous campaigns from similar companies to yours? Overall? Don’t fall into the “creative trap”, which is when a poor-performing list is given the excuse that “bad creative” ran that impacted the performance of the list. You’re looking for indicators that the audience is responsive and performs over time.

In contrast, there are many best-practices out there to find great lists. See How to Rent a Rock-Star Marketing List on tips to “Rent a Rock-star Marketing List”. And for other pitfalls to avoid, be sure to check my next blog post.

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list management, list marketing, List Rental Pitfalls to Avoid, WhatCounts