So, what are the best ways to build and maintain your list?
Email marketing has many clear benefits. It is a low cost means of generating an exceptional response rate. The problem is, if you don’t have email addresses or if your data isn’t up to scratch then you can’t conduct an email campaign in any meaningful way. So, what is the best way to build and maintain your list?
There is no ‘one size fits all’ piece of advice we can give you about building your email database. It will be an ongoing project and as such is important to first of all determine which stage your business is at and from there, decide which option suits you.
Will I be affected by any legislation?
Before we go into detail about building your database, it is essential to establish the different levels of permissions associated with email marketing. Although it is up to you to choose which range fits your business, it is worth taking a note of them at a very basic level:
- ‘B2B’ email campaigns can be sent to your recipients on an ‘opt out’ basis. This means that you can contact those names you have on your database without needing to gain their permission first.
- ‘B2C’ email campaigns must be sent to recipients with their express permission or ‘opt in’. Therefore if you want to market to personal email addresses (such as ...@hotmail.com) the recipients must have opted in to receiving your emails.
More Information on this topic can be found in our first edition.
We have identified three typical stages businesses will be at when setting out to build or improve their email data. We have categorised these below.
Scenario 1: Company A would like to do email marketing to the business sector but hold no data.
Most businesses understand the importance of communication via email, but some don’t hold any data at all to do this and often don’t know where to start.
Below are some effective options of building an email list from scratch.
Purchase a list
One of the quickest ways to grow your database is to purchase a list with email addresses included. There are numerous specialist sources of lists available, but be careful to choose a reputable one as you may purchase an overused email list that gives you a poor response rate. It may be a good idea to ask the vendor for a smaller number to initially test, for example, a list of 1,000 contacts. Telemarketing
For those in search of the unconventional or obscure contacts, an email list may not be available. The best option here would be to purchase a list and conduct a telemarketing campaign to find out the details of the right contact. This method will be more costly in the short term but ill give you a tailor made email database for the long term. Salespeople
It is good to have a central source of data, similar to a CRM System perhaps. Many sales people keep their data in outlook, or on paper which is fine for autonomous campaigns – but causes a problem if you want to centralise your email marketing. It’s a free source of information, and is surprisingly often overlooked.
Scenario 2: Company B would like to start email marketing to the consumer market, but hold no data.
The approach here will differ from the scenario 1, and in some ways consumer emails are harder to come by.
Collect from website
If you have a website (and most people do), then every time someone visits try and capture their name to send them an email newsletter. You can do this through a pop up box or simply through a field where they can enter their email address. Decrease your abandonment rate by making sure that it’s easy to sign up and don’t ask for too much information. For instance, if you start asking for preferences, areas of interest etc then you may find that your visitors don’t finish the sign up process. Gather email addresses through day to day contact.
Another method of gaining email data is by simply asking for an email address from everyone who visits your business and events (exhibitions, trade shows etc.) and instructing your telephone sales and customer service workers to ask for an email address where appropriate. Purchasing a list
You do have an option of purchasing a list of contacts with email addresses, but it is imperative to ensure they have an expressed interest in the services you offer.
Scenario 3: Company C wants to become more proactive in their email marketing. They hold the data, but with few email addresses.
Some businesses start out small with email marketing, perhaps using a basic home grown solution. Whilst it’s good to gain new data and access a whole new area of prospects, it is equally important not to neglect the data you already hold, as often it’s the best place to start.
Telemarketing campaign
If you have an in-house or outsourced telemarketing team, you can conduct a telemarketing campaign to gain email addresses of the members in your database. Not only will this put you in touch with your contacts again, they in turn would expect future mailings from you. Get in touch with an email marketing company
Whilst email deliverability is essential, it is just as important to monitor your campaign post delivery to find out what happens behind the scenes. On the surface, your data may seem fine but by using an email service provider, and sending a campaign to the contacts you already have in your database, you can establish how good your data really is. A specialist provider would help you understand the percentage of your data that is corrupt, draw out the bounces and if necessary, give you options to clean and improve it. You may find you were just lacking the reporting facilities to really understand your data and act upon it.
End note
Email marketing is fast becoming a cheaper and efficient form of marketing. The opportunities are endless, and more importantly measurable. The defining factor for the success of your email campaign is not only in its design, strategy or content but heavily dependent on the quality of your email list. As such, it is definitely worth spending time and cost building a list, but then it is equally important to ensure it is maintained and used well. Responsible email marketing often comes hand in hand with knowing your database and their preferences, and is also recipe for a longer lasting, healthy database.
We are always in touch with list vendors and email marketing providers and can source them for you. If you have any questions or comments relating to this article, just contact us at editor@openezine.com
| 
