No matter what media you’re using, the more eyeballs, the better. And in today’s highly targeted world, getting in front of more relevant eyeballs is key. So, it’s not surprising that we hear from our clients all the time, “Can you help us grow our email list?” There are lots of great ways to grow email marketing list size, from search engine marketing to online promotions to banner ad campaigns. But, inevitably, the most popular follow up question is “Can we buy an email list?”
To be clear, list buying is not illegal. But many Email Service Providers, including emfluence ask their clients not to buy names. Collecting new names by opt-in really is best practice: when your recipients choose to receive your email, they’re likely to engage and interact and less likely to label you as spam.
So, how do you leverage relevant marketing lists outside of your own subscriber list?
Let’s look at an example: one of our clients, the Kansas City Direct Marketing Association, is gearing up for their big annual conference. They often partner offline with other marketing associations, like the American Marketing Association – Kansas City chapter. KCDMA wants to send an email promotion to all AMA email subscribers to help get the word out about the conference. The associations often “trade” promotional exposure and offline lists to expand their reach.
Now, if Sally subscribes to AMA’s email marketing list and suddenly gets an email from KCDMA, she may not have a clue what KCDMA is about, nor does she want email from them, thank you very much. So she is quick to hit the “spam” button when she sees a promotional email hit her inbox. In her mind, she didn’t sign up for KCDMA emails, so it’s spam. Now, not only has KCDMA damaged their sender rep, but Sally isn’t likely to show up for the conference either.
Instead, KCDMA and AMA offer each other promotional space in their own email marketing messages. Start with an introduction like:
Thanks for your support of AMA! We’ve paired up with the KCDMA to offer you special pricing on their upcoming conference. If you liked our recent seminar on “Taking Direct Marketing Digital,” you’ll get a lot of their 2-part seminar on Direct Marketing in the Digital Age.
Then, lead into graphics and information about the KCDMA event. Now the AMA subscribers know why they’re getting info about the conference and they feel like they’re getting a relevant offer at a special, exclusive price. Sally’s much more likely to click through, read more and maybe even register for the conference with this method!
As for the all-important opt-in list growth, go for the gold. When you use email marketing to leverage another company’s email list, send prospects to a customized landing page. There you can acknowledge your visitors and their interests and customize your graphics or messaging. Now they see you’re relevant, you know what they’re looking for and you can give them a good reason to opt in to your email marketing list as well.
KCDMA is proud to partner with the AMA-KC to offer special pricing on this year’s DM Days conference! Three of the last six AMA Lunch ‘n’ Learns have highlighted digital marketing strategies and tactics, from mobile to social media. This year’s conference line-up will take an in depth look at trends and proven tactics of digital direct marketing.
Subscribe to KCDMA’s email list to be notified of speakers and discounts for the upcoming conference and other related events.
For bonus points, you can take list segmentation to another level by keeping track of which of your email subscribers came from the AMA marketing campaign, so you know to keep your content tailored to relevant material to that group.
I was just thinking ALL the things you say a reader will think if they receive an email that clearly is from an allied, but not overly identified as such, company. “I didn’t sign up for this!” Your advice is perfect and I’ll probably forward your email to that firm:)
Thanks for the useful information and tactical reminders. Point of clarification: If you do decide to use an outside list are you buying it or are you renting it for a one-time use … as with direct mail lists?
Actually, we mostly encourage trading exposure with relevant partners rather than lists. You send them content to send out to their list and they do the same for you. This way, you don’t have to worry about someone using your email addresses inappropriately. Most company’s email sign-up policies promise they’ll never sell or rent the email addresses they collect. So instead, the company is simply sharing relevant content with their subscribers, without actually trading or sharing lists.
The only time we’ve had clients “pay” for a list is when a 3rd party company is hired to collect email addresses specifically for that brand name. For example, if Acme Company wanted to get new email addresses, they may find a promotional company to do an offline and/or online promotion that encourages people to sign up for Acme’s email list. emfluence</strong has done similar promotions for our clients to drive sign-ups. It's always a branded promotion with a branded email sign-up, so subscribers know what they're signing up for and will expect messages from the brand.