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| E-mail Lists, Continued |
Types of E-mail Lists
Next let's look at e-mail list sources. With the exception of permission policies, postal mail and e-mail are similar when it comes to list sources and the breakdowns. There are business-to-business lists and business-to-consumer lists. The sources of these types of lists may be compiled (such as Internet-generated or ISP) or response-generated (such as magazine subscriptions).
However, postal mail and e-mail marketing differ in one key way: to send an e-mail, you must have the permission of the recipient. If you don’t have permission, your e-mail message to the recipient is considered to be spam.
Permission-Based Lists
An example of a permission-based list would be magazine subscribers who subscribe online and, while filling out the subscription form, agree to receive relevant third party e-mails.
Opt-in means that a visitor to a website has granted permission to be contacted by a third party by checking off opt-in boxes. For example, users register on the InformationWeek.com website. When they fill out the registration form, they also decide to check off a box that offers them the ability to receive information from third parties. After checking off this box, they are added to an opt-in list.
Double opt-in is similar to opt-in but requires a recipient to take action by confirming the opt-in choice. Usually this takes the form of a link embedded in a confirmation e-mail that the user must click on before being added to an opt-in list.
You should carefully scrutinize any e-mail list before you use it to make sure that it is 100% opt-in and that the permission policies of the list owner are verifiable.
This is one key service that a list broker can offer you when choosing e-mail lists. Name-Finders only recommends 100% opt-in or double opt-in lists. For example, when we learn about an e-mail list, we heavily research the list owner and the list owner's privacy policies to make sure that the permission can be tracked back to the exact opt-in source.
As most people already know, using non-opt-in lists is bad business practice. Name-Finders will never recommend an e-mail list that is not opt-in. If you send an e-mail to someone who has not given you permission to e-mail them, your e-mail will be perceived as spam. At worst, this can severely damage your brand and at best, it will be a waste of your time, money and resources. Additionally, there is increasing pressure from privacy advocate groups, industry associations and the government to block companies from sending spam through measures such as spam filters, blacklisting, and monetary fines.
Opt-In Response Lists
Opt-in response lists are generated from online publications, catalogs, and websites offering products and services for purchase. As with postal mail lists, opt-in response lists are more expensive than compiled lists and are more tightly controlled by the list owner. This has advantages, including the following:
| 1. |
List Integrity: response e-mail list owners have the ability to "clean" and update their lists on a daily basis by purging bouncebacks and opt-outs. |
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Protecting Subscribers and Buyers: Subscribers and buyers are the lifeblood of cataloguers and publishers. Offers sent to them must be relevant to ensure continued trust and to maintain customer relationships. |
When you rent an opt-in response list, the list owner or manager will transmit your e-mail message on your behalf. You will never be allowed to take possession of the e-mail list. E-mail creative and URL links must be pre-approved before the transmission takes place. And, e-mail lists are rented on a one-time basis only, just as with postal mail lists. Each transmission of the list will be considered a new rental transaction.
Compiled E-mail Lists
Compiled e-mail lists are data-mined / data appended lists available from public domain sources or lists that originate from sources such as Internet registration websites or warranty cards. These lists are generated by websites that require Internet registration to log on, and by compilers such as Dun & Bradstreet, InfoUSA, and Naviant -- companies that mine data available in the public domain.
Compilers can data-append e-mail addresses to your postal list files.
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