E-mail marketing – things
to consider before you rent
What’s the difference between e-mail, direct mail and telephone marketing? At
the fundamental level - nothing. They are all direct marketing mediums and, as
such, basic principles apply. Here are two golden rules:
1. Test every element of your campaign (creative, copy, list)
2. Measure your results ( response, conversion, lifetime value)
Too often we are asked to provide a single e-mail list for someone’s campaign.
Buying just one e-mail list is, in most circumstances, a short-sighted
strategy. Without other lists to measure against, you will never know if you
could have achieved a higher response or conversion rate to your mailing.
You’ll also never know if you could have generated more profit. And, finally,
you’ll never know why your mailing worked or did not work. The only way to
really find out is to test all elements of your campaign against other
options.For a recommendation on which of the email lists
will work for your campaign, get a
QUICK QUOTE or a
FREE CONSULTATION.
There is a more fundamental problem we experience all the time - the only
criteria for choosing an e-mail list is price. The price of the list itself is
meaningless and misleading. Meaningless, because it’s like buying a second
hand car based solely on price and not checking it thoroughly to estimate what
it is going to cost you to run and keep it. Spending more upfront may save you
thousands later. Misleading because the only way to measure the real cost of a
list is by how much revenue it generates for you. Let’s look at a simple
example.
Source A
| Quantity |
100,000 |
| List Price |
$125 per thousand
|
| List Cost |
$12,500 |
| Response Rate |
1% |
| # of responses |
1,000 |
| Conversion Rate |
30% |
| # of Orders |
300 |
| Average Order value |
$100 |
| Revenue Generated |
$30,000 |
| Profit |
$17,500 |
Source B
|
Quantity |
100,000 |
|
List Price |
$50 per thousand |
|
List Cost |
$5,000 |
|
Response Rate |
0.75% |
|
# of responses |
750 |
|
Conversion Rate |
20% |
|
# of Orders |
150 |
|
Average Order value |
$100 |
|
Revenue Generated |
$15,000 |
|
Profit |
$10,000 |
As you can see, a list that costs 2 ½ times another can be significantly more
cost effective and produce more profit. How can you tell? Test both lists and
do this kind of analysis on the “back end”. Responses can take several weeks
to come in so it is worth continuing your measurement over time. Most
professional direct marketing companies measure customer performance over a
year or longer because they know that different types of customers behave in
different ways over the longer term. Some cancel orders or only order once.
Others buy frequently and remain loyal for a long time. All of these factors
are critical to the success of your business so finding the right lists is a
critical first step.
More questions? Call 760-607-2500 for immediate assistance or fill
out our
Call Me Now form and
one of our Email Experts will call you. Fill out our
QUICK QUOTE to
get a quote via email.
Ready to Rent?
What we provide
Infocore supplies only CANSPAM compliant e-mails. E-mail compilers who have
made the necessary investment to ensure that the e-mails they provide are
authorized by the e-mail address owner naturally sometimes charge
significantly more than compilers who simply trawl e-mail addresses from the
Internet or who compile e-mail addresses without providing the required opt-in
process. Also, because of their value these e-mail addresses are offered for
one-time rental only. Finally, due to the portable nature of e-mails in
addition to their value, the e-mail provider or his service bureau provide the
e-mail blast service for you. There are usually fees associated with these
services, which include set-up, testing, message transmission and summary
report including “delivered”, “opened”, “opt-outs” and “bounce-backs”.
What you need to supply
You will need to provide the e-mail owner with a copy of the creative that you
want to use to send to your prospects. Remember, everything in the e-mail must
be CANSPAM Act compliant. If you already have an opt-out file from your own
customer list or from previous e-mail blasts we can usually have your file
names suppressed from the file you are renting.
Provide both HTML and text formats.
Timing
Because of the need to check your creative for CANSPAM Act compliance, the
need to test the e-mail transmission, and optionally suppress an opt-out list
it is important to allow between 3 and 5 working days from submission of all
materials to the date of the blast. Bear in mind that some days of the week
are reported to be more suitable than others for e-mail messaging, which may
add an additional time interval.
For a recommendation on which of the widely available email lists will work
for your campaign, fill out our
QUICK QUOTE or a
FREE CONSULTATION
forms.
Helpful Hints
Avoid Spam and Junk filter triggers
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010450051033.aspx
Ensure that you populate both the “From” line and the “Subject” lines. Use
information that will be recognized by the recipient and which is relevant to
the message you are sending. Keep the “Subject” line succinct.
Personalize your e-mail and make sure the body of your message is as clear and
concise as possible. Most people do not want to read lengthy e-mails and they
want to know what it is you are offering as soon as possible. If you haven’t
stated your value proposition in the first two lines you may be too late.
Don’t forget to provide a physical mailing address – it is required by law.
Glossary of Terms
Blast – the transmission of an e-mail campaign to a list of recipients
Transmission - the transmission of an e-mail campaign to a list of recipients
CANSPAM Act – the act governing the transmission of e-mails
Delivered – confirmation received of an e-mail being delivered
successfully to the recipient
Testing – a test conducted using sample or seeded e-mails to ensure
deliverability of the main transmission
Opened – A message received indicating that the recipient has opened
the e-mail that was sent
Opt-out – a request from an e-mail recipient to have his name removed
from the e-mail list
Bounce-backs – A message received indicating that the e-mail delivery
failed.
* Infocore
has a minimum requirement of $500 per order *
If this is not what you were looking for, please consider the following
options:
- Were you looking for a list? Let one of our experts help you
with you list selection. Fill out our
Call Me Now
or
Email Response
forms and we will get back to you quickly to help you choose the
right list for your campaign. Feel free to call us at
760-607-2500 for an immediate answer.
- Were you looking for someone to manage your list? Check out
Infocore's
List Management section to get more
information on our list management services. Alternatively, you may fill out our
Call Me Now
or
Email Response
forms and we will get back to you quickly to explain you how
List Management works. Feel free to call us at
760-607-2500 for an immediate answer.
-
Were you looking for an experienced List Broker to help you with your list
needs? Check out Infocore's
List Brokerage Services or fill out our
Call Me Now
or
Email Response
forms and we will get back to you quickly to explain you how
List Brokerage works. Feel free to call us at
760-607-2500 for an immediate answer.
- None of these options help you with what you were looking for? Fill out our
CONTACT US
form and one of our professional team members will get back to you with an
answer to your question.
- Feel free to use our navigation menu on the left to get more information
related to your interest.
If you have any more questions, please call 760.607.2500 for immediate assistance.
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