Email Marketing Best Practices: Increase ROI with List Management Tactics
By Megan Ouellet, Director of Marketing for Listrak
July 3, 2008
The email marketing industry is evolving. Subscribers are becoming more sophisticated and marketers need to revamp their email strategies in order to reach them at the right time. It is no longer enough just to rent a list and blast out a message to a million recipients in hopes they’ll appreciate your efforts and take advantage of your offer. In fact, tactics like that can do more harm than good. If you aren’t building your own lists you’re not only missing the profiling data that is specific to your company, but you’re running the risk of having your emails reported as spam because the recipients didn’t request to receive the information from you. Even though the CAN-SPAM act doesn’t prohibit email marketers from sending unsolicited email messages, the average person receives nearly 600 emails per week, and it is still quicker and easier for them to report your unsolicited message as spam than it is to opt-out of receiving future messages.
Building your own list protects your reputation and gives you control over your list management procedures. List hygiene helps ensure that your lists are accurate and up-to-date and keeps hard bounces to a minimum. It also ensures that your lists are free from spamtraps and honeypots. Best of all, it gives you the subscriber profiling data you need to segment your lists so your emails are targeted and relevant. While there are some instances when it is necessary to rent a list, you’ll find that your in-house list outperforms a rented one in every capacity.
When used properly, subscriber data can be one of your most valuable assets and a well-managed list will significantly increase the return on your marketing investment.
Listrak, a leading provider of email marketing solutions, has put together the following white paper discussing list acquisition and management tactics that will help you build your lists at every customer touch-point. This paper will also show you what to look for when renting lists, best practices for list hygiene, and the right way to handle the unsubscribe process.
