Larry Kilbourne's Website

By Larry Kilbourne

A few weeks ago I compared the pros and cons and pricing schemes of permission-based email list rentals versus panels for the purposes of database marketing. This week we’re going to examine the former in more detail – specifically, critical areas you need to focus on when considering list rentals.

But first let's dispose of a pervasive myth that email marketing has been effectively ruined by spammers and is a waste of time.  In fact, a recent report by the Direct Marketing Association forecasts signficant and continuing growth of Internet marketing and commercial emailing.  (A summary of findings is available here).  So, email marketing is alive and well.  Permission-based email list rentals remain a viable, cost-effective way to carry out marketing and lead generation campaigns.

Now let's turn to 10 tips for those who are considering using email list rentals:

Tip #1 – Shop around. There are lots of email list brokers out there. Since none to my knowledge guarantee any response rate, it’s incumbent upon you to be diligent before selecting a vendor. In particular, ask for references or case studies. Also, look to see what industry associations they belong to: DMA, BPA, BBB are three gold standards.

#2 – Ask questions. The most important: How often is the data in the list updated? Most good lists are updated yearly. Avoid lists that are not updated at least annually, because the reliability of the information they contain is doubtful. Remember, you’re paying an email list broker to help you reach a specific audience. If their data is old, it’s less likely you’re going to achieve your goal.

#3 – Avoid compiled lists. There are basically two kinds of email lists you can rent: Response lists and compiled lists. Response lists are generally the result of (magazine or other) subscriptions. Here, individuals have opted to receive information that may be of interest to them. Thus, they are more likely both to expect an email from their subscription source and to respond to one (i.e., to at least open and read the email offer versus simply deleting it as spam). Compiled lists, on the other hand, are not tied to specific publications, but compiled from a variety of sources. Their quality supposedly has improved over the years, but I still avoid them. Particularly in light of tip # 2

#4 – Timing. It can take up to ten business days to go through the full lifecycle of an email campaign – from initial selection of a broker to the launch of the email blast. Many brokers promise quicker turnaround times.  However, in my experience, ten business days is more realistic.  Attempting to short-circuit this time period can result in critical missteps. Email campaigns are cost effective, but not necessarily cheap, so make certain you allow sufficient time to select the right target audience, find the best list for reaching your target, tweak the graphics/content of your email, and test, test, test.

#5 – Reporting metrics. Make certain you can get real-time or daily reports on bounces, open rates, and click through rates. You’ll need these metrics to gauge the effectiveness of your campaign.

#6 – Ask about their policy on bad email addresses. Since you are paying based on quantities of emails sent, you’ll want to know if they’ll do a secondary mailing if a certain number of email addresses result in "hard bounces" (indicating the email address is bad).

#7 – Learn how read “data cards.” These contain all the vital information you need to know about the subscriber list you’re renting, including demographic characteristics of its members and pricing information. A sample data card with explanatory key can be found here (no endorsement of the broker is being made, but they were kind enough to provide a free explanatory guide).

#8 – Be strategic in your approach to using “selects” on your data cards. Selects denote sub-groups within your main target group. Thus, for example, if I’m trying to contact CIOs of companies, “selects” for this target may include industry vertical, number of employees, annual revenues, etc. Remember that while these selects enable you to narrow your target audience, each new select specifies an additional condition that must be met in addition to the conditions established by previous selects. It’s easy to reduce your potential target below acceptable levels by opting for too many selects.

For example, let’s say I’m targeting senior managers who have purchasing authority for network security appliances. But ideally, I’d like to focus on the financial vertical, and moreover, on companies within this vertical that have revenues in excess of $4B annually. When I add together the specifications for all four selects (senior managers [EVP, VP, Director] + network security + financial vertical + over $4B in annual revenues) I may have reduced the numbers of emails far below the minimum number I pay for when I purchase the list.

A good strategy to pursue is to prioritize from 1 – 3 the most important characteristics of those you're attempting to reach using the rented email list.

#9 – When to launch the email blast. Work with the list vendor to establish the best day of the week to do your mailing. Studies abound as to best days and best times of day to undertake an emailing, depending on the type of audience you are trying to reach (business versus consumer). Unfortunately, the results of these studies are all over the map and frequently conflicting. Do yourself a favor and seek the advice of the list broker: They do this for a living and are in a good position to advise you.

#10 - Pretest! Before launching an email campaign, test, test, test with your broker.  Find out whether the vendor will allow testing of various graphic concepts or different subject lines to see which work best.  And how much it will cost you.  Check test emails to see how subject lines appear, how graphics render, and most importantly, whether all the links in the email are working properly.  Remember, once you've initiated the email blast, it's too late to discover that something's amiss!

Happy hunting!

Copyright © 2009 by Larry Kilbourne, Ph.D. Dr. Kilbourne is an independent marketing consultant. He may be reached at lkphd@yahoo.com

Update on Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:19PM by Larry Kilbourne

A May 11 feature story in BtoB's online edition, "It's in the cards: Tip-top list data cards are more than just a formality," reports on the results of a new report by NextMark rating 73 list management vendors on the basis on the quality of their data cards.  The results of the full report may be found here.

For those unfamiliar with NextMark, it tracks over 74,000 mailing lists from over 1,200 sources to help organizations that use mailing lists reach their target markets.

Anyone considering renting a permission-based email list would do well to consult NextMark's study to see how the major vendors stack up across a number of categories.