Continued from page 1
http://www.ukmarketingmanagement.com/Downloads/Affidavit.pdf
Prior to broadcasting, many will “ping” their file – sending out a message that determines whether an email address is still alive. They will also over broadcast to ensure that if you pay for 10,000 email addresses that your message gets to 10,000 people. Responsible owners also ensure any bouncebacks and fails are excluded from future email broadcasts, and will then go through
verification process to ascertain a new contact email address for recipient.
Good email brokers know which list owners take quality issue seriously and which don’t. It will almost always pay to use a broker rather than approaching a list owner direct.
Why can’t I have them to broadcast my self?
The only lists you should consider renting have an opt-in status. This means that recipient has explicitly agreed to receive third party promotional emails from list owner. If list owner was to release email addresses to third parties, they would lose control of messages being sent.
Who broadcasts emails?
List owners often have facilities to broadcast themselves, but as often as not they will contract a large specialist broadcaster to send your message on their behalf. This way they don’t have bandwidth, bounceback, and failure issues.
How do I know that a broadcast has been done?
Some broadcasters are able to provide results real time through logging on to dedicated websites. Others will issue reports via email direct from their servers. Typically you will get results telling you;
· How many email were sent · How many live connections were achieved · How many bounced back or failed · How many recipients opened message and therefore open rate · How many recipients clicked through on each link and therefore click through rate · How many unsubscribed from receiving further emails from you
You should always insist that you are seeded on file so that you will see transmission when it happens.
What do I do now?
Things can go wrong but don’t be put off as there are now a number of good email consultancies and management companies that can walk you through process, and hopefully avoid pitfalls. They will take you through process from concept to completion – sourcing right list, negotiating a price, creation of html, broadcasting message and tracking & reporting results.
So first port of call is go and get a good company to help. I recommend talking to a broker not an owner. Then ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for things in writing – this often sorts wheat from chaff. Issue a List Broker brief, and make it detailed. Concentrate your efforts then on good creative – short, concise and attractive. Then sit back, allow broker or consultancy to do their work. There are no guarantees in this world but you can be safe in knowledge that you have done everything possible to ensure your initiative has best chance of being successful.
If you would like me to help, send mailto: john@ukmm.info
http://www.ukmarketingmanagement.com
John McCabe is the co-founder of UK Marketing Management a specialist direct marketing agency based in the UK. He has 15 years experience of developing direct marketing campaigns in a variety of industries. During the last four years he has concentrated on email marketing, both as a corporate end user and as an agency. During this time he has helped develop the media with list owners, broadcasters and clients - pushing up service levels and quality of data.
