Continuing with my ongoing series of posts about choosing the appropriate email appending provider, I wanted to focus on the source of your source: Where does the email append data come from?
As I described in one of my original posts, it’s of utmost importance to ensure that you gather your data from a reputable provider that abides by set of guidelines specified by the DMA. Each provider can build their monster database from a variety of sources, but website relationships and licensing agreements are two of the main routes that are taken.
Depending on the type of emails sought, the original sources can even extend to customer survey participant pools or yellowpages databases.
As you can probably imagine, every provider has their own unique methodology. Still, it’s worth your time to uncover how they source the database so you can better understand and feel comfortable with the entire process.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
How to Choose the Right Email Appending Provider (Pt. 2) -- Hard Bounce Policies
Email appending can be a highly fruitful business decision, but it's important to have the proper expectations going into the process. It's unrealistic to expect a 100% match-rate, no matter the industry type.
As I described in an earlier post, consumer appends tend to have the lowest returns, but business can sometimes yield up to 70%.
Considering you're bound to have emails that do not make it to the party on the other end, it's crucial to be aware of your provider's hard bounce policy. As stated here:
A reputable vendor will guarantee email addresses for at least 30 days after delivery. Look for someone who will refund your money on all emails that hard bounce within that period of time. If they will not, don’t do business with them.
Before spending the money, make sure that you will be working with a reputable dealer. It's one thing to see their claims; it's another to see their performance. Be smart!
As I described in an earlier post, consumer appends tend to have the lowest returns, but business can sometimes yield up to 70%.
Considering you're bound to have emails that do not make it to the party on the other end, it's crucial to be aware of your provider's hard bounce policy. As stated here:
A reputable vendor will guarantee email addresses for at least 30 days after delivery. Look for someone who will refund your money on all emails that hard bounce within that period of time. If they will not, don’t do business with them.
Before spending the money, make sure that you will be working with a reputable dealer. It's one thing to see their claims; it's another to see their performance. Be smart!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Choosing the Right Email Appending Provider (Pt. 1)
Email appending is a rapidly emerging space that will only become further crowded with options. It's important to consider your end goal as you look to select the optimal provider.
Off the bat, it is crucially important to know who you're working with and what kind of results you can expect from them.
As detailed in this lengthy discussion from ListK's blog, I wanted to address one of the most important considerations: the process by which emails are collected.
Your best bet is to work with an append vendor that utilizes the best in technology to freshly append emails using domain and topography algorithms. If you work with a vendor that matches records to an existing database, make sure you ask from where the data originated and if they are a reputable source from the United States. There are many offshore providers that are less than scrupulous.
As you notice when you first arrive on this blog, I want to keep an active record of the best-in-class appending services per vertical. It's not worth compromising the quality when high bounce rates can be the devil. The ROI will ensure that the money spent is paying dividends.
Off the bat, it is crucially important to know who you're working with and what kind of results you can expect from them.
As detailed in this lengthy discussion from ListK's blog, I wanted to address one of the most important considerations: the process by which emails are collected.
Your best bet is to work with an append vendor that utilizes the best in technology to freshly append emails using domain and topography algorithms. If you work with a vendor that matches records to an existing database, make sure you ask from where the data originated and if they are a reputable source from the United States. There are many offshore providers that are less than scrupulous.
As you notice when you first arrive on this blog, I want to keep an active record of the best-in-class appending services per vertical. It's not worth compromising the quality when high bounce rates can be the devil. The ROI will ensure that the money spent is paying dividends.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Email Appending Match Rates: What Can I Consider or Expect?
Considering the profound impact that email appending can have on, it's amazing how much of the businesses world has yet to grasp the power. When evaluating vendors, it's crucial to determine which one is the most reputable with the highest match-rate for the industry that you are targeting.
As Peg Kuman described at Digital Marketing News last spring, match rates are crucial to understand, but they involve a number of factors:
One of the most often asked questions in the client-data vendor dialogue is: “what is a typical match rate on a given data append effort?” However, answering this question is like answering the age-old question about “average” response rates. We all know there are too many variables in price, product, promotion and offer to give an answer that is anything more than educated guesswork.
Consumer and household appends tend to have the lowest match rates that typically range from 10% to 45%. On the flipside, B2B appends can be the most fruitful as they tend to have the best conversions (upwards of 70% sometimes).
Hopefully you'll use the chart in the blog header to help guide your decisions based on the type of append you could use. Good luck!
As Peg Kuman described at Digital Marketing News last spring, match rates are crucial to understand, but they involve a number of factors:
One of the most often asked questions in the client-data vendor dialogue is: “what is a typical match rate on a given data append effort?” However, answering this question is like answering the age-old question about “average” response rates. We all know there are too many variables in price, product, promotion and offer to give an answer that is anything more than educated guesswork.
Consumer and household appends tend to have the lowest match rates that typically range from 10% to 45%. On the flipside, B2B appends can be the most fruitful as they tend to have the best conversions (upwards of 70% sometimes).
Hopefully you'll use the chart in the blog header to help guide your decisions based on the type of append you could use. Good luck!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
How To Leverage Your Internal Email Database
With the challenges companies are facing in the current economic climate, email appending – adding email to your existing customer or prospect database – is a smart, costeffective way to turbo charge your marketing efforts.
Email Appending is the process of adding email to an existing marketing list of prospects or customers. Typically, it is done by matching a master database that includes email addresses to the customer file or by a technology where algorithms are used to match contact record domains (websites) and build, verify and append fresh email addresses.
It is a rapidly growing industry that can have enormous benefits (such as expanding your reach and lowering your cost per contact), and we'll cover those & more in the near future.
Email Appending is the process of adding email to an existing marketing list of prospects or customers. Typically, it is done by matching a master database that includes email addresses to the customer file or by a technology where algorithms are used to match contact record domains (websites) and build, verify and append fresh email addresses.
It is a rapidly growing industry that can have enormous benefits (such as expanding your reach and lowering your cost per contact), and we'll cover those & more in the near future.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
DMA Guidelines for Email Appending
Dating back to 1917, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is the leading trade association for companies interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States.
In 2004, the DMA adopted new guidelines for email appending to consumer records:
Email appending can have enormous benefits for scaling your businesses, but always make sure you are in compliance with the latest guidelines issued by the DMA in this ever-changing environment.
In 2004, the DMA adopted new guidelines for email appending to consumer records:
A marketer should append a consumer’s e-mail address to its database only when the consumer gives a marketer permission to add his or her e-mail address to the marketer’s database; or
- There is an established business relationship with that consumer either online or offline; and
- The data used in the append process are from sources that provided notice and choice regarding the acceptance of receiving third-party e-mail offers and where the consumer did not opt out; and
- Reasonable efforts are taken to ensure the appending of accurate e-mail addresses to the corresponding consumer records.
A marketer should not sell, rent, transfer or exchange an appended e-mail address of a consumer unless it first offers notice and choice to the consumer.
All messages to an e-mail appended address should include a notice and choice to continue to communicate via e-mail.
Email appending can have enormous benefits for scaling your businesses, but always make sure you are in compliance with the latest guidelines issued by the DMA in this ever-changing environment.
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