Email Marketing: Growing Your In-House Email List

Let me begin by saying that a successful email marketing strategy takes time to implement. Building a targeted, permission-based email list doesn’t happen overnight, especially if you don’t have a high-volume of visitors to your website. But the value of taking the time to build your list organically cannot be understated. It is simply the best approach for any professional businesses who cares about their reputation, brand and long-term success.

That said, I know that there are marketers out there who are tasked with making things happen quickly. The same was true in traditional Direct Marketing. List acquisition was the cornerstone of a Direct Marketers profession (leads generate sales). But technology (and new attitudes) have changed the game. Using traditional cold-calling techniques as an email strategy is likely to piss people off; and it’s very easy for email recipients to express their distaste for unsolicited marketing. Reporting a message as spam is easy to do, and when enough recipients on your list do it, your domain is likely to get blacklisted. This isn’t something that a reputable business can risk.

Even so, some modern day direct marketers use list brokers as a shortcut to acquire email addresses. There are several methods used for acquiring email addresses. Jeanne Jennings provides a good overview of four of the most widely used approaches for growing a subscriber base: email appends, compiled lists, list rental and email sponsorship.

List brokers charge per thousand email addresses (CPM). According to Worlddata, average cost per thousand email addresses (CPM) in 2007 was:

• Permission Based Email Business to Business (B2B): $277.00/thousand
• Permission Based Email Business to Consumer (B2C): $170.00/thousand

* Click here for more details about Worlddata’s 2007 List Price Index.

If you come across a broker offering you rates that fall well below the averages shown above, you can assume that you will get an old list that will have invalid addresses and/or addresses that were acquired without permission. Either way, your email sender reputation will likely suffer and spam reports against you will rise. Don’t be fooled by brokers offering low cost solutions. You’d be much better off standing with a placard in Grand Central Station.

Better yet, get creative and create an email subscription strategy that inspires people to give you permission to contact them. Create a compelling introductory offer or other high-value incentive and spend that money on building your list organically – via permission.

• Register for our newsletter and receive your first two months free.
• Place some compelling ads online and offline that will reach your intended demographic.
• Create a YouTube channel for your campaign to announce your offer.
• Contact relevant media about the newsworthy value that you are offering.
• Host free workshops in regions of interest relating to your products or services.
• Run a contest for a flat screen television (the television will only cost $1,000)
• Excite existing customers enough so that they will tell a friend or colleague about your products and services.

There is no limit to what you can do to generate buzz about something of value. And if you don’t have something of value to offer, then you might just be wasting your time either way. In that case, I suggest that you spend your money on developing something of value. Then give it away to people of influence so that they can tell others about it.

Of course, the basics apply here. Have an email subscription form on every page of your website. Put it at the top and make it easy for visitors to complete. Tell them that privacy is ensured, explain what they will get and how often it will arrive and provide an incentive for them to subscribe.