Businesses may call consumers with whom they have an established relationship with for up to 18 months after their last purchase.  Even if they are on the Do Not Call List.

In addition, a company may call a consumer for up to three months after the consumer makes an inquiry or submits an application to the company. And if a consumer has given a company written permission, the company may call even if the consumer’s number is on the National Do Not Call Registry.

Keep in mind, if the consumer tells you they want to be removed from being called, then you must comply even if you have an established business relationship.

Exempt Organizations:

Exempt Organizations include charities or certain non-profit organizations, organizations engaged in political solicitations or surveys, or Sellers or Telemarketers that call ONLY consumers with whom they have an established business relationship or from whom they have obtained the express written agreement to call.
Not everyone is exempt.

To insure you are in compliance or exempt visit:  https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/faq/faqbusiness.aspx#who

All our email addresses are opted-in confirmed, with up to 62 demographic attributes and 21 behavioral attributes on each file. The data is compiled from over 9000 partner websites, websites that we own and operate or partner with on a revenue share base. The demographics we select and categorize are numerous and enable us to provide our customers unique detailed choices.

We TRACK all email campaigns after they have been sent. You will be able log into your account and see the tracking results including how many emails were sent, delivered, opened and other results including which links within an email are getting the most response. This will help you in better targeting future campaigns. You will be able to see the list of IP Addresses from where the emails were opened, including city and state. NO other email marketing company offers these features.

Our Opt-In Email Process

1. We develop detailed information about businesses and consumers for our databases from over 9000 of our own websites including Rev-Sharing with similar sites.
2. We give the consumer a chance to opt-out of the e-mails. If they choose to un-subscribe, we permanently remove their address from our database and no future mailing will be sent to them.
3. We match their information to the information we have in our database of millions of consumers to verify authenticity of their record.  Additionally, we also send online surveys to consumers to gain on-line behavior habits and personal demographics, further enhancing our database

Once the file is uploaded into the system, we can then tell the system how to attach the phone numbers to the file.  Matching logic is based on several ways to find the people to append the number.

Here are some examples:

First Name or First Initial

• Middle Initial
• Street Name
• House Number

First Name

• Street Name
• Middle Initial or (Apartment Number or ZIP Code) or First name or First Initial
• House Number
• Middle Initial or ZIP Code Street Name
• House Number

These are just a few examples.  There are more ways to attach a number looking at different matchings.

Of course, you will never get 100% appended phones.  With Do Not Call legislation, if you remove the Do Not Call numbers, the append will be lower.  If you keep those numbers, then the append rate will be higher.  Additionally, it also depends on how old or new your file is. In regard to Do Not Call legislation, we will go over that next week.

Many businesses have reasons for doing this.  Maybe they want to do a telemarketing campaign to customers who have done business with them in the past.  Offer a special promotion or other offers for the upcoming year.

Appending telephone numbers to a current or existing list can be very useful. There are several ways to append phone numbers to your file.

1. Regular Phone append:  Attaching phones to existing name, address, city, state and zip.
2. Reverse Phone append:  Attaching customer address, city state and zip to a customer phone number.  (all you have is the phone number, but need the rest of the information for your customer).
3. Cable phone append.  Address only with city, state and zip.  We then attach the name and phone number.

In all the above cases, one must keep in mind that you will not achieve 100% matches.  Generally, match rates vary due to the age of the client file and the type of phone append you are doing.  Regular phone appends can garner up to a 60-65% match rate.  Reverse phone appends can achieve 30-50% and cable appends generally feed back 15-30% match rates.  Given this, you are charged or should be, for the matches only.  There are minimum order amounts, so you need to keep that in mind when you are thinking about the appending process.

Next week, we’ll talk more about how the process works, the matching logic and other interesting facts that will also include information on how the Do Not Call legislation with the FTC correlates to this process.

See Whole Article >>

Let us begin on your next email campaign. Send us a note.

The next step is to insure you have the right message.

In email marketing, you will need to have a HTML creative.  This is not a PDF or word document.  It is actual “coding” with graphics, if you prefer, that will look like a postcard.  The HTML is a coding that will allow you to provide live links to, possibly, different areas of your website.  It may allow the email receiver to click on a link and enter a special promotion code.  An example of that would be if you are, for example, a resort or hotel sending out a special holiday or weekend offer to gain new customers.  Other links may be informative or may take the email receiver to a coupon offer.  It all depends on what you are trying to achieve and who you are targeting.

In some cases, customers that are doing and email acquisition campaign do not have any idea about HTML code or creative.  It is imperative you have this in place before you begin the campaign or at least have the resources to create it.  List brokers can generally offer this to you, either by a referral or they may have staff that can assist you with the creative piece.  Either way, you will want to consider that this alone is what the customer is going to see as soon as they open the email.  So, make it a good creative.  Generally, if you keep it simple, yet effective for the message, that is always the best policy.  You do not want someone getting caught up in graphics or too many links.

Next week we discuss campaign completion and timing.

See Part I of this series >>

Let us begin on your next email campaign. Send us a note.

Does it work? How does it work? Where do you begin? Many companies find email marketing to their own clients very beneficial. You can send monthly newsletters, offer information on your company and of course, send them offers to get them into your business.

What about email campaigns where you don’t have an existing client base, but want to gain new customers? This is where an “acquisition” email campaign can be very useful. The possibilities are endless.

In this blog we’ll go through the many different steps in acquisition emails that are double opt-in and are CAN-SPAM compliant. This will be the first part of several series on this subject.

First, of course, you need to consider the kind of potential customer you are going to seek. Is it consumers or business emails that fit your campaign best. If it is consumer emails, then the first step is to find companies that offer consumer emails for rental. Keep in mind, in this type of campaign, you will not get the actual emails. The company you choose will do the actual “broadcast” of emails for you. This is where a good list broker can assist you. List brokers that offer email marketing know who has the best, cleanest email databases available for your campaign. You should ask how the emails are obtained. Are they opt in? CAN SPAM compliant? How are you charged? If an email is blocked or the email doesn’t go through to the potential customer, do you pay for that? Generally, you are and should be charged for those delivered only. Most email databases are opt in, so it is rare that they do not get into the inbox. Also, some email providers will “over-deliver” emails. Meaning, they send out more than you are paying for to insure the quantity you are paying for is met.

Once you determine the broker or the email provider you are comfortable with, what about the target audience? Emails can also be overlayed with demographic information such as income, gender, children, homeowners etc…Talk to your broker about WHAT your offer is. Once you consult with the broker, they can then give you sound recommendations on WHO you should be targeting and why. You may already know who to target, and if so, the broker may be able to recommend additional alternatives that make sense.
Often times, the number of emails versus a direct mail list, is different. Most email providers have minimum orders that will need to be fulfilled. Generally, a good rule of thumb is to broadcast a minimum of 20,000 emails to get the response you want. This may sound large, but it is a numbers game with email. Some people may not open the email for days. There is the chance that the email could be blocked by a spam filter.

Next up for this blog will be a continuation of the email acquisition you are sending out.
Follow us each week for more. Next week >> “Messaging in an email campaign”

Let us begin on your next email campaign. Send us a note.

Choosing a vendor/list broker for the mailing list or the email campaign that not only is trustworthy but has excellent data.

That is a tough choice.  There are so many list brokers, list owners, vendors that it becomes mind-boggling as to who is going to be the best choice.  Small business owners to large advertising or marketing firms can be stymied by this.

Here are a few tips that can make the decision easier.

1. Call on the phone.  This is the best way to begin gathering information and becoming knowledgeable with the person you will be working directly with.  Even though email is ever-prevalent today, it is highly advisable to speak with the individual to get a feel for their personality and knowledge.  Good list brokers will ask you questions regarding your direct marketing campaign.  They should be asking what the offer is even if you tell them your criteria up front.  Brokers can make excellent recommendations that you may not have thought of to gain a better audience for you and your product.
2. Are they insured?  Not just for general liability, but what about professional liability.  Errors and omissions.  It can happen.  You request a specific demographic like married females and then end up with single females.  This can be imperative to your campaign.  It doesn’t happen often, but a broker that has proper insurance is a broker that takes their business AND customers seriously.
3. Is the broker accessible?  Do they call you back in a timely fashion?  Do they answer your emails in a timely fashion?  Do you feel they are trying to build a relationship for future business endeavors?  Good brokers realize that relationship building offers other opportunities down the road, even if you are a small business owner.  If the answer is no, then move on.
4. What about the data quality?  You should ask how the data is compiled and how often it is updated.  Are the lists NCOA’d?  ECOA’d?  (national change of address and email change of address).  Whether you are launching a direct mail campaign or email broadcast, it is imperative to know how that data is compiled and ask about deliverability rates, too.
5. Does your broker tackle any “problems” with timeliness and vigor?  There are times when things can get detailed and possibly certain things are overlooked on your end or the broker.  A broker that takes responsibility and/or points out something on your end that needs attention is your best choice.
6. Look at pricing.  Good data comes with a cost.  Bad data is generally very inexpensive.  Asking all the questions above will help you make sense of cost in a natural way.  Additionally, it is good to ask about price breaks based on quantity and/or how many times you will be doing the campaign.  Ideally, it is a good idea to mail and email more than one time to obtain optimum results depending on the project.  Also, give your budget for the campaign up front so the broker will know if he can accommodate you and your needs.
7. On email marketing, beware of brokers that are willing to actually give you the email addresses.  True for both consumer and business emails.  The CAN-SPAM law of 2004 is very tight on spamming and the cost of each violation can be overwhelming.  Most brokers will not release emails and will do the broadcast portion for you.  This is included in the cost estimate you should be receiving prior to your campaign.
8. On direct mail lists, you need to beware that most are for a one time mailing.  Does the broker offer multiple mailings or even unlimited mailings on the list?  They should be asking you that question.
9. List sourcing.  Most list brokers have access to a large variety and array of lists.  From your general consumer to specialty files, they should know where to go to get your list and know the quality of the file.  Brokers that work for one company that compile their own data will try to keep you within that data.  That is OK sometimes, but not ok if you have a more specific project that requires a list that is more targeted to your campaign.
10. Lastly, list brokers, of course, love large orders.  However, small business owners also offer a good source of business for brokers.  Make sure the list broker you choose will work with you on your needs, whether they are great or small.  Small orders add up and can become frequent sources of revenue for the broker.

If you have any questions, feel to contact me at 505-332-0339 or you can email me at info@marchdirectmarketing.com.

Craig