E-mail appending, in which a data provider supplies you with the e-mail addresses of customers for whom you already have postal addresses and other information, can obviously boost the size of your e-mail house file and make it easier for you to retain and reactivate these buyers going forward. But many marketers shy away from appending, for fear of being accused of spamming and of alienating customers who had refrained from providing their e-mail addresses in the first place.
Some marketers even fear that appending will put them in violation of Can-Spam legislation. That’s a baseless concern, according to Tom Burke, CEO of e-mail and data solutions provider TowerData. “Can-Spam says you can contact your customers via e-mail as long as you don’t use false information, do provide them a mechanism for opting out, and do honor opt-out requests promptly,” he says.
The following guidelines should help you get the most out of e-mail appending:
* Provide your supplier with a suppression list of customers who have already unsubscribed from your mailings.
* “Select the type of match that is appropriate for your audience,” Burke says. “Your customer list can be matched to the append database by last name and address or by full name and address. For example, a nonprofit seeking to increase donations will benefit from a household match, but a pharmaceutical company promoting a specific medication should use an individual match.”
* Make your first e-mail contact with newly appended customers a Can-Spam-compliant opt-out e-mail message. “This is simply a kind request [asking customers to allow you] to e-mail them in the future,” explains Chris Rowe, vice president of data enhancement services for solutions provider Melissa Data. “This is not the time to produce an ad campaign with links and colorful marketing material. That may come when you are doing your official e-campaign.” This initial mailing will remove invalid addresses from your file as well as show customers that you respect their right not to be contacted via this channel. The message itself should be simple and straightforward; if you’re unsure about the content, most vendors will provide you with sample messages, Rowe says. Burke goes so far as to advise against doing this yourself; because of its importance, he recommends having your append provider do it for you.
* Follow up with a campaign tailored to these newly appended customers. Customers whose e-mail addresses were appended are probably familiar with your company but not necessarily with your Website. Therefore, Rowe says, “you definitely want to do a separate campaign to steer them to your site and become more familiar with you and what you offer.” Burke suggests letting them know what sort of content they can expect to receive and of other benefits of remaining on your e-mail list. “Ease them into your standard mailing frequency in order to prevent fatigue and minimize opt-outs,” he continues. “And yes, an initial offer or discount is a great incentive for them to stay on your list.”
