E-mail List Released to Renters
Defying standard operating procedure, Target Market Corp., has put on the market for full release a 3.8 million-name e-mail list. Target Market manages the list for job search site HRHQ.com in Toronto.
The file is compiled from 160 sources including resume.com, jobanimal.com and jobs.ca.
When job seekers register on one of these HRHQ-affiliated job-search sites, they opt in to receive third-party commercial offers.
Full-release means the list is turned over to any company that wants to rent it, just as a postal file would be, said Mary Benson, president of Target Market, Mokena IL. The company provides name, job title, address, e-mail address and the selects they purchased.
“It’s unlimited usage,” Benson said.
E-mail brokers typically do not hand over e-mail files because of privacy concerns. Instead, they handle the e-mail broadcast themselves. Renters get use of the data.
Isn’t Target Market purveying spam?
“The opt-in characteristics of the registrants allow them to receive commercial e-mail,” Benson said. “There are no opt-in restrictions other than pornography or gambling. They are opting in to have their e-mail address distributed to the affiliates of the compiler.”
Benson said e-mail files should be handled the same as postal files. “If you are buying data, you should get data,” she said. “And just because it’s e-mail shouldn’t make a difference.”
The price of the list is $274 per thousand.
This is inexpensive, Benson admitted, but there’s a strong transiency rate. “There’s a 35% bounce-back rate, which I think is true among e-mail addresses in general.”
Benson said she plans to send out a pre-broadcast before turning over data to reduce the bounce-backs.
The list, which is updated daily, includes selections such as job title, job function, graduate degrees, industry, gender, state/SCF/ZIP. Usage has included recruitment organizations and a theme park.
Target Market is up for sale (DIRECT Newsline, March 26, 2002). Universal Express, an express package-delivery service, has signed a letter of intent to buy the list brokerage and lettershop company. Financial terms have not yet been determined.
