E-MAIL MARKETING: Data for Dollars
It could put a whole new spin on data collection. E-mail marketing site MoneyForMail not only asks consumers for permission to collect personal information, it pays them for it.
“Consumers deserve to have control over their personal information,” says Gerri Detweiler, president of the Palo Alto, CA, company. “With the Internet, it’s getting worse,” adds the long-time consumer advocate. “Most people don’t know what happens to their information on the Internet.”
To get started, consumers sign up to receive e-mail advertisements about subjects that interest them. The company’s Web site (www.moneyformail.com) transmits an e-mail broadcast on behalf of an advertiser. Each transmission contains a link to the advertiser’s site, and every time a member clicks through to one of those sites, he or she accrues points. Members receive a check in the mail when their account reaches $10.
The year-old company has 200,000 files in its database. Each listing includes demographic and interest information.
One-third of the members are college students looking for quick and easy cash. Admittedly, though, MoneyForMail isn’t making any of them rich. Each clickthrough is worth between 20 cents and $2.50. The typical member gets about 10 e-mails a month – and they are (understandably) clamoring for more. “Our goal,” says Detweiler, “is to send 30 to 50 a month.”
Members find out about the group from other Web sites’ referrals. The first 100,000, however, heard about MoneyForMail directly from their friends.
So far, there are 30 participating advertisers, including J.Crew.com, Beyond.com and Amazon.com, an early advertiser. They are charged only when a consumer clicks through to their Web site. The conversion rate averages 17%.
MoneyForMail, which also offers privacy tools and a dedicated staff to help consumers with online and offline concerns, is earning about $17,000 a month. It turns over 85 cents on the dollar to consumers. At press time, the company was seeking another round of venture capital.
