The quality of your e-mail list depends greatly on where and how you collect
the information in the first place as well as where and how you store and
manage the data. The best way to ensure that you collect quality information
is to obtain information and permission directly from the person who owns
the information in the first place namely, your prospects and customers.
Your challenge is to provide multiple opportunities and incentives for
prospects and customers to share their information as well as to manage
the resulting data effectively and efficiently.
Many businesses have been bought and sold based on the strength of the
contact information they possess. Quality list data stored in a useful format
is a goldmine for targeting your e-mail marketing messages and converting prospects and customers into steady streams of repeat and referral sales.
Preparing your e-mail database
Sending e-mails to your list requires your list data to be stored in a useful
electronic format, so take care to enter your data into a database while you
collect. Building and maintaining an electronic database allows you to
- Organize and view your list data easily.
- Sort your list data into categories to send targeted e-mails.
- Process and keep track of unsubscribed contacts.
- Query your list to extract useful information and reports.
You don’t need a highly sophisticated database for effective e-mail marketing
although additional database features can improve your ability to target your
contacts with specific messages. Keep in mind that databases with a lot of
complex features are more expensive than simpler applications. Make sure
any fancy functionality in your database is capable of returning more than
a dollar for every dollar you spend to gain that function.
If you’re not sure which database is going to give you the best results, start
with a basic database application or with your E-Mail Service Provider (ESP)
database utility. You can always upgrade later when your e-mail marketing
strategy outgrows your initial functionality. Make sure the database you
choose can easily transfer data to or synchronize data with your ESP. Most
ESPs allow you to either import or synchronize data with the following
database applications:
- Outlook and Outlook Express
- Excel
- QuickBooks
- ACT!
- Goldmine
- Access
- Eudora
- Mac Mail and Address Book
Whether you use a well-known database application or a customized solution,
most databases can export data in one or more compatible formats. Ask your
ESP for a list of supported formats and then check the export feature on your
database to see whether you have a match.
I don’t recommend storing your data in an ESP database system alone unless
the service allows you to access the data belonging to unsubscribed contacts.
Just because someone unsubscribes from receiving future e-mails doesn’t
mean that he or she isn’t a good customer or prospect. Phone numbers, mailing
addresses, and behavioral information become even more useful when
someone has unsubscribed from your e-mail list.
After your database application is ready to accept information, decide where
and how to allow your prospective subscribers to sign up for your e-mail list.
The name of the game is collect where you connect. Everywhere you come into
human contact, you should be ready to obtain contact information and permission.
The more personal your approach to collection, the more useful and
valuable your list will become. The following sections list some tactics for
collecting contact information online, in person, and in print.
If you already have a database of prospective e-mail list subscribers, or if you
have a lot of contact information from various sources waiting to be entered
into a single database, flip ahead to the “Inheriting a list: Getting permission
after the fact” section before adding those contacts to your e-mail list.
Collecting information online
Placing a sign-up link in every online presence possible is a great way to collect
information with explicit permission. A sign-up link is a text box, button, or text
that usually links to a sign-up form or confirmation page that allows your subscriber
to enter and submit additional information and preferences.
Some means of putting sign-up requests on a site include
- Text boxes: These allow your subscribers to enter information without
clicking-through to an additional sign-up form. Text boxes can ask for an
e-mail address, or they can contain several fields making up an entire
form.
- Buttons: These are graphical representations of a link that takes the subscriber
to a form to complete and submit. Buttons can be images with text
inside, flashing boxes, icons, or other creative graphics.
A sign-up button should stand out, but you don’t want to draw too much
attention away from the content of your Web site for visitors who are
already subscribers.
- Text links: These are short headlines of plain text linked to a sign-up form.
Text links are ideal if you want to add an option to subscribe within the
context of other information or if you would like to put a line of text in
your e-mail signature.
- Check boxes: These are usually employed on multiuse forms to save
additional steps. For example, someone who is making an online purchase
already has to fill in her name and address, so adding a sign-up check box to the shipping form is a great way to gain permission to use
the information for shipping the item and sending future e-mails.
If you use check boxes, leave the box unchecked (cleared) as the default
setting because you don’t want people who overlook the box to become
disgruntled when they receive future e-mails and feel that they were
added to your list without their permission.
Whether you employ forms, buttons, text links, or any other element, try
experimenting with different placement ideas. You can place a sign-up link
almost anywhere HTML is possible. Try adding a sign-up link to the following
locations:
- On every page of your Web site
- In your e-mail signature.
- On your blog or personal Web site
- In banner ads and online advertising
- On other Web sites (with permission)
- In noncompeting businesses’ e-mails (with permission)
- In online directories | 
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