For those of you wanting to launch (or grow) an opt-in email marketing program to communicate with prospects or customers and don’t have a valid email address for all of them; you may be wondering how to build your opt-in list without upsetting your target. While collecting email addresses from future responders (at time of response) is definitely one way of building a list, what about all of the prospects / customers that are currently in (or will be added to) your database without an email address? Do we just forget about them? I guess that is one way of dealing with the problem, but not a real solution.
If you want to build a sound opt-in email list, sometimes you have to go old school and Direct Mail is a vehicle. I’m not talking about the simple “Postcard & Pray” method that may be cheap but not a high performer. I’m talking about a thoughtful direct mail program that considers the motivations of your targets and has a professional package and compelling offer to convince your prospects / customers to exchange their email address (a piece of property) for something of equal or higher perceived value from you.
Don’t kid yourself, getting your online newsletter is not considered a valuable exchange to most people.
And by program, I mean an integrated acquisition strategy that includes segmentation, direct mail package (offer, copy & creative), response mechanism (phone, microsite, etc.) and viral (i.e. refer a friend) system components. If you follow this process, you might be surprised how well Direct Mail can positively affect your email program success.
B.
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