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List Rentals - Going for Broker
In a
previous issue of Hints & Tips
or two, I talked about how to build your own
permission-based list of customers and prospects -- sometimes
called your house list.
Your house list is one of your most valuable assets because it
is 7 times less expensive to market to an existing customer
than it is to acquire a new one. But, as valuable and
responsive as your house list is, building one can be a slower
process than some of us might like.
So, if you don't have much of a list to start with and you
want to build one quickly, renting a permission-based opt-in
list can be a great alternative.
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First of all, what is a permission-based rental list?
A permission-based rental list is a list of prospects
or a targeted group of subscribers who have opted-in to
receive information about certain subjects and who
may have provided additional information about themselves
to the list vendor.
Using permission-based rental lists, marketers can send
e-mail messages to audiences targeted by interest
category, profession, demographic information and more.
Email lists for rent range from the standard -- computers,
business firms and executive titles to the unusual --
orchid growers, nail salons, and landscape architects.
Rental lists are owned and maintained by the list vendor.
The vendor is the only one who ever sees the actual list.
You rent the one-time use of the list, send your promotion
to the vendor who in turn sends it out to the lists you
have selected. Then, the vendor provides reports on the
number of opens, click through's, etc.
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So, why rent a permission-based rental list?
The best use of a rental list is to add subscribers to
your own house file. So, when you rent a targeted opt-in
list, be sure to include a way to capture the email
addresses of recipients interested in hearing from you in
the future (e.g. include your "join our mailing list" tag
in the email itself). For visitors who click through your
email to your website or landing page, have your "join my
mailing list" tag displayed prominently. This way you can
maximize the value of your rental list by taking advantage
of the opportunity to mail to those individuals again.
A note on pricing: The average list rental
will cost between $.10 and $.40 per name with an average
of $.20 per name. Additional selects (e.g. zip codes,
job titles, age or gender) cost an average of $.05 per
name more. A 5000 minimum order is standard. So, for
5000 names at an average of $.20 per name, expect to pay
at least $1000.00 for the minimum average rental list.
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Going for Broker
Finding the right list isn't easy. It can take a lot of
time and research. If you don't have the time and patience
to do it yourself, I strongly suggest that you contact a
reputable list broker like Metaresponse.com for expert
assistance. A good list broker gets you access to every
list available on the open market and provides expert
assistance in making sure you choose the right ones.
In the article below, our good friend (and partner in list
rental) Jerry Whiteway of Metaresponse.com explains what
list brokers do and how they can help you achieve the
results you're looking for.
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The Role of the List Broker in E-mail Marketing
By Jerry Whiteway, President, MetaResponse Group, Inc.
A List Broker is a professional media buyer who can
help you select and acquire targeted e-mail lists to drive
prospects to your website. The great news about a list
broker is that their services come at no added cost, as
the broker earns an industry-standard commission from the
actual owner of the list. With access to every list that
is on the open market, a list broker can turnkey your
entire email marketing campaign - with one phone call!
Let's take a closer look at what a list broker will do to
help you.
Market Definition - Be ready to provide your
list broker with a clear definition of your target
audience. Your list broker will use this information as
the basis for media plan development. This is one of the
most important activities in your campaign because it
drives the logic for selecting lists and developing the
media plan.
Offer Review - Allocate time to review your
creative/offer with your broker. While the list broker
doesn't necessarily make claims to be a copywriter, they
have certainly seen countless offers combined with
performance data that qualifies them to provide valuable
feedback. A broker may suggest minor copy enhancements to
maximize performance and increase profitability of the
overall campaign. Enhancements can include tweaks in the
subject line, formatting changes in the body copy and use
of specific keywords in the message text.
Campaign Development - This is where the list
broker harnesses their knowledge base of list media,
combining data from the various list research tools in
addition to their own experience with specific list
universes. The end result is a media plan based on your
target audience that works within your budget and meets
your marketing goals.
Negotiation - Depending on the volumes involved,
the list broker may be in a position to negotiate special
pricing that will help reduce the break-even point for a
particular campaign. Such negotiations are performed in
conjunction with the appropriate list management
organizations (the companies that represent the actual
data on behalf of the list owner). Aspects of the
negotiation process may include scheduling and turn-around
time for the overall campaign, copy positioning (if the
media plan includes e-mail sponsorships), reciprocal
rentals and list exchanges.
Order Trafficking - Once the approval has been
given on the media plan, the list broker's operations
group will execute the plan, integrating job control and
scheduling activities with the appropriate list managers.
"Back-end" tasks include organizing and coordinating
messages, scheduling jobs, processing list rental
agreements, keying URLs, bundling text/HTML copy and more.
Message Testing - The final quality control
point, this round of testing is usually performed between
the list brokerage firm and the list manager/list vendor
to ensure that all instructions have been properly
interpreted prior to obtaining final review and approval
by the marketer.
Analysis - Performance information is typically
shared with the list broker to evaluate the success of the
campaign, providing closed-loop feedback at the individual
list level so that modifications to the media plan can be
made in an intelligent manner. This post-campaign
consultation is an important service provided by the
broker, which will help guide the marketer in moving
forward with future campaigns.
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Note to Constant Contact users: We have partnered with
MetaResponse.com to provide our users with access to every
permission-based rental list on the open market.
Click here for more information.
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