The most important tool in retaining email marketing subscribers is your database. Both law and sensible list management requires it to be accurate, up to date and devoid of irrelevant and confusing detail.

On the matter of which details should be kept, those involved in email marketing are by no means unanimous. There are those who support the bare minimum, suggesting that otherwise it might limit or confuse their marketing plans, to the proponents of as much as possible, the theory being that anything may, at some time or another, become essential.

Both extremes have logic behind them and it is by no means accepted wisdom, or even just wise, that the truth lies somewhere in between. All one can do is to allow each email marketing company to make their own judgement. Whilst that might seem, and probably is, passing the buck somewhat, what can be agreed is that whichever point along the scale you choose, there are essentials.

You should not only consider what you need in order to sell effectively. You must also work out what details you need, including cross-referencing, in order to maintain your customers, to keep them happy and to avoid upsetting them.

Put yourself in the position of an email customer who was so impressed with the way in which your software improved their personnel management that not only did they opt in for email marketing but, when the offer came through for 25% off your servers, they went for it. This company has the makings of a real diamond.

The purchasing supremo ticked the opt in box again hoping for more such offers to make him look on the ball.

If your database is not sufficiently sophisticated to cope with someone who has opted in twice you might well have to hope that it is good enough to work out that when someone has ticked the opt out box just once it means they are out of bounds regardless of how many times they opted in.

Receiving identical emails can be an irritation, the easiest way balm being to tick the opt out box. Further, their listing with the original purchase might well generate a follow up offer on the servers, one which might even be a higher percentage reduction. Imagine what that will do to their customer satisfaction.

In the same way as it is the salmon that is rejected which elevates that which has not, if this customer does not respond to offers of your parallel line of, let us say, motoring holidays in the Czech Republic, if these are frequent then it might well generate the unsubscribe.

That is not to suggest, of course, that you should not try the occasional foray into the unknown on the off-chance but it should be done with care and with reference to your database.

So if you are in the camp of the bare minimum of information being sufficient you might consider that you need enough to ensure you do not upset your customers.

Monday, 1 February 2010
The most important tool in retaining email marketing subscribers is your database. Both law and sensible list management requires it to be accurate, up to date and devoid of irrelevant and confusing detail.

On the matter of which details should be kept, those involved in email marketing are by no means unanimous. There are those who support the bare minimum, suggesting that otherwise it might limit or confuse their marketing plans, to the proponents of as much as possible, the theory being that anything may, at some time or another, become essential.

Both extremes have logic behind them and it is by no means accepted wisdom, or even just wise, that the truth lies somewhere in between. All one can do is to allow each email marketing company to make their own judgement. Whilst that might seem, and probably is, passing the buck somewhat, what can be agreed is that whichever point along the scale you choose, there are essentials.

You should not only consider what you need in order to sell effectively. You must also work out what details you need, including cross-referencing, in order to maintain your customers, to keep them happy and to avoid upsetting them.

Put yourself in the position of an email customer who was so impressed with the way in which your software improved their personnel management that not only did they opt in for email marketing but, when the offer came through for 25% off your servers, they went for it. This company has the makings of a real diamond.

The purchasing supremo ticked the opt in box again hoping for more such offers to make him look on the ball.

If your database is not sufficiently sophisticated to cope with someone who has opted in twice you might well have to hope that it is good enough to work out that when someone has ticked the opt out box just once it means they are out of bounds regardless of how many times they opted in.

Receiving identical emails can be an irritation, the easiest way balm being to tick the opt out box. Further, their listing with the original purchase might well generate a follow up offer on the servers, one which might even be a higher percentage reduction. Imagine what that will do to their customer satisfaction.

In the same way as it is the salmon that is rejected which elevates that which has not, if this customer does not respond to offers of your parallel line of, let us say, motoring holidays in the Czech Republic, if these are frequent then it might well generate the unsubscribe.

That is not to suggest, of course, that you should not try the occasional foray into the unknown on the off-chance but it should be done with care and with reference to your database.

So if you are in the camp of the bare minimum of information being sufficient you might consider that you need enough to ensure you do not upset your customers.