Ensure complete transparency
Once advertisers acquire an email address via opt-in, they are essentially acquiring permission to engage in a conversation with that consumer. This makes it essential that advertisers know exactly where their acquired consumers came from. To give just one example, advertisers would speak to consumers acquired from a publication such as the Wall Street Journal differently than consumers who came from iVillage.com.
Nowadays, search advertising is largely transparent. An advertiser can tell if an acquired subscriber came from the search network, or can perhaps even pinpoint a particular site on the content network (something that wasn't possible a few years ago).
Two years ago the CPL market was plagued by problems that had to do with lack of transparency. However, in a manner that would make Adam Smith proud, the market has responded to the increased advertiser demand for greater visibility into campaign placements.
CPL campaigns today are as transparent as CPM or CPC advertising. The increased transparency explains why advertisers across a diverse spectrum of industry sectors such as the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign, Kimberly-Clark, eFax, Dunhill Vacations, and movie properties like "I.O.U.S.A." are using transparent CPL advertising to acquire email addresses of qualified subscribers.
"Transparency is critical," says Kurt Homfelt, president and CEO of Dunhill Vacations, rated by Hitwise as the fastest growing travel website. "Our challenge is to get reach across several different demographics (baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, etc.) and find within each demo subscribers interested in travel. Once we determine that a specific website caters to a target audience, we test to see if their audience has a propensity/interest in leisure travel. This is why it is important to know the sites where our ads run."
Ensure openness
There are two important factors in building an email list, both of which, on the surface, appear to be at odds with each other.
On one hand, advertisers need to get the most qualified subscribers for their email list. On the other hand, they need to ensure that their database is large enough to be meaningful. This is why campaign reach is important.
By maximizing reach, advertisers will be able to get their message across to as wide an audience as possible. The simplest way to maximize reach is to work with companies that provide you access to a significant portion of the market. For example, DoubleClick provides access to a significant portion of the display market, Google offers advertisers a gateway to a significant portion of the search market, while open marketplaces like Pontiflex offer advertisers a single point of connection to the entire CPL market.
Follow-up with acquired emails in real time
Auto-responders are a great way to follow-up with your leads in real time and keep them engaged with your brand. Auto-responders are emails that are sent to the user as soon as he or she signs up for your advertisement.
For email marketers, the first impression is often the last impression. Hence, it is important that every email marketer has a well-thought-out auto-responder strategy prior to deploying an email acquisition campaign. Here are some best practices for designing auto-responders.
1. Focus on clarity: Clearly state what the user has signed up for. If possible, specify where they saw your offer. Include a clear call-to-action.
2. Act in a timely manner: Send lead data to your database in real time so the auto-responder can be sent instantly upon receipt. Remember that in an information-deluged age, a few minutes can be a lifetime, and a few days could very well be an eternity -- one where your message is condemned to the depths of oblivion.
3. Measure and optimize: Always include trackable links in the auto-responder so that you can track performance post-transmission. This will enable you to better design more relevant future marketing communications for your prospects.
4. Customize: As much as possible, segment your database to enable more relevant communications.
- Create follow-up marketing campaigns for leads that have not followed through with registration or acquisition.
- If needed, provide an incentive to the user to complete their acquisition.
- Customize the subject line to help clarify the offer they signed up for.
- As much as possible, personalize the message to the user.
By deploying open and transparent acquisition campaigns with a coordinated follow-up strategy, advertisers can build responsive email lists that are great engagement vehicles. They can boost relevant branding metrics as well as increase ROI, thus bridging the two worlds that are often thought of as mutually exclusive entities.
Zephrin Lasker is co-founder and CEO of Pontiflex.
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