Building your own list is the most viable option for marketers these days, and will pay off handsomely.

I am going to start with a bold statement: In the current email environment, list rental and list buying is not a viable option for legitimate marketers. With spam reaching epidemic proportions, marketers stand a good chance of damaging their brand (at best), or exposing their companies to legal action (at worse) if they use these tactics. 

Am I saying that there are no honest list rental companies out there? No, of course not. But that’s irrelevant. What is relevant to us as marketers and brand builders is how consumers perceive our communications. If we email them without their express and specific permission they will feel annoyed, angry and violated. Spam has become a highly emotional consumer topic and consequently we have to apply extreme restraint and discipline in using email as a marketing channel.

So what are legitimate marketers to do? The answer is simple: Build your own house list, use it smartly and never abuse it. It will take time, discipline and perseverance, but if you stick to it you will soon have an invaluable marketing asset.

How to build a great house list

The simplest way of building your house list is to ask users who visit your Web site to sign up to receive email communications from you. The advantages of this method are that the users who do sign up are highly qualified, and there is no cost involved to adding subscribers. 

However, site sign-up often does not drive significant volume, and so we have to turn to third-party channels like co-registration, opt-in banners, promotions or events on third-party Web sites. The advantage of third-party sign-up is that it can drive massive volumes, but the disadvantage is that you pay for every subscription. This eats into your media budget.

Whether you build your house list on your own site or on third-party sites, it is essential that you stick to the following principles if you want to build a high quality list:

Principle 1: Stick to opt-in

Forget the DMA and CAN-SPAM. They are trying to define what is legal, not what positive brand-building is. Consumers do not want to be emailed unless they have given their express and voluntary permission. Opt-outs, opt-ins hidden in Terms and Conditions, and forced opt-ins simply don’t cut it any longer. 

Principle 2: Confirm it

Don’t just stop at using an opt-in process. For a high quality list and fewer abuse complaints, you need to confirm the opt-in with a confirmation email. The most fool-proof standard is the double opt-in method where users have to click on a link in this confirmation email before the subscription is activated. Unfortunately, many users find this process cumbersome and consequently it greatly limits the number of confirmed subscriptions. A good compromise is the confirmed opt-in method in which users receive a confirmation email that allows them to cancel the subscription if it was made in error. My practical experience is that this method reduces abuse complaints to almost 0 percent while not greatly limiting the number of subscriptions.
 

Principle 3: Be specific

Permission is all about creating a clear expectation and then sticking to it. So be very specific when you subscribe users as to what it is they will be receiving, who they will be receiving it from (be brand-specific), and how frequently they will be receiving it. For example: “Sign up here to receive your weekly copy of IT Law Insight from Techlawfirm LLP. IT Law Insight is published every Monday and will keep you up to date with new legal developments in the IT industry.”

Principle 4: Respond immediately

Probably the most overlooked aspect of building a house list is that permission can expire. If someone subscribes to your communications, you need to confirm that subscription immediately and you need to start sending that person the requested information according to the stated schedule. If you wait too long, your eventual communications will look as much like spam as any organ-enlargement message.

Principle 5: Make incentives relevant

Incentives are a great way to grow your list faster, but make sure the incentive is related to the product or service you are offering. If not, you will end up with a large list of sweepstakes groupies. For example, the offer of a free technical White Paper is a great way to qualify and encourage prospects to join your IT mailing list. An offer of a Caribbean vacation will probably get you a bigger list, but no buyers of your product.

Principle 6: Only collect the data you need

Don’t be greedy. The more information users have to fill in the lower your opt-in rate will be. So if you don’t need it, don’t ask for it. You can always augment your customer data at a later stage through surveys and promotions, but don’t create barriers to entry up-front.

Conclusion

When it comes to using email marketing as a channel, marketers have no choice: We have to build our own lists. It takes time, perseverance, skill, and often a significant financial investment. However, a carefully developed house list -- whether generated on your own site or through ad placements on third-party sites -- will be one of your strongest marketing assets.

Stephan Pretorius founded Acceleration in 1999 and currently is responsible for product development and client strategy. Pretorius holds a BA, LLB from the University of Witwatersrand (WITS) and an LLM from Columbia University, New York.