Business-to-Business Internet Marketing, Fourth Edition - Lifecycle ...

Generating and Qualifying Leads with E-mail 105
of any promotional e-mail that, in effect, asks the recipient to simply
respond with a word, such as “unsubscribe,” to prevent receiving future
promotional e-mails from you. Some Internet marketers believe
you should include a Web page link in your e-mail for opting out. At
this link, you could offer individuals an opportunity to change their
mind about opting out. You might want to test this approach yourself.
Be Very Cautious if You Choose to Share, Sell,
or Rent a List of Your Own E-mail Addresses
Some organizations generate substantial revenue by renting name and
address lists of prospects and customers to others for commercial usage.
Other organizations share or swap lists to broaden their prospecting
efforts. These practices are common in the direct marketing industry,
but they have led to such a proliferation of mail and telephone calls that
the industry’s major trade organization, the Direct Marketing Association
(www.the-dma.org), now offers mail preference and telephone preference
services that allow consumers to elect not to receive solicitations.
The DMA is actively involved in electronic privacy initiatives.
The “P” word—privacy—is one of the largest looming issues in
Internet marketing. Do not underestimate its importance when it comes
to your Web site or your house list of e-mail addresses. You would be
well advised at this stage to hold any e-mail list you may own close to
the vest and treat it as the confidential and valuable marketing asset
that it is. Keeping it private and for your use only is probably a wise
decision at a time when privacy on the Internet is being scrutinized by
consumers and governments alike.
Building Your Own E-mail List
If you plan to fully integrate e-mail into your marketing initiatives, it
will make sense to build your own e-mail list. Ideally, it won’t be a
separate list at all, but rather a component of your marketing database.
To the extent possible, it is best to acquire e-mail addresses as part of a
marketing campaign that also acquires other basic contact information,
such as name, title, company name, address, and phone number.
If you already have a database, one easy way to start building an
e-mail list is to make an offer to the individuals on the database via
direct mail and ask for an e-mail address in return. (Be sure to ask permission
as well.)