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6. Stage in the purchase or product lifecycle:
Are you acquiring prospects all along the
purchase cycle – or just those at the top of the
funnel, who might take years for you to nurture
and cajole into making a purchase?
7. Buying frequency: Replenishment emails
for products such as printer paper or coffee
beans encourage more frequent and regular
buying, which a smaller list of active buyers
could support.
Seasonal or big-ticket items might be purchased
only once a year or every several years; so, you
might need a very large marketing base.
8. Cross-sell/upsell potential: If you market
items people buy only every few years, such
as cruises or high-end sporting goods, you
have longer repeat-purchase and
consideration cycles.
Can you create value from this base by marketing
accessories and maintenance packages,
and enabling loyal customers to do your marketing
for you?
9. Message value: A large list generally has a
more diverse audience than a small one. Can
you provide enough content in your messages
to leverage this diversity, or segment your list to
create individual message streams that reflect
multiple interests?
10. List churn: If you already have a sizable list,
one-third to one-half of it is likely inactive. It can
be even more if you aren’t providing significant
value for subscribers but continue to just pound
away at their inbox.
10. Organizational support: Aside from the
budget to pay for list acquisition and deployment
costs, you need marketing and possibly IT
personnel to handle the demands of a large
database.
Size is Just the Start
In the end, a list – large or small – is only as good as
what you do with it. Engaging those new subscribers
to keep them active on your list is your next
challenge.
See Chapter 6, “Engagement: Why It’s Vital to Your
Email Health” for advice on this crucial aspect of
email marketing.
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