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Outsourcing
InBox360
http://www.inbox360.com
The 360 System is one of the most flexible and powerful database and
permission-based e-mail-marketing systems available today.
Bluestreak
http://www.bluestreak.com
Bluestreak is a global online direct marketing firm founded upon advanced
technologies and best practices for interactive marketing.
Blacklists
Razor2
http://www.razor.sf.net
DCC List
http://www.rhyolite.com/anti-spam/dcc/dcc-tree/dcc.html
Pyzor
http://www.pyzor.sf.net
Mail Abuse Prevention
http://www.mail-abuse.org
Network Abuse Clearinghouse
http://www.abuse.net
Not Just Another Blacklist
http://www.njabl.org
SPAM Blocking Blackhole
http://www.blackholes.bruli.net
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15
Effective Promotion
through Direct Mail Lists
For years marketers have been renting mail lists from reputable companies
for direct marketing purposes. These companies take their
customers’ marketing materials and manage the process of printing
labels, affixing the labels and postage, and sending the materials
out. The same type of service is available on-line—only the marketing
message is sent via e-mail rather than snail mail. In this chapter,
we cover:
• How direct mail list companies work
• How to select a company to work with
• How you work with a direct mail list company
• Costs related to direct mail list marketing
• Tips on how to make the most of your direct mail list marketing.
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How Direct Mail List Companies Work
Online direct mail list companies work on the same premise as offline
direct mail list companies. They provide a service to organizations that
want to directly market to a particular demographic or geographic segment
of the population. To do this effectively, they develop large databases
of individuals that fit specific criteria.
How they generate these databases is what differentiates the good
from the bad. The not-so-reputable companies and the bulk mail list
companies tend to “grab” e-mail addresses from newsgroups, public
mail lists, and a number of other places on the Internet, using programs
built just for that purpose. Reputable companies, on the other
hand, have a number of strategic ways to build their lists of people
interested in receiving information on specific topics. They partner
with sites that have significant targeted traffic to offer relevant and
interesting information to that site’s visitors. They offer the site visitors
the opportunity to “opt in” to receive updates or information on
the specified topic.
To opt in, there has to be an offer for information on the topic and
the visitor has to ask to be put on the list, provide his or her e-mail
address, and often also provide his or her first name. The list company
wants the first name so that future correspondence can be personalized.
Some of the more reputable companies require a “double opt-in” to
increase the value of their list and to ensure the validity of the names on
their list. With a double opt-in, the site visitor asks to be put on the list
to receive updates or information on a particular topic. When the mail
list company receives this request, it follows up with an e-mail notifying
the individual that the request has been received and asking for confirmation
of the request by a reply to the e-mail.
These direct mail list companies organize their databases by area
of interest. They continually improve their lists by doing a little data
mining with their correspondence to the people on their lists. Sometimes
they use tracking techniques to hone in on specific areas of
interest, sometimes they ask a question or two to access more demographic
or psychographic information about the individuals on the
list, and sometimes they send a detailed survey-type questionnaire
asking for feedback so they can better tailor the information being
sent to the individual.
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How to Select a Direct Mail Company
There are a number of factors to consider when selecting a direct mail
list company to work with. First and foremost, the company must be
reputable.
The company should have a topic list that meshes with your target
market. If you sell tropical fish, the company should have a category
that fits. Not all direct mail list companies focus on the same
categories. Some concentrate on business topics, others on individual
leisure topics, still others on technology topics and some focus on a
combination.
When you have narrowed down the reputable companies with topic
lists that relate to your product or service, look at costs, tracking, policies
on content and opt-in policies. You want to work with a company
that personalizes its correspondence to the individuals on the list. You
also want to be able to encourage recipients to visit your Web site, so
you don’t want to have any restrictions on hypertext links. Some direct
mail list companies provide tracking statistics for their customers. It is
useful to know how many people read the message, and how many
people merely “clicked through” to your Web site rather than taking
the action you wanted them to.
How to Work with a Direct Mail List Company
Once you have selected the direct mail list company or companies you
want to work with, you should:
• Fine-tune the specific list to receive your message.
• Provide the message content to the direct mail list company.
• Approve the sample message.
Then, the mail list company will:
• Compile the specific list.
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256 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
• Develop or format the message you provided.
• Send you a sample for final approval.
• Merge the list with your message so that each person on the list
receives a personalized message.
• Send out the message to the list.
• Track specific actions taken by recipients once they have received
the message.
You work with the direct mail list company employees to have them
develop the specific list that meets with your objectives and fits your
budget. These companies usually can segment their lists to come up
with just the right grouping to meet your needs and budget. For example,
you might want your message to go out to people interested in
white-water rafting. If the direct mail list company’s list for outdoor
adventure enthusiasts is segmented, they can pull out the white-water
rafting segment. If that list provides more names than your budget can
afford, they might be able to segment the list again to only include whitewater
rafting enthusiasts in specific states.
Costs Related to Direct Mail List Marketing
The costs for direct mail list marketing are always on a per name basis.
Often there is a sliding scale based on volume. The costs per name generally
include all the services you need from the direct mail list company,
including segmenting and rental of the list, merge and
personalization, and delivery of the message. Different companies charge
different amounts per name.
Postmaster Direct (http://www.postmasterdirect.com) is one of the
oldest and most reputable direct mail list companies around (see Figure
15.1). It has more than 3,000 topic lists, with more than 30 million
e-mail addresses. It has the largest database of business-to-business
double-opt-in e-mail addresses. One hundred percent of the names on
its list are opt-in. It partners with high-traffic reputable sites to generate
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Effective Promotion through Direct Mail Lists 257
its lists—sites like About.com, Internet.com, and CNET. Postmaster
Direct costs per name range from 10 cents to 35 cents, including rental,
merge, and delivery. A minimum order costs $1,000.
There are a number of direct mail list companies to consider. I have
provided a link to many of them from the free Internet Resources section
of my Web site (http://www.susansweeney.com/resources.html).
Although the pricing information and numbers of topic lists or categories
were correct at the time of printing this book, check the direct mail
list company sites for updates before making any decisions.
Make the Most of Your Direct Mail List Marketing
Direct mail list marketing is a great way to reach a significant number
of your target market with your message in a short period of time. Ideally,
you would like to have each of these names on your private mail
Figure 15.1. PostMaster Direct is one of the oldest and most reputable direct
mail list companies around.
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258 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
list. If you’re smart about the content of the message you have the direct
mail list company send out, you can go a long way toward converting
the direct mail list recipients to your private mail list subscribers.
In your direct mail list message, you want to give recipients a compelling
reason to visit your Web site. The URL or specific page reached by
the hypertext link in your direct mail message should provide them with
not only the content they are expecting, but also a compelling reason to
join your private mail list and an opportunity to easily sign up.
To ensure that your message is opened and read put in the time and
effort to have a dynamite subject line. Often the subject line determines
whether the message is read or is one of the many deleted unopened.
Consider personalizing the subject line with the recipient’s name. And
make sure the subject line copy does not read like an ad. Ads and junk
mail are the first to be deleted.
Write your message so it can be easily scanned. That’s how busy
people read their e-mail—they scan it. Grab the reader’s attention in the
first sentence. If you don’t, he or she won’t read any further.
Of course, be sure you have used the proper upper- and lowercase,
correct grammar, and correct spelling. You know yourself how many
business e-mails you get that don’t take this seriously. Your e-mail is a
reflection of the attention to detail you give everything in your business.
Make sure you access and analyze any tracking information available
from the direct mail list company. Notice what copy works best.
Notice what subject lines give a better response rate. Notice the different
responses from different direct mail list companies.
Internet Resources for Chapter 15
I have included a few resources for you to check out regarding direct
mail list marketing. For additional resources on a variety of topics, visit
the Resources section of my Web site at http://www.susansweeney.com/
resources.html. There you can find additional tips, tools, techniques,
and resources.
Act One Lists
http://www.act1lists.com
Act One Lists is a full-service list company specializing in compilation,
brokerage, management, data processing, and direct marketing consulting
with 26 years of experience.
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Direct Mail Library
http://www.amlist.com/Knowledge/articlelist.asp
Lots of articles on everything from how to create your e-mail message
to the 12 most common direct mail mistakes.
Direct Marketing Network
http://www.minokc.com/dmnetwork
A searchable database of more than 80,000 business listings for direct
mail marketing.
DMNews.com
http://www.dmnews.com
An online paper devoted to direct mail marketing.
Dunn & Bradstreet Sales and Marketing Solutions
http://www.zapdata.com
Provider of direct mail list solutions.
GreatLists.com
http://www.greatlists.com
An independent supplier of both domestic U.S. and international business-
to-business and professional marketing lists to clients throughout
America and in more than 25 countries around the world.
iList
http://www.ilistinc.com
iList provides double-opt-in e-mail list services from the top e-mail solution
providers in the United States.
Nerd Wide Web Direct Marketing Resources
http://www.nerdworld.com/nw9490.html
Links to lots of companies providing direct mail list solutions.
Tips for Writing your E-mail Message
http://www.htmail.com/article5.html
Tips to keep in mind when writing your e-mail marketing piece.
USAData’s Direct Marketing Portal
http://www.usadata.com
USAData’s Direct Marketing Portal allows you to easily and quickly
launch your own targeted direct mail program.
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16
Developing a Dynamite
Link Strategy
The more strategically chosen links you have to your site, the better!
Increase your traffic and improve your search engine ranking by orchestrating
links from related Web pages. In this chapter, we cover:
• Developing a link strategy
• How to arrange links
• Getting noticed—providing an icon and tag line
hypertext for links to your site
• Link positioning
• Tools to check your competitors’ links
• Using links to enhance your image
• Web rings and meta-indexes
• Getting links to your site
Links
Selectable connections
from one word, picture,
or information
object to another.
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Developing a Dynamite Link Strategy 261
• Reciprocal link pages
• Associate programs
• How links can enhance your search engine placements.
Links Have an Impact
Developing your link strategy is one of the most crucial elements of
Internet marketing. It is a time-consuming task, but it is time well spent.
Links are important for several reasons.
1. Strategically placed, they can be a real traffic builder.
2. A number of the frequently used search engines use link popularity
and link relevancy as part of their ranking criteria. The
more links to your site, the more popular it is, so the number of
links you have to your site can significantly impact your placement
with those search engines.
3. The more links you have to your site, the more opportunities
search engine spiders have to find you.
Links Have Staying Power
When you post a message to a newsgroup where you promote your
Web site through your brilliant contributions and your signature file,
you receive increased traffic while the message is current and is being
read by participants in the newsgroup. As time passes, your message
appears farther and farther down the list until it disappears, and then
your traffic level returns to normal. The same goes for a promotional
effort in a mail list. You can expect increased traffic for a short while
after your mail list posting, but as soon as everyone has read your posting
and visited your site, traffic levels return to normal.
This is not the same for links. Traffic from links does not go away as
easily as other forms of Internet marketing. Links generally stay active
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262 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
for a long time. When a link to your site is placed on another Web site,
you hope people see it and are enticed to click through to visit your site.
As long as the site that hosts your link has new traffic, you continue to
receive traffic through it. The beauty of links is that in three months,
that link will still be there and people will still be clicking through!
Links are very important because if you have links placed on a
high-traffic Web site, they can turn into traffic builders for your own
site. They also are important because they can have a major impact on
your ranking in search engines, because some of the busiest ones use
link popularity in their ranking criteria. Some of these search engines
include:
• Google (www.google.com)
• Yahoo search (www.search.yahoo.com)
• AltaVista (www.altavista.com)
• HotBot (www.hotbot.com)
• MSN (www.msn.com)
• Inktomi (www.inktomi.com).
Once your link strategy is implemented and you begin to see an increase
in the number of sites linking to your Web site, you will see
your ranking in the previously mentioned search engines improve. For
more information on search engines and their ranking criteria, see
Chapters 6 and 7.
A Quick Talk about Outbound Links
The more links to your site, the better chance that someone will be
enticed to visit. However, a quid quo pro usually applies, and this means
providing reciprocal links, giving people the opportunity to leave your
site with the click of a button. To minimize this “flight effect,” make
sure you place outbound links two or three layers down in your site.
Never place outbound links on your home page. You want your visitors
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to come into your site and see and do everything you want them to
before they have the opportunity to go elsewhere.
There are two ways you can provide outbound links. The first is by
providing a hypertext link, which transports the visitor from your site
to some one else’s with a single click. The second and preferred method
is to have each outbound link open a new browser window when clicked.
This way your visitors get to see the referred Web site, but when they
are finished and close that window, the original browser window with
your Web site is still active. The browser window with your site should
still be visible on the task bar during their visit to the referred site.
Regularly test all of the links from your site to ensure that they are
“live” and are going to the intended locations. Dead links reflect poorly
on your site even if they are out of your control. There are tools available
on-line to help you determine whether you have dead links. These
tools include NetMechanic at http://www.netmechanic.com (see Figure
16.1) and Dr. Watson at http://watson.addy.com. Each of these tools is
discussed in more depth in the Internet Resources section at the end of
this chapter.