From vetting a third-party data provider and segmenting audiences, to writing and designing an email that will grab their attention and keep it, there are plenty of moves marketers make to plan an acquisition campaign. Yet email delivery—arguably, the most critical part—is often overlooked.

To achieve the best results, you need the right data and you need to know how and where to execute your campaigns. Here’s an illustration: If you’re planning a trip, knowing the address is great, but it’s not enough if you don’t have the right transportation to take you there. For campaigns to reach their full potential, marketers need the right data (knowing where you’re going) and the right email platform (how you’ll get there).

This is a common issue marketers run into, and it’s a problem some aren’t even aware of. Especially since most Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and marketing automation platforms do not allow the use of third-party email contact data.

Here are three strategies for success with email campaigns driven by third-party data:

1. Choose the Right Platform: CRM Platforms vs. Acquisition Platforms

CRM campaigns typically have higher open rates because they target people who are already customers or have already expressed an interest in your company or offer. It’s common for some platforms, such as Eloqua and Marketo (https://business.adobe.com/products/marketo/adobe-marketo.html), to follow strict guidelines for data privacy and reputation management, so they won’t tolerate the high opt-out rates that are commonly expected with acquisition campaigns targeting cold contacts. That said, for the acquisition campaigns that OMI fuels with our third-party data, opt outs have always been less than 1% through the years. From our experience, the biggest issue impacting acquisition campaigns is high hard or soft bounce rates – which occur more frequently when the third-party data isn’t properly vetted.

Sending acquisition campaigns through a CRM is not only potentially against the platform’s policy, but it can also have significant deliverability issues and result in even lower open rates. Acquisition email platforms, on the other hand, have different standards for white-listing, reputation management, and IP address cleanliness, making them the better platform for third-party data campaigns. Using the right platform can increase delivery rates and, by effect, improve open rates. Historically, ROI and open rate percentages are dynamically correlated, so a small percentage increase in your open rate will deliver significant increases in ROI.

2. Warm Up Cold Emails

At OMI, we often recommend “warming up” contacts by sending the first “cold” email through our proven email prospecting transmission platform. We use a proprietary process for delivering email that achieves a 94% delivery rate on average after initial onboarding. From there, our clients realize higher engagement and conversion rates. We recommend transferring any contacts that open or click the initial email to a CRM platform for ongoing outreach, such as sequenced nurture emails and automated follow-ups.

3. Use Quality Data

Quality third-party data will always be the foundation of successful acquisition campaigns. Without it, your campaigns will fall flat, no matter how creative they may be. Marketers must especially pay attention when it comes to small to midsize business (SMB) data, which is the most challenging type of third-party data to keep accurate.

Lastly, don’t discount the final part of the process: acquisition email platforms are critical for ensuring the best delivery rates, open rates, and ultimately, enabling you to drive higher campaign ROI when using third-party data.

If you have questions about acquisition campaigns, our team would be happy to provide guidance. Feel free to connect with us.

Over 75 million of OMI’s 80 million manager-level and above contacts are matched to the LiveRamp RampID graph, including 65 million records from our SMB and medical market databases. Contact us today to learn more about building a custom audience.