Building a Successful Email Marketing Database: Three Top Takeaways

I’m excited to announce that my new e-book, “The Executive’s 15-Minute Guide to Building a Successful Email Marketing Database” has been published and is available for free download here. The guide serves as a playbook for executives at all levels and is based on my years of experience in best leveraging email data to achieve an optimal return on investment (ROI).

What was the inspiration behind the e-book? While it seems organizations these days understand the benefits of conducting email campaigns to acquire qualified leads to fuel stronger sales and more, they sometimes get tripped up when it comes to acquiring email data and using it to its maximum potential.

Now, I’m making all of the best-practice email database advice I’ve been giving through the years available in a single place. It’s a quick read that I think provides plenty of value. For those who want the “CliffNotes” edition, here are 3 top takeaways:                                                                 

• Do your homework: Many marketers – even experienced, senior marketing executives – are often unsure how to get started when it comes to acquiring email data to initiate marketing campaigns. So if this is you, you’re not alone. First, analyze your existing customer database by cleansing and standardizing the business contact data you already have. Then examine company make up – types of business, location, size, etc. Next, observe the people – titles, functions, levels. Are they predominantly male or female? Are they experienced or junior? Do they use corporate domains, or independent service provider (ISV) domains (e.g. AOL, Gmail, etc.)? After going through this exercise, you’ll not only better understand who your customers are, but also recognize the need to bolster your database.

 

• Make the right purchase: When acquiring email data, you can focus your list criteria on your model customer by selecting the ideal locations (state/city/zip), business type (SIC or NAICS codes) and employees (function/titles/codes). Get full contact info (addresses, telephone) so you can conduct multi-channel campaigns (not just email). It’s more cost effective to purchase an unlimited use license (for several months or longer)—as opposed to a one-time use list. Doing so will enable you to clean, develop and grow your list on an ongoing basis. Lastly, be sure to get a (written) email data validity guarantee of at least 95%.

 

• Stick to quality (not quantity): Poor or outdated data will cause low response rates, and high opt-out and reported spam rates. In fact, businesses can get blocked from emailing all together if they continue to use poor data. When building your own email database, start small by not requesting too much data – maybe just 5 fields. You can always collect more info later. Update your database when you learn of contact info, role or company changes. The days of wildly shot-gunning emails are over – effective marketing today requires the focus of a sniper to target the exact prospect with the precise message at the ideal point in their buying cycle.

 

With the right data in hand, you’ll be ready to begin reaching out to prospects with your valuable and informative messages. But remember that email marketing is a journey, not a destination or quick fix. It requires skill, patience, insight into your target market, and testing and refining of your message. Most of all, your goal should be to deliver real value by assisting your prospects as they move through the sales cycle and their post-sale relationship with your organization.

When it comes to email marketing, by taking a longer-term view, you’ll be setting your prospects—and yourself—up for sustained success.

I hope you enjoy the e-book. Happy reading!

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Find and win new customers with targeted, high-quality email marketing data from OMI. Click here for more information and download our new e-book, “The Executive’s 15-Minute Guide to Building a Successful Email Marketing Database,” today.