Building An E-mail Database From Scratch

Creating an e-mail database isn't a "set it and forget it" kind of operation. An e-mail list can be compared more to a pet: you have to feed it, help it to grow and take care of it. And it's not an easy operation, either. There are probably plenty of you out there reading this who either have a list that isn't performing or who failed in putting one together.

What went wrong? You just didn't take the right steps. But we've found an e-mail marketing expert who can help. Sergio Radovcic, CEO of online marketing consultancy FastForward, has produced great results for companies like TGI Friday’s. And his advice can help you.

Building a Database - The First Steps

The first thing to do is consider the reasons you're building your list. Is it to drive sales? To recruit a particular kind of customer?

"Having a list for the sake of having it is often one of the bigger mistakes," says Radovcic.

Once you've decided on your objective, take a look at your offline customer list, and start gathering e-mail addresses.

"By buying those e-mail addresses from the service bureaus and using the matching technology, you can enrich your current database records with an actual online address as well," says Radovcic.

But don't just start sending e-mails willy-nilly. You have to ensure your customers want to be there, or you're just spamming them.

"The responsible bureaus that you will be buying the matching lists from will have obtained the right to share consumers’ information with interested third parties. That is the first step - insuring that the service bureau is reputable and their privacy policies are top notch," he says.

After that you'll want to do another opt-in. I know, you're worried those names you bought will reject you and thus waste your money. But it's easy to create an opt-in that wins fans.

"Ultimately, you want to provide an incentive to stay on your lists. Messages such as, 'Here’s your chance to win a trip to sunny Aruba. Do you still want to be on our list?' are a great way to generate that initial reaction. You will see that in a majority of those instances, less than 5% of people will actually opt out because they have all previously opted in through the bureau," he says.

List Care and Feeding

After your list is born, you'll need to take care of it - prune it every so often, kick the tires. Radovcic says the best way to do that is to give people a reason to self-service the list.

"The easiest way to obtain information about the updates in your list is to ask. If you can provide people with a reason to come back, and that’s where we often suggest a loyalty program or some type of continuous incentive for utilizing e-mail as a communication vehicle, people will actually maintain the list for you. A good example would be an airline deciding to use e-mail for delivery of the frequent flyer statements. Instead of providing a one-time incentive or 5,000 points, they’re providing a 400-point a month incentive. Of course that is only valid if the e-mail doesn’t bounce back. If well thought out, that provides a continuous incentive to maintain the list," says Radovcic.

You update the post office when you move because you want your mail, right? Give a customer similar reasons to stay on your list and they will.

Bringing it to the Next Level

When you have a strong, healthy list, it's automatic to think about making it the most finely honed marketing tool at your disposal. How do you take your list and make it its strongest? You must observe the effects your communications are taking.

"It’s about making sure that every time you start the new campaign, you learn from the previous good attempts and mistakes," says Radovcic. "If you’re finding that a certain segment of your audience isn’t responding to a certain offer, over-sending e-mail to the audience is obviously going to have negative results. You should focus on the things that work and eliminate things that don’t. Once you establish what works, use that to generate web surveys, web sweepstakes, and basically open up as many channels as you can with the things that work to add more and more people."

"There’s also a very powerful vehicle that we refer to as ‘friends and family,’ often known in the marketing world as viral marketing. We like to think of it more as friends and family, providing people with a way to recommend your product or to list other folks for specific rewards," he says.

With a combination of careful observation and incentives to get involved, stay involved, and bring others along with you, you'll have the strong and vital list that can bring your customer loyalty and repeat sales to a whole new level. And that, my friends, is how a business not only gets successful, but stays successful.