LIST
BROKERS
Specialising in Mailing Lists & Telephone Lists. Consumers and Business
Mail,
Telemarketing, Email Lists, Fax Lists. Plus Consumer SMS & Email Marketing
Campaigns & Promotions
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Permission
Marketing
Hitting your target market can be a tricky business. Most consumers
loathe receiving cold calls and unsolicited mail, and advertising such
as TV, radio, and press can be expensive. All that unnecessary waste of
time, trees, and your marketing budget.
So what's a business to do?
The internet has opened up many channels for companies to market very cost-effectively using email and SMS. This is called Permission Marketing.
Permission marketing is also known as opt-in marketing. This means that somebody has OPTED IN to receive marketing messages from a company. For example, if you have an email newsletter that goes out to your customers (and if you don't, a big slapping!), your customers would have given their permission verbally or via email for you to contact them further through email. Perhaps they signed up to your enewsletter from your website.
In the above example, you're using email to perform basic customer relationship management. So how can you as a business use email or SMS to acquire more customers? By using quality lists.
Email has had some bad press over the years, and yes we all get great hints on how to improve our sex lives and stock tips in our Outlook on a daily basis. These are spams (alias unsolicited messages) and a constant source of frustration, which is why the Australian government has set such heavy fines for spammers.
You may have read about the car sales website that went through the newspaper classifieds and just added peoples' mobile numbers to their database without their knowledge, then started sending marketing messages to these people via SMS. Not surprisingly, people complained and the company received a fine, and no doubt a dent to their credibility.
If people consented to receiving SMS's then there would have been no problem...but instead they spammed them.
The heavy fines have spooked a lot of businesses into not using lists to aquire customers. This is understandable, but misguided. There are several very good quality email and mobile lists that are freely available via your list broker that allow you to send highly targeted campaigns to consumers and businesspeople.
For example,
you want to target consumers in Melbourne who are music lovers aged over
18 - you can do this very quickly using one of the many permission lists
available. The added bonus with using a list is you can push customers
through to your own website where they can join your database - a great
way to build or add to your own database!
And you can see how many people responded to your message. Email marketing is very trackable and accountable.
So where do these miracle lists come from?
List owners usually gather lists via their websites by offering consumers great deals on products and services. In return consumers accept advertising messages from companies via email and/or mobile phone. Members are always asked detailed questions when they sign up, so the list owner can segment the database.
When we want to book our ad campaign, we can select the audience, their job title, State, age group, and their lifestyle preferences, so there's minimal wastage.
Doesn't that just beat sending out a bunch of letters to people who don't want to know you?
The average cost for a campaign is around 25-35 cents per email/SMS and you're looking at around $400 in setup costs, which usually includes a nicely formatted email. Most list owners have a minimum spend, so budget for at least $800-$1000 per campaign. Still cheaper than mail, and the response rates can be anywhere from 5% to 80%.
Promotional campaigns to consumers can do exceptionally well. For example, youth website MyGamma.com had a 52% response rate to their recent email campaign using a quality list, Email Cash.
There are still questionable email lists floating around. Always ask a list broker if the lists they represent are 100% opt-in. If they um and ahh, thank them and put the phone down. A quality list owner or list broker knows if their list is a permission-based one.
A recent caller confided to me that one list company told him that their list was "not really opt-in" but advised him to "first send the people on the list an email to ask if you can then send them your marketing message." What the??? Run for your life!!
Permission marketing really offers a 'full circle' approach to your marketing campaign because people genuinely want to read your message. If they like what they see, they'll click the link in the email to visit your website, or flash their mobile voucher in your store. Hopefully they'll become a subscriber to your own permission list...because you'll ask them.
Turn
Your Ad Into A Direct Response Masterpiece
We allow ourselves a moment to gloat over our catchy slogan and funky
graphics on our fabulous advertisement...until we realise that our quarry
has probably forgotten who we are 5 seconds after seeing our advertising
masterpiece.
All because they had no way of responding in a way that's convenient for them.
Did you know that the mobile phone has an 82% penetration into the Australian market? And 85% of the mobile phone-toting public uses SMS - short message service - to send text messages.
These thumb jockeys are all potential customers and are probably looking at your ad right now. They're not going to call your 1800 number or remember your website, but they might let their thumbs do the walking.
Let me give you a scenario: I'm on the train reading the morning paper and see an ad for a great holiday package. When I get to my station, I put the paper in the bin, holiday company forgotten. A wasted opportunity for you.
By adding a simple call to action to any advertisement, you can get a response from your target audience, plus track when that response came in.
A call to action using SMS can be as simple as this: For further details SMS the code SUN to 0429 555 555 and we'll send you more info.
Using the holiday example above, I could request a brochure to be sent to my email address or a reply text message with the company's website be sent back to my phone so I can follow up later.
The point is, I have responded to your advertisement in a way that's convenient for me.
And you can see exactly what time I did respond, making your ad very trackable.
Our company recently worked on a campaign for the infamous Melbourne Oyster Bar. They took out a small display in Melbourne's Herald Sun with the usual call to action. We also included an offer for a special lunch voucher using our Virtual Post SMS to Email system. Consumers had to SMS the code MOB followed by their email address to request a voucher be emailed to them. 328 people did just that.
A great response from one small ad. That's the equivalent of 328 people ringing the restaurant. Imagine the response from a national campaign!
Consumers were able to get coupons for Dunkin Donuts by responding to billboards, radio, and POS ads. By sending a code to the number, consumers received a free gift coupon exchangeable at local outlets. Sales were reportedly up 9% within the first three weeks of the campaign.
McDonald's SIP N' FLIP SMS Instant Win campaign attracted over 3 million entries in 4 weeks.
There are many ways you can use an SMS call to action in your advertising. For example, to generate enquiries about your business, to offer mobile coupons and vouchers to the public which they can redeem at your stores, to run a competition etc etc.
The
benefits are numerous. An SMS call to action in your ads:
- Makes your ads perform better
- Gets information out to consumers instantly
- Gives you instant research data
- Introduces a viral component
- Builds a database for follow-up marketing
Gives anybody with a mobile phone the chance to respond to your message.
That's a pretty powerful marketing tool!
Anti
Spam Laws - What You Need To Know
In April 2004, the Spam Act became law, in an effort to stop the
flood of junk emails and unwanted SMS'.
The penalty provisions of that law mean any businesses or individuals who send unsolicited commercial emails or text messages in breach of the law can attract very heavy fines. A message is "unsolicited" if the recipient has not given prior consent to being sent the message.
If your centre sends out any electronic communication to a database, or you are planning to, these laws affect you.
What Should
You Do?
1. Update all of your current email and SMS marketing templates to ensure
compliance
2. Always get consent before sending any emails or SMS' to new customers
3. Brief all staff about the new laws
4. Do not
purchase any lists from brokers unless you get a written guarantee that
all the names on their lists are opt in (also called a 'permission-based'
list.)
At
A Glance
An electronic message includes emails, SMS or instant messages, but not
telephone calls using a landline.
A 'commercial electronic message' is an electronic message which advertises, offers to supply, or promotes goods, services, and any other business.
The Act does not include messages which are factual in nature (e.g. news bulletins) but will apply if the message has a commercial purpose.
The Act prohibits the supply or use of "email harvesting" software.
Do
not send a commercial electronic message unless you:
a) have the express or implied consent of the recipient (e.g. when they
joined they ticked a box agreeing to receive electronic correspondence
from you.)
and
b) your message contains details about you or the company who sent the
message
and
c) includes an unsubscribe or opt-out facility.
FULL
DETAILS OF THE SPAM ACT CAN BE FOUND HERE
www.noie.gov.au
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WANT MORE INFO, A QUOTE, OR PLACE AN ORDER?
- Simply email us a brief and tell us what you need. We'll come back to you within 24 hours (usually quicker)
- Or call 1300 668 287 between 9am-6pm Monday to Friday (EST)
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Media
M Group
17 Emerald Hill Place
South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3205
Tel:
1300 668 287 or +
61 3 9645 5805
Fax:
61 3 8080 6469
Email: mail@dame.com.au