Permission marketing
This article first appeared in the former What’s New in Marketing website. For all the latest marketing news and information, visit The Marketer website and subscribe to its newsletter. For internet marketing in the UK, see MediaCo.
Permission marketing What is it and how does it fit into the overall marketing mix?
The concept of Permission Marketing has been exciting UK advertisers and their suppliers for some time now, being likened to a revolutionary new medium offering unheard of response rates, low cost of execution and the sort of speed and flexibility that only the Internet can provide. Most importantly, it takes marketing to a new level which empowers the consumer.
This is no longer just theory. We can point to numerous case histories which prove that email marketing is more effective than online banner advertising. We can also point to success stories that firmly place email alongside traditional direct mail for both customer acquisition and CRM campaigns. The penetration of email is now approaching 40% of the adult population. 14million UK consumers are online - and of course you do not have to have a PC to use email - iTV, WAP and PDA devices all offer email platforms.
Empowering the Consumer
But what exactly is Permission Marketing? Basically, it’s the use of opt-in as opposed to opt-out at the point of data collection. This technique establishes a relationship between the marketer and the recipient, empowering consumers in the sense that they will only receive emails if they have actively requested them. Furthermore, Permission Marketing is not a one-off event - it is a process, since every email sent has an unsubscribe option. In other words, the recipient can easily turn unwanted emails off. Email marketing is electronic direct mail. As a communication medium it has a number of key benefits with which postal communications cannot compete:
Low cost. It costs pennies to send an email message. The average cost of a direct mail
shot is 50p.
Short production cycle. With no print, envelopes or physical fulfilment you can have an
email campaign up and running in hours. Compare this to weeks, if not months, for direct mail.
Ease of testing. The cornerstone of direct marketing is testing in terms of the offer, the
creative and the targeting. Typically, test results take months to analyse meaning full
rollout is never quick. With email, the bulk of response is achieved within 72 hours.
Flexible format. For those who can receive HTML email, the communication experience
can be more like a television commercial than a letter or brochure.
Ease of response. The reason for speed of response is that one click will either generate
an email response or take your recipient to a web page where they can provide information,
subscribe or go on to purchase in one action.
Rate of response. OK-mail.co.uk regularly achieve 10%+ click-through rates on their opt-in
lists. Some customer communications have produced 60%+ response rates. These levels
of response are unheard of in traditional direct marketing circles.
What services do you need to embark on an email campaign?
First, decide on a delivery (broadcast) service. If you are sending more than a few hundred emails it will almost certainly be easier to use an external bureau. You will pay between 4p and 16p per email depending on the level of segmentation and reporting required. Remember to set up an automated unsubscribe option if possible. Companies like EmailVision, E2 and Expedite have a great deal of experience and can advise on the various options. Second, select your list(s). If you are executing a customer acquisition campaign you will need to source your email prospects. A number of suppliers offer email addresses, but not all have been collated using opt-in techniques.
Industry best practice is to use only permission-based lists for third party campaigns. Most companies will not release their email addresses but will send the emails on your behalf; this is because consumers have opted in to them to receive offers. However some suppliers such as MyOffers.co.uk have developed techniques to collect data with permission for the advertiser to contact people directly. Third, create your message both in plain text and HTML. They will both be required as only some 50% of mailboxes can receive images. Fourth, where will the click-throughs take people? To your home page, your registration page or a specially designed landing page? The latter tends to work best if you anticipate reasonable volumes. Finally, be clear about your objectives and the follow-up stages.
Tips for creating successful email campaigns.
Offer Incentives. Prize draws, loyalty rewards, discounts, games and freebies - the surfer
expects something for responding to your message.
Identify yourself. Do not hide behind an unknown name. Permission has been granted to
the data owner and the data owner should therefore be clearly recognisable.
Be concise. The attention span for reading an email is short. Similarly, make your subject
field interesting.
Be relevant. In the case of third party opt-in lists, the list owners will often only send
message on subjects which have been requested, not just to demographic segments.
Engage in dialogue. The best email marketing strategies will use several communications
instead of trying to do everything at once. At each stage you can find out more about your
prospects and provide more personalised content in the future.
Advanced applications.
Once you have experimented with email you will be able to explore some of the advanced features which include statistics from number of messages opened to click-throughs and even conversions, or detailed reports on people’s usage of your website. The low cost and ease of use of email makes it the one-to-one medium par exellence. You can economically apply a greater level of segmentation and personalisation than you had ever thought possible. You can also benefit from the Internet’s CRM applications, such as automated thank you messages, reminders and newsletters. Used responsibly and intelligently, email will reap huge benefits in terms of customer knowledge, retention and upselling. Finally, get ready for dual channel direct marketing. If you can acquire email and postal addresses for the same individual you are armed with a very powerful marketing technique, using email teasers and reminders before and after direct mailshots. Early reports suggest 50% uplift in response rates!
Best practice.
Visit the Email Marketing Association’s website at www.emmacharter.org for full recommendations regarding permission, content and handling. It is also imperative that we all operate under the umbrella of the Data Protection Act which states that personal data must be obtained fairly, kept secure, must be available for inspection and must not be transferred without adequate guidelines.
Finally, a word about the opt-in / opt-out debate. There is nothing in law which states opt-in should be used for email data collection, and the Direct Marketing Association advocate opt-out for both email and direct mail data. The Email Marketing Association however believes that opt-in should be mandatory for third party communications, ie. email lists which are sold or rented. We have seen a considerable backlash in the US against spam, resulting in calls for double-opt-in (opt-in followed by an email confirmation which requires a further opt-in), let alone single opt-in. In our view it is in the interests of the email marketing industry not only to regulate itself but also to distinguish between personal data that has been acquired on paper and that from online sources.