MarketingSherpa Blog

Boy – my Blog of 1/30/02 about the ugly underbelly of the email list rental business has generated a lot of positive feedback. I’m feeling like the Fox News of Internet marketing. But, hey, it’s all true and people should know. Here’s a letter you’ll enjoy from Sherpa reader Ben Chestnut of MailChimp:

I run a product that helps small companies deliver HTML emails. I’ve found that whenever a client uses a rented list (and not the list they collected on their own site), spam complaints skyrocket, and we get all kinds of warnings from the spamcops and blackhole list sites. They end up getting so burned, that they never go back to rental lists.

It got to the point where we now don’t allow rented lists anymore—our users have to check a box that verifies that “all recipients specifically requested this email from me.” Users in violation of this rule get their accounts shut down. My advice to all my clients is to stay the heck away from rented lists, and to collect your own. It’s the only way to get meaningful results, and the only way to NOT offend a bunch of people, and taint your brand.”

Ben also forwarded a link to The Story of Nadine, which I swear you absolutely have to click on. This real story starts when a woman mis-enters her email address into an opt-in form on a sweepstakes site in March 2000. The head of the ISP that the confirmation was sent to, noted that it was a bad address and alerted the list owner. The name was then sold on to be used by more than a dozen email marketers including Harris Polls, OurHouse, SmarterKids, AT&T and Topica. As of February 2, 2002 almost two years after the initial mis-spelled opt-in, this email address has received 100s of messages from marketers.

Worst of all, although the ISP has repeatedly requested various list owners and list users to remove the name from their lists, the mail keeps on coming. Plus some of the players involved – who either rented the list or allowed their list host systems to be used to send messages to that name– include several proponents of the new Truste anti-spam certificate: 24/7, Bigfoot Interactive and Virtumundo.

My advice after reading the many letters readers sent in is, check every single opt-in source yourself before renting a list. I know if you have to get messages out to millions of names a week to meet your goals, that’s almost impossible. But it’s the only way to be safe.

Consumer WebWatch, a nonprofit research project from Consumers Union (the folks who do Consumer Reports), today announced a new Advisory Board that’s pretty much a who’s who of online journalism. Including an executive producer from MSNBC on the Internet, a Medill professor, the founder of the Online News Association, the Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, and the managing editor of the Dallas Morning News.

The press release says these advisors will help WebWatch “improve credibility and consumer trust in Web sites” which is an awfully broad target, so I called up Director Beau Brendler to ask for some details. Turns out it’s not about privacy, ecommerce, or improving journalism skills, it’s about church and state — you know, editorial versus advertising, and the whole grey world of advertorial that much of the Web has turned into.

Brendler says, “We’ve just done a major survey, and found it’s a misconception that people don’t care about church vs. state. Distinguishing editorial content from advertising is very important to folks who use the Internet.” So, the Board plans to:

1. Research the ways editorial, advertising and marketing are currently mingling online

2. Educate publishers, with reports and online info, about how to cope with advertisers who demand editorial input, and how to make sure content submitted by potential advertisers is credible.

3. Educate the public with reports such as “10 things to look for when looking at health information on the Internet.”

Although the Board already has 24 members, Beau plans to break it down to committee-levels to get stuff done (he’s got an aggressive research calendar to meet) and says he’s definitely interested in hearing from folks who’d like to join in, especially experts on health content, children’s Web sites and financial content. You can contact him directly at 914.378.2018

BIG slap on the wrist to the New York Post who just sent a broadcast marketing email to names collected through their tell-a-friend-about-this-article system. The email is a sweeps offer to get people to sign up for the Post’s email newsletters. I’ll bet a lot of folks on the list don’t even see it, because the Post made the mistake of putting “this is a one time mailing” at the bottom, which is SUCH classic spammer copy that most spam filters stop email messages with that line from reaching recipients.

Why am I so annoyed about this particular spam? Well, it’s because many content sites (including our own) get their BEST traffic (not largest, but often most likely to convert to opt-ins and/or buyers) from our viral referral systems. However, surfers will only use the systems if they feel safe that the email addresses they hand over won’t be abused. I don’t care what the fine print in your privacy policy says, a friend cannot give permission for another friend to receive email. The only way you get permission is from the person themselves.

Let’s hope nobody follows in The Post’s footsteps because it could hurt all of our viral systems’ results.

The PR guy for ConsumerReports.org just called to let me know to expect a press release in a matter of days revealing that the site has hit its 800,000 paid subscriber. This means right now the site is adding almost 75,000 paid subscribers a month! (From late November 2001 to mid-Jan 2002, the site went from 650,000 to 750,000 paids.) While I expect some of the speed of growth was due to a holiday blip as people used the site to research big ticket gift purchases, I’m also going go out on a limb here and pronounce that I think these and other numbers indicate consumers are getting used to paying for online content.

Jackie Huba, of marketing consultancy Wabash & Lake sent in this viral marketing idea:

“Have you ever received a thank you note for “tell a friend?” I just got one and I think it’s pretty well done. Thought you might be interested to see….

No, I am not looking for a job, but I guess I am on Spencer Stuart’s list. They sent me a email regarding a marketing position which I passed on to a friend. Check out the reply I received. Extra bonus points for inviting me to “share my expertise and insights” with them. (Only improvement would be to sign it with a real person’s name).”

The emailed note Jackie got:

Dear Ms Jackie Huba:

Thank you for referring your friend to Spencer Stuart Talent Network. Our entire online community benefits as we continue to expand our network
of leading executives, and we fully appreciate your active involvement.

We also welcome your contributions to our growing collection of resources.
If you are interested in sharing your expertise and insights with our talented staff as they produce articles, thought pieces, or chats, please email us at info@spencerstuart.com and let us know.

Please continue to check our latest offerings at
http://www.spencerstuart.com.

Research publishers are often frustrated by the sales online research stores make for them. David Strassel, Managing Editor for Intermarket Group, manages deals with the usual players — MarketResearch.com, MindBranch, AllNetResearch, and as of next week SherpaStore.com. He says, “You get what you put into them. They aggregate thousands of reports, and if you just send them the publication info in your files, they’ll load it up into their database and leave it at that.” His advice:

– MarketResearch.com — “You have to suggest where they should index and cross-index your report. For example, they indexed our wireless mobile report under ‘Wireless” but not under ‘Wireless Internet.’ Unless you stay on top, you’re probably not going to be all that successful.

Also, be aware that MarketResearch.com’s publisher contracts include a section allowing them to sell “slices” of any report they fulfill digitally on your behalf. Since many full-report buyers traditionally bought simply to get their hands on one particular chart or figure, you could lose substantial revenues by allowing by-the-slice sales. That’s why Intermarket fulfills all PDFs themselves after the 3rd party store emails them orders.

– MindBranch — They won’t push you for lots of marketing copy and info about your report, but if you send them more stuff they’ll usually upload it, and the more details in their system about your report, the more sales you’ll make. Report buyers like to see a fully-fleshed description.

– AllNetResearch — Internet-topic report sales have gone down radically in the last 6-9 months. “We’d give stuff to them, they’d put it in their twice-weekly newsletter and bammo, we’d generate a thousand dollars in sales. That’s changed.”

Wahoo! I was just chatting with Bob Thompson, Publisher and Editor of CRMGuru.com, and he said that he changed his home page after being inspired by a Case Study we ran last Fall on Reader’s Digest’s new console-style home page. I was dying to know how that idea would work for another publisher, because it’s heavily influenced our own site redesign, which is now underway. Bob said that his changes improved his visitor opt-ins by 30%!!!

Bob currently gets about 5,000 new opt-in subscribers per week. Most are mid-level managers in corporate America. Despite losses from corporate lay-offs, his circ is at 115,000. He thinks it’s kind of funny that as a self-described “shy guy who’s not really a journalist” that he’s becoming one of the most influential business journalists around. His motto: “Speak softly and carry a big email list.”

Reader’s Digest Case Study:

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=22833

Today Truste announced they are launching a new program to fight spam by adding a digital certification of, well non-spamminess, to messages sent by legitimate mailers. Microsoft and Doubleclick have both signed on to test the program. If you’re a certified email sender, then your emails would have a little seal in the upper right hand corner. Kind of like having a Better Business Bureau seal on your shop window.

It doesn’t stop spam, and you have to open the email to see it. But I’ll bet some of the spam filtering software folks are considering adding a “look for the seal” to their programs, to make it easier for consumers.

The biggest problem ahead is defining exactly who gets certified, and who doesn’t. (In fact some of the companies involved with the program have themselves been accused of at least minor spamming infractions in the past.) Are opt-out mailers ok? Do you have to be single opt-in? Various industry organizations and email list brokers are under tremendous pressure from list owners and mailers to say opt-out, and renting pre-checked box collected names, is fine because they make more money that way — at least short term — even though consumers dislike it.

My thanks to Michael Herman of ChristianityToday.com for sending in a link to one of the best written overviews of today’s news and its possible implications. This article by The Washington Post’s Leslie Walker is a must-read if you send email.

Got the mid-winter doldrums? Today Baltex launches their second annual interactive swimwear fashion show. At first I was psyched because I thought that meant you could alter the model to be your own body type and actually see if the suits would look ok on, without having to endure the agonies of store changing rooms. But no, “interactive” just means you can click on the models as they walk by and be taken to an ecommerce site, purchase the suit, and then return to the show again. Well, hey, that’s still kinda cool.

Andy Bourland’s new site tracking news about paid content online has a quick inspirational item on eTeamz today. Seems that the formerly all-free site, has made $75,000 in the past six weeks by offering sports fans and sports-related groups the ability to set up and manage their own Web sites. It’s a play on the BigStep.com biz model (they offer easy-to-create sites for small businesses.)

http://www.bourland.com