For or Against Email Append Services?

Email append services are frowned upon by some marketers, but there is no denying the usefulness of a well done email append. The practice of email append services is endorsed by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) as long as it follows the following guidelines. First, there must be an established relationship with the named consumer, either online or offline. Secondly, the data used in the email append service must be from a source that provided notice and choice regarding the acceptance of receiving third party email offer and the named consumer did not opt out. When using email append services the email addresses must never be harvested, guessed, or manufactured and although, not required, a welcome email should be sent.

Detractors of email append services aren’t swayed by the DMA’s endorsement. They argue that a consumer that completed an online survey and provided consent for third party email offers, didn’t realize that their email could be sold and used for emails append services.

Supporters of email append services disagree and say that consent is consent, period. Whichever side of the email append service debate you chose to side with study up on the views of both sides.

Things to Consider Before you Purchase Mailing Lists

When your business has decided to embark on a direct mail campaign you have many decisions that need to be made before you purchase a mailing list.  One of the most important decisions is what type of list does your business need?  Every business has their own unique set of needs, and for each set of needs there are different types of mailing lists.

The purchase of a mailing list can be a time consuming effort.  First you must determine your ideal customer.  What types of consumers generally buy your product?  Do you have more men or women customers?  Do you cater to a younger or an older crowd?  Knowing your ideal customer can be very helpful when you decide to purchase a mailing list.

Complied direct mail lists are one of the most common types of lists businesses lean towards when they purchase mailing lists.  Complied mail lists are lists that are generated from sources of complied information such as the white or yellow pages.  These types of lists are very popular but can the addresses can age quickly and be undeliverable.  When you purchase your mailing list, inquire into how often the data is passed through an NCOA process.

Response mailing lists are another type of lists than businesses can seek out when they are ready to purchase mailing lists.  Responsive mailing lists are complied of data of consumers that have inquired about or purchased a product or service in the past.  This type of data can be filtered by type of product, amount of purchase, date since last purchase and frequency of purchase, when you are ready to purchase your mailing list.