Don't let your email end up spam

Sharon Nelson’s recent blog post caught my eye, because while I read a lot of blogs about digital forensics, and I also read a lot of blogs about marketing, it’s rare to find anything about marketing for digital forensics.

This is likely because, as Sharon herself points out:

My conclusion, overall, is that small and midsize computer forensics companies are still struggling with moving from the paper world to the electronic world. And no one seems entirely sure what works best and where the greatest ROI is.

So while she doesn’t focus on marketing in her e-discovery blog, the mention is worth discussing, as is her topic: list-buying.

Buying vs. growing customer lists

I make no bones about being brand-new to marketing. I know content really well, but I’m still working out the nuances of attracting customers and building loyalty and so on. The general understanding I had about list-buying – the practice of buying targeted customer lists through which to market products and services – was that it’s a big no-no.

I emailed Sharon:

Your mention of podcasts are good, but I’m not so sure about list purchasing. I tend to think firms should be growing their lists organically, at least in part by lead generation activities like free webinars and even local presentations to law enforcement, attorneys and businesses.

Local media relations can help, as can publishing presentations to SlideShare and YouTube. It does all of course depend on company goals and capabilities, but some mix of all of the above is probably not as difficult as company owners might fear.

She responded:

I should have said (doggone it) that firms should grow their organic lists even if they were going to experiment with the purchase of lists. I have heard that list purchases result in better organic lists as folks sign up for white papers, webinars, newsletters, etc.

My experiences with opt-in and opt-out

My experience as a prospect, and the general school of thought on the subject, is of landing on a company’s email list following a webinar I attend or white paper I download. Signing up often involves implicit or explicit opting-in to the list, so that following the webinar or download, one of a few things happens:

• I get more invitations to other webinars or downloads.
• I’m asked to buy products or services, such as an e-course.
• I’m invited to a software demo.

My favorites (no really; no sarcasm) are the newsletters that feature a mix of content, including free articles together with ones I have an option to buy. I like these because it takes the pressure off; I don’t feel I’m being sold to, as I do with software demo offers. This process is called “lead nurturing,” and it’s intended to provide valuable content until the prospect is ready to buy a product or service.

These methods, of course, take a lot of time and work – perhaps more than a smaller digital forensics firm is willing to put in, without a dedicated content marketing or public relations person. List-buying makes a certain amount of sense because it effectively allows you to “jumpstart” the process, rather than devote months to content-building and promotion thereof.

At the same time, however, and as Sharon’s response implies, it’s important to have something of value ready to go to back up your emailing. This is especially true because marketers do point out how sensitive more consumers are becoming to how their names end up on lists. The few times I have been solicited without permission (implicit or explicit), I’ve ignored/deleted — and if the email is really obnoxious (and isn’t already in my spam filter), marked as spam.

If you do choose to buy a list, make sure opt-out language exists somewhere on the email. Far preferable, though, is to allow customers to opt in, the “organic” growth Sharon and I discussed. Either way, though, content you provide in the email and on your website needs to be able to back up whatever claims your email makes. Otherwise you risk ending up in the spam filter, and whether you grew lists or bought them, the money you spent will be out the window.

What kind of content would build list loyalty among your prospects and customers?

Image: arnold | inuyaki via Flickr