Are some emailers being duped by junk list owners?
Our Relations Director Aimee called me this morning to say, "You have to warn me next time before you publish a really controversial issue!"
Turns out she's been deluged with calls and email in the 24 hours since I published an EmailSherpa article that named the names of 25 mailers we suspected could be using junk lists.
Several mailers were (very) unhappily surprised to see their names on the list.
I created the list by glancing over the mail that we get in an email box here at Sherpa that doesn't actually belong to anyone. Since no one "owns" it, no one has ever used the email address to sign up for any list. Therefore, I figured the 300-odd promotional emails the box gets every day must ipso-facto be coming from mailers using non-permission junk lists.
As I said, it turns out some of those mailers were shocked to find their names published by us as people using junk lists. Turns out they were promised by whoever they rented the names from that it was a permission list. It wasn't.
I'm not saying all rented lists are bad. Heavens no. In fact I strongly support the permission rental industry.
Personally there are some hobby lists that I sign up for hoping to get promotional mail, because as a consumer I'm deeply interested in offers in those niches. I'm sure many of you
feel the same way.
Anyway, tirade aside, you can find the article where I named names below: It's #5.
Thanks for your support,
Anne
Anne Holland - Publisher
MarketingSherpa
AHolland@MarketingSherpa.com
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CASE STUDIES
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#2. How Tweaking a Business Web Site's Design Can Increase the Sales Leads it Generates by 60%
If you agonize over your company's Web site lay-out, you'll love this Case Study because it includes before-and-after screenshots showing how to change home page and registration form can improve results.
Plus - if you wonder how asking many questions vs. few on a registration form affects the number of people who will fill out your form, this Case Study has an answer for you:
http://www.b2bmarketingbiz.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2368#3. Go RVing Integrated Online/Offline Ads Rank in Top 10% of All Campaigns Measured for Effectiveness
We hounded the folks at Go RVing to let us write this Case Study after we saw one of their ads, and thought, "This is so great looking, did it work?"
Learn how their multi-channel campaign, including radio, TV, print and online, did incredibly well by using best media buying, creative and offer practices. Yes, lots of creative
samples are included from online and offline media:
http://www.consumermarketingbiz.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2374#4. PC World Tests Selling PDFs and CD ROMs Online: What They Learned:
If there's one lesson to be learned from this Case Study, it's that sometimes you have to keep projects simple to get them off the ground at all. PC World's Bruce McCurdy deliberately avoided fancy tests, tracking heaps of metrics, and investing in an ecommerce backend, when he decided to test selling PDFs and CD ROMs for the first time.
The point was to get the answer to a single question: Will people buy these items at all? Here's what he discovered:
http://www.contentbiz.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2370====
PRACTICAL KNOW-HOW
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#5. Big Threats for Emailers Part II: False Positives & Offers Sent to Junk Lists in Your Name
In Part II of our special report for legitimate mailers and brands trying to avoid problems posed by the increase in junk email, you'll find:
a. What to do when your mail is stopped by Corporate filters
b. Junk Mail Still Arriving from 15 Legitimate Brands
c. List of Some Third-Party Offer Emailers Using Junk Lists
Definitely worth a read if you send any broadcast email at all or if you let third party mailers send on your behalf:
http://www.emailsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2371#6. How Aubuchon Hardware Doubled Online Sales by Improving Search Engine Optimization: 5 Specific Tips
Fascinating fact: Aubuchon Hardware revamped their site entirely in September 2002 specifically to encourage search engines to notice it. However, it took until well into November for the new site to have any affect. So, while optimization is definitely worth investing in, you have to wait 60-120 days for real results. More info:
http://www.greatmindsinmarketing.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2373#7. How to be Featured in a Baseline IT Case Study
Ziff Davis just launched Baseline Magazine fairly recently, so it may not be on your PR screen yet. However, it's already got 125,000 avid readers, so this is definitely a place you want to plant a story if you're trying to reach IT pros. Here's how:
http://www.marketingfame.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2372
