Science, Art, Tact & Luck

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The strength of any marketer’s efforts is based on information and leveraging data appropriately. Many sign-up sites simply collect email IDs – the focus for all of us should be a lot more. You don't have to make it mandatory to get extra information but every little bit can be leveraged in your marketing endeavors.

Couple information provided with information you gather – they provide their name and email ID, you should date/ time stamp receipt in your database. Monitor the source code, did they sign up on your home page or specific product page, did they come from other channels or a search, were they passed on by a friend or did they enter a contest? Having the source code is vital to your list maintenance and growth as it helps you know where you should spend to get more names.

Try to know their preferences, Paul Fredrick asks about the type of apparel you wear, AAA Carolina's asks you about your interests and Herrington wants to know what your passion is. Try to collect other demographics – ask them about their gender if it is appropriate to your brand; a subtle way of doing this is to revert to the British by asking the recipient how they would like to be addressed – Mr, Ms. or Mrs.

When someone is making a purchase, ask them if it is for them or for someone else. This can be achieved indirectly by offering to include a gift message or gift wrapping the item. Ask them where they live, you can ask for their address or just a state or region. Collecting location helps product targeting (it’s hard to sell tulips in Tucson.)

Again, couple information provided with information you monitor – add transactional information about the customer; track buyer versus non-buyer, openers versus non-openers and clickers versus non-clickers. Keep the bounce history and remember to run the name through your SPAM trap database.

Attaining email nirvana is a combination of science, art, tact and some luck – the science part is your database.