Database: do’s and don’ts
DATABASE
WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO AVOID ?
Whether you are just starting out or perfecting your skills, discover some secrets!
Are you looking to diversify your communications and think that email marketing is the way to go? First, you must know that creating newsletter campaigns starts by building a quality audience!
Make the right decisions
Is your goal to create newsletters that will not go unnoticed?
By making the right decisions, you will not only improve your brand awareness, but also build lasting relationships with your target audience.
Achieve realistic goals by deploying the right subscribers acquisition tactics…
What to do: acquire quality contacts
Forget about the traditional media that offer you to reach loyal readers, listeners, or viewers. You will have to create your own audience!
As with most other communication channels, the quality of the audience will be the difference maker when it comes to reaching your sales objectives. Your methods of subscriber acquisition must therefore be applied with care!
Why acquire quality contacts?
You must direct your efforts towards an audience that really wants to receive your newsletters. By doing so, you will increase both your deliverability and open rates, and you will be able to focus your efforts on converting real potential customers!
How to grow your database?
Begin with the assumption that your prospects are already subscribed to newsletters. They have had both positive and negative experiences. First, you need to charm your audience in a simple, professional and effective way by citing the benefits of the subscription. Put yourself in your target’s shoes and ask yourself the following question: “Why would I subscribe to this?
Where to look for email addresses?
There are a variety of techniques to acquire quality contacts, but here are the most popular:
- Registration on your website: this should be the second objective of your website, after direct sales.
- Social media: newsletters and social networks are a perfect match. Make them work together!
- At checkout: whether it is an in-store or online purchase, ask for the email addresses of customers.
- Online: collect public data if you are in B2B, but beware of restrictions.
- Contests: if you target your participants, you will gain quality subscribers.
More techniques can be used to grow your database with quality contacts. These tactics must be customized to your specific marketing strategy. We invite you to contact one of our experts to find “your method”!
What not to do: be blinded by quantity
Little secret: a newsletter is a qualitative medium, not a quantitative one.
Primo, you should not boast about the number of contacts in your database, but rather about your open and click rates. We prefer to hear “70% of my 250 contacts opened the newsletter and 35% of them went to the website” rather than “we have reached 35,000 subscribers”.
This is not traditional marketing
The main appeal of traditional media is that they reach a large audience, hence the term “mass media”. But just how many people are really being reached, at what frequency, and how many converge towards the sales funnel? No one knows… we only know that sales are increasing!
Newsletters should not be called a “mass medium”, but rather an extremely targeted medium. The quality of your subscribers must come before the quantity! Marketers agree that newsletters are the KINGS of return on investment, and there is an explanation! It is because they focus their marketing efforts on real targets that they give newsletters that title…
Disregard unsubscriptions
Never go against the desire of contacts to unsubscribe. Do not wait and unsubscribe them as soon as they request it. Do not take it personal and remember that an active customer can unsubscribe and still be a customer. They may not want to receive your newsletters anymore, but they can remain a client. Not unsubscribing this person could change their mind!
Do not buy a database
You represent an ethical company, do you not? You should know that when you buy a database, you are stealing the identity of real people. People to whom you will send newsletters to make a sale!
Database resellers will tell you that their discounted databases are legitimate and that is not entirely false, at least… in the country where the data was collected. But is this really your target audience? Most likely, the answer is no!
Not keeping your data in Canada
Data stored in newsletter systems is hosted on servers. Make sure that you know where the servers of your provider are located, as the information of your contacts could be sold to third parties without your consent, simply because it is in a foreign country where the regulations differ.
By ensuring that your data remains in Canada, you protect your customers!
Not respecting the applicable laws
I am a Canadian company, therefore I must respect the laws of Canada. False!
You must follow the laws in place where your contact is located!!
Go ahead, you can send in confidence!
As long as you provide the option to unsubscribe, you are in compliance with the CAN-SPAM applicable in the United States.
You must obtain the implied or express consent of that Canadian under the CASL.
You must adhere to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation
- CAN-SPAM: American law in effect since 2003.
- CASL: Canadian law administered by the CRTC since 2014.
- GDPR: European regulation applicable since 2016.
Get informed about the legislation applicable in the country where your contacts are located or reach out to one of our experts for more information!
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SERIES: WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO AVOID?
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Ghislain Bergeron
Data analyst
Want professional advice?
Database management is no secret to this software developper specialist. Email delivery analysis comes easy with 30 years of experience in software development.
Get more details on how to efficiently manage your database by getting in touch with him right now! He will be able to offer you customized solutions to your business needs.
E: gbergeron@adnetis.com
P: 1-877-638-6584