NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> E-mail marketing
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> E-mail marketing
Cliff Kurtzman (cliff_at_tenagra.com)
Thu, 14 May 1998 02:07:58 -0500 (CDT)
Hi gang,
I'd like to thank all the folks that wrote to me with comments in response
to my post on Monday about spam and being placed on opt out mailing lists
by ad sales people. A number of people have also requested to reprint "The
Fine Line Between E-mail Marketing and Spam" on the web and on several
e-mail lists. I believe it will first appear on the web on ClickZ this
Friday. Hopefully it will be a good counterpoint to their column of this
Wednesday.
My post seemed to imply that I do not ever want to be sent a media kit
unless I have asked for it (which is true). One of the comments I received
today contained a number of really good questions about how someone selling
online ads should best make contact with prospects, so as to not be
perceived as a spammer or alienate potential buyers. I'm including the
questions (lightly edited) with my answers for general interest and to
stimulate discussion.
Question #1: Is [the unsolicited] emailing of a media kit
to a buyer intrusive and will they view it as so?
My Answer: Certainly there are a spectrum of opinions on this, and while I
am probably on one end of the spectrum, there are undoubtedly a lot of
others who feel similarly. Personally, I don't ever want to receive
unsolicited media kits, because I generally (with rare exceptions) am not
one of the people in our organization that makes media buys. So if someone
sends me an unsolicited kit then they have completely mis-targeted the
message.
But even if I did make media buys, I would expect that I would not
appreciate receiving unsolicited media kits by e-mail.
Question #2: Do media buyers really prefer to be contacted
by e-mail?
My Answer: My feeling is that most online media buyers prefer e-mail to
telephone for many interactions. Certainly they do hate to receive long
phone calls from sellers that don't know when to quit or how to be
succinct. But I'd also expect that there are still a significant number of
media buyers that prefer receiving materials in print.
Question #3: If [online media buyers] don't want to be
contacted by phone or email, what avenue do I really have
except waiting for them to seek me out (not likely)?
My Answer: To me, mass emailing or even individually emailing a rate card
with no indication of interest from the buyer seems tacky. Regardless of
whether or not the buyer considers it to be spam (and some will), it seems
like a bit like begging.
Here is what I would suggest -- a short phone call or e-mail personally
introducing yourself and asking them if you can e-mail the media kit. It
might also be a good idea to inquire as to who the right person is to send
the kit to, in case you've got the wrong person.
Another idea might be to e-mail a potential buyer asking them what areas
their buys are currently targeting so you can let them know if you have
anything to offer them that might help them do their job.
An individual communication, focused first on how you can help the buyer
achieve their objectives -- rather than on how the buyer can send you money
-- is more likely to achieve results. But if you don't get a reply, you
need to realize that the buyer may not need to buy from you right now and
move on without becoming a pain.
Given that I suspect that the majority of dialogs for online advertising
buys are initiated by the buyer rather than the seller, I'd also have to
ask "why it is not likely that they would seek you out?"
In addition to designing the campaigns of many clients as their Internet
marketing agency, Tenagra also owns and operates a number of online
ventures under its own label. We'd signed well over 100 one-year
advertising/sponsorship contracts on year2000.com before we hired our first
ad sales person. We still have not hired someone to initiate ad sales
contacts on tennisserver.com, and we receive a fair number of inquiries for
advertising on that site. Far and away the majority of the sponsors of
this Online Ads list have contacted us first, rather than us contacting
them.
There are a wide variety of things you can do to market your online venture
to get ad buyers to be more likely to contact you. Factors that may
influence the number of inquiries you receive include:
* the design of your web site/newsletter
* the kind of information you provide to encourage potential
advertisers to make an inquiry
* what kind of public relations and advertising efforts you undertake
* what efforts you undertake to assure your publication is viewed by
potential advertisers
* how you have positioned your online venture
* whether or not you have registered your online venture
in various online and offline directories that list web sites or
e-mail newsletters that sell ads.
--Cliff
Cliff Kurtzman
President and CEO
The Tenagra Corporation
http://www.tenagra.com/
281/480-6300
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