One of the benefits of living and breathing a niche industry, like email marketing, is that it affords one the opportunity to ponder what the future may hold.

The following is a future-vision of what email marketing will look like in year 2017 for practitioners, marketers and consumers alike.

The Name of the Game Has Changed

Fast forward six years and the term “email marketing” has disappeared from our vernacular entirely. Although lower than 2011, email marketing still produces a considerable ROI; however it is but one digital marketing vehicle.

In this future, the integration between social, mobile, location-based and home-based marketing is seamless. Individual messaging channels are irrelevant.

There are slight nuances to delivering effective messages through each of those marketing channels, but those differences are largely driven by well-documented consumer preferences not the delivery mechanism itself. The primary function of using these blended channels is the same as it was back in 2011: the distribution of relevant and timely messages. In other words, the goal was, and has always been, to put the right offer, in front of the right person, at the right time.

Because the terms “email marketing”, “social marketing” and “mobile marketing” were too restrictive and increasingly offensive to a marketing-weary consumer, they had to go. Welcome to the age of Digital Messaging.

The biggest changes in modern Digital Messaging was not how it was referred; it was the commoditization and consolidation of technology, the need for skilled labor, and the perception and empowerment of the consumer.

The Shift Was Rapid and Sweeping

In the year 2017, Digital Messaging Providers (DMPs) can easy distribute personalized marketing messages across devices, time and space. They now encompass real-time, adaptive communications which flow effortlessly across new channels, like interactive TV, and old ones, like point-of-sale. But the DMP’s offerings are not limited to the dissemination and tracking of digital marketing messages. They have made surprising advancements in data analysis and marketing automation.

The reporting and campaign production too is infinitely smarter and more efficient, it has gone far beyond opens and clicks and WYSIWYG editors. Think live, multivariate testing and manipulation, multi-sourced dynamic content assemblage, responsive delivery, and closed-loop, cross-channel ROI calculations to the 10^th power.

DMPs also offer robust methods of data collection. This rich data pours in from every interaction; from simple subscriptions on a mobile device to behavioral data collected from offline customer touchpoints.

But how did the DMP’s offerings evolve so quickly? Back in 2012, the Email Service Providers (ESPs) scrambled, Google-style, to keep marketers within their interface-and only their interface. A technology and intelligence arms race ensued.

The Perks of Lower Costs and New Power

What this Digital Messaging warfare meant to the everyday marketer was that the cost of digital messaging services began to decline substantially and the tools began to improve rapidly. This was obviously welcome news for the marketer but also for the Digital Messaging Providers, because sweeping consolidations and acquisitions took place that forever change the industry.

On a mission to incorporate every feature that marketers demanded, the Digital Messaging Providers began to acquire media monitoring and data scoring companies. They hired analytic masterminds and UI experts. They opened their applications up to the world and cranked out new versions every quarter. They were on fire.

The small and mid-sized DMPs could not keep up with the frantic pace and reduced revenue. They were either crushed or swallowed. Niche providers were relegated to add-ons. For a marketplace that was once flooded with hundreds of competitors, now only a handful of global behemoths remain.

Modern DMPs generate far less revenue-per-customer as they once did. However, their scale is so vast that, if it weren’t for their lobbyists and strict self-regulatory guidelines, anti-trust and privacy advocates would start to take an unhealthy interest in their activities.

They discovered new revenue too, top of which is generated from licensing the customer data they warehouse. This intelligence is offered to, and exchanged with, research firms and competitive marketing channels like paid search, direct mail, and digital display advertising.

The Rise of Craftsmen and Technicians

The comprehensive tools, offered by Digital Messaging Providers in 2017, are now within reach to nearly every marketer. However digital messaging programs are far more sophisticated. Skilled personal is the key differentiator between programs that generate poor, mediocre and exceptional ROI from Digital Messaging, but as history tells us not all specialists would make the cut.

Because the reporting is so robust and actionable, marketers no longer need in-house or outsourced marketing mathematicians to analyze data and make recommendations. However this data must now be applied and the programs must be optimized. The rockstars of the Digital Messaging industry now fall into two camps, craftsmen and technicians.

The craftsmen are those that create the plans and carry them out; be they thinkers, managers, or creatives. The technicians are those who diagnose problems, which range from deliverability speedbumps to integration hiccups, and rectify them.

Consumer Behavior and Perception

The consumer is now keenly aware of the numerous, yet relevant, marketing messages that swirl around them. This has forced marketers to convert, what once were, one-sided offers into customer-focused dialogues. These conversations take place on both a one-to-one level and amongst virtual crowds. They evolve over time as the consumer’s demographics and behaviors change and shift with cultural norms.

The data that is provided by the consumer, and extracted from their behavior, is now boundless. The marketer has seemingly unlimited insight into the mind of the individual as well as predictive models of their demographic classes. The marketer uses this information to deliver what the consumer is most likely to purchase now, and in the future, as well as predict their lifetime value and then allocate the appropriate resources.

Because the consumer is so conscious of behavioral marketing and concerned that the practice will ultimately become too invasive; a privately-owned global permission repository has recently been established, simply called “Choice”.

Choice is a cooperative, centralized data management and preference center that is both highly secure and omnipotent. It will afford the consumer the opportunity to control, exactly, what type of data is collected, and utilized, by the marketer and which messages they will accept, from whom, as well as how and when they will be delivered.

This is a free service to the consumer but the Digital Messaging Providers must license this information, which will ensure that they meet consumer expectations and comply with the Digital Privacy Protection Act of 2015.

The Reversal of Roles

In the year 2017, the Digital Messaging industry has all but inverted itself. In the early days of email marketing, the lion’s share of the cost, time and attention went toward the tools themselves. But now that the DMPs services have been commoditized, the true value of Digital Messaging is solely dependent on the talent that wields those tools.

This role reversal is also reflected in the relationship between the marketer and consumer. Marketers are now far more sensitive to the needs and wants of their customers and prospects. If they are to continue the conversation in the years to come, they have to be. And in exchange for their deeply personal information, the consumer receives tailor-made, high-value offers and experiences control over their privacy like never before.

For marketers who want to mine more gold from their email programs; outsourced email marketing is quickly gaining popularity.

Managed email marketing can take many forms, such as the crafting and management of recurring email communications. It could also involve content development, cross-channel distribution, list growth, as well as untold technical integrations and reporting mechanisms. The list is long.

When our clients come to Indiemark requesting managed email services it’s largely for two reasons – they’re frustrated and frugal.

Frustrated Marketers

They’re fed up. They can’t find qualified in-house talent or siphon additional production (or ability) from their existing staff, yet they know they could and should be doing so much more.

That’s common. In many ways email marketing is a unique discipline. Email is hard. But in other ways it simply requires talent and tenacity. It’s difficult to find both of those requirements in a single source or an overworked and under-trained team.

Outsourcing works because it allows marketers to tap into the diverse, yet specialized, skillsets of their partner…be they an email marketing agency or an ESP.

Besides creativity, technical skills, and powers of persuasion (all of which are required if you’re going to win the email game), an email marketing partner also brings with them the experiences of working with a varied client base. This is a limitless source for fresh ideas which ensures that the effort does not become a victim of “group think” and that every dollar spent is maximized.

Frugal Marketers

When deciding to outsource their email marketing or keep it in-house, many of our clients first looked at the dollars to see if it makes sense. They’re frugal not stupid.

Let’s face it, email marketing services takes time. So, in one form or another, time is the source of the marketer’s expense. That’s one of the reasons why outsourcing makes sense; it takes less time.

Because of the experience that your email services partner brings to the table, there is little to no learning curve, as it pertains to their capabilities. They also feel the need to prove their value, every month.

I can’t speak for all agencies but we’ve spent months with our faces buried in almost every ESP’s interface and API. We know their strengths, weaknesses, and limitations.  We have crafted thousands of campaigns and provided consulting services to many many B2C and B2B marketers. This creates an efficiency that is only gained through experience. Efficiency means less time, which means less cost.

Besides efficiency, continuing education becomes the expense of the service provider. Payroll expenses, medical, vacation time? Fugetaboutit. The cost is usually less than that of a full-time staffer, or depending on the requirements, even greater cost savings can be found. Again, it all backs out to time.

Takeaway: If a marketer decides to outsource their email marketing (afterall, there are many compelling arguments), what kind of ROI can they expect? There is only one way to find out: initiate a conversion and choose your path wisely. As it may pay huge dividends to work with a partner that can work in concert with their in-house resources or manage the entire email marketing effort, soup to nuts.

This post is intended to be a resource for those who, admittedly, know that they could be deriving more value from the email channel.  No matter if you decide to hire outside professionals, such as an email marketing agency, an email consultant or in-house talent; this guide will help you to assess and reevaluate your current email marketing efforts.

Let’s Look at the Numbers

Email has been the marketing workhorse for a decade, and that’s unlikely to change in the near future.  It allows targeting because it’s data driven. It drives direct sales. It builds relationships, loyalty and trust. It also supports sales through other direct and social channels:

• According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an ROI of $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2008, that’s twice that of the first runner-up.
• A recent summary by MarketingSherpa states, “Those that see the effectiveness of their email programs diminishing are much more likely to have short-sighted organizational attitudes toward the tactic. Organizations with investment-oriented views of email reap the rewards.”
• The CMO Council‘s Marketing Outlook ’08 Report reviewed the plans and opinions of 650 marketers. Email marketing was the top target area for investment.
• In a 2008 survey of retailers, Shop.org stated that “E-mail is the most mentioned successful tactic overall”.

Handle Email Marketing In-house?

If you don’t have an existing agency relationship or do have sufficient in-house talent, consider this:

1. You (meaning you or your team) know your business; are you also well-versed in email marketing?
2. If yes, do you have time and energy to optimize the effort?
3. How does your integrated marketing and CRM compare against your competitors?
4. Does your email marketing drive sales, build loyalty, and reduce marketing costs?
5. Is your email program founded on research and/or historical data?
6. Does your in-house work save or cost you money?

Already Have an Expert?

If you already have a marketing agency or other outside help, ask yourself:

1. Do they specialize in email or are they “full service”?
2. Do they generate an ROI that’s in-line with the findings above?
3. Do they think about us without being prodded?
4. Do they understand our target market and business processes?
5. Have they explored and monetized all the options?
6. Is their work for you fresh, exciting, and reflective of best practices?

Pieces of the Email Marketing Equation

Email marketing can involve customer acquisition, lead nurturing, client reactivation and retention, and of course direct sales, which means that a host of processes and services are potentially involved, including:

• Strategy & Research
• Editorial & Promotional Planning
• Copy Writing & Content Development
• Design & Coding
• List Growth & Community Building
• List Segmentation & List Enhancement
• Behavioral & Customer Profiling
• Message Delivery & Deliverability Monitoring
• Cross-channel Integration
• Email Service Provider (ESP) or In-house Mailing Solution Evaluations
• Lead Nurturing & Direct/Up/Cross Sales
• Multivariate, A/B Testing & Program Optimization

If the list above encompasses more than you’re doing, this may be a strong indicator that you’re under-utilizing this lucrative channel. Perhaps it’s time for a fresh marketing partner or maybe you need to reallocate budgets and/or provide your in-house team with more training.

If you’ve (officially) determined that you need help, stay tuned. In the next installment we’ll discuss HOW to find and evaluate qualified talent that fits your unique needs and meets your budgetary restrictions.

Takeaway: So many companies struggle with their resources and don’t get to reach their potential. That’s where partnering with experts, particularly in the email marketing arena, be they in-house or outsourced, is often a great decision.

As we all know, email marketing works so I won’t bore you with the stats. Instead, let’s see what an email marketing consultant is and what they can do for you.

Email marketing consultants generally take three forms, an Email Marketing Agency, a freelancer, or an in-house staffer at an Email Service Provider (ESP) or traditional agency; all of which have skills and experience that are specific to developing effective email marketing strategies. However, their core competencies and service offerings vary…greatly.

So do you need an email marketing consultant? If so, what type? Ask yourself the following questions:

Is my mailing solution right for me?
Does my ESP or in-house solutions provide all the features I need? Am I using the features that I’m paying for? It is easy for me to use? Is my throughput in-line with my cost?

What am I mailing?
Have I mapped out what should I send? Such as welcome emails, newsletters, abandoned orders, promotions, and reactivation emails? What am I missing? Where does the email communication chain breakdown?

When should I be mailing?
Should I use information based on my recipient’s actions to send emails, such as white paper downloads or cart abandonment? What about date-driven emails, such as holiday-only buyers or anniversaries. What’s my editorial calendar for my newsletters? Am I keeping track of ad-hoc promotional emails?

What are my business rules?
Have I decided what causes a message to be sent? What data is needed to support the message? Should the data import process be manual or automatic? What content is sent when those conditions are met? What’s my plan for “from names” and “subject lines”? Should I mix it up? What and when should I test?

What are my goals?
Have I established goals, such as number of downloads, sales, registrations? What do I plan to do to grow my list? What can I do to reduce attrition?

What are my reporting needs?
Do I need to see more than just clicks and opens to improve my results and prove my case?  Do I need my tap into outside data such as CRM and website analytics tools to establish and track my success metrics?

Email marketing is a valuable endeavor for most marketers, but the process can be challenging and time consuming. An email marketing consultant or agency can help you meet your goals while allowing you to use your time to operate other aspects of your business.

Need more than just insight? An email-focused agency can also provide with the supporting services, as well as direction, that are required to launch and support a strong email marketing program; read how-to hire an email marketing agency to learn more.

Takeaway: Before deciding to go it alone, first carefully consider your needs, and options, then initiate a conversion with prospective suppliers. Email can do more than you might think.

Frequently maligned and often misunderstood, email list rental is a widely accepted marketing practice that can provide a potent ROI, if you know what to look for and respect the inbox. If you’re unfamiliar or unimpressed with renting an email list here’s the lowdown on the benefits as well as its key differentiating factors and considerations.

Know the difference

Unfortunately legitimate email list rental opportunities have been tarnished by the practices of less-than-stellar providers…be they list compilers, email addresses sellers, or bald-faced liars. None of which are likely to help a marketer’s ROI. Why should it? The email recipients have no relationship with the organization that possesses their email address, and sends your offer.

In my 12 years in email marketing I found that the best opportunities often lie in renting true subscriber lists. That is, branded email lists that are derived from publications, services, or products that the recipient knows, and values.

How it works & key considerations

• The list owners will send the marketer’s offer to their subscribers.
• The marketer pays a fee for this service, usually on a cost-per-thousand (CPM) basis.
• Unlike direct mail or telemarketing, the marketer never sees the list.
• Unlike inbound marketing, it’s all about producing a valuable offer, not content.
• List selection is the most important factor, followed by the offer and the creative.

For marketers

For many marketers email list rental is a consistent means of growing their own subscriber lists, packing their pipelines and of course, making sales directly.  Here are a few benefits:

• Value of association (with the list owner)
• Low cost of acquisition (compare to other direct channels)
• It’s quick (test results and make adjustments in days, not weeks)
• Better deliverability (Compared to complied and purchased lists)

For list owners

List owners come in many flavors such as retailers, event producers, associations, traditional publishers, and bloggers. All of which can find considerable value in email list rental too, albeit of a different sort.

• Revenue ($1-2 per subscriber, per year is a good rule of thumb)
• Control  (what, when, who)
• Easy (no sales, marketing, billing – if you work with a Professional List Management Company).
• Hygiene (weed out hard bounces more frequently)

Case in point

Going beyond selecting the right lists, wise marketers are no longer taking the “BUY MY STUFF” approach. Instead list rental campaigns are getting more creative, take a look at this campaign from Surfline and Rip Curl. It’s a great example of how publishers can provide their subscribers with direct access complimentary products, services, or offers, and win their hearts in the process.

The future of email list rental

Email deliverability will continue to be a challenge for marketers who use complied or purchased email lists. In fact, “challenge” is probably too light of a description. And that’s a good thing because it frees up inboxs for more relevant email communications. Besides improved deliverability, legitimate email list rental provides marketers with the opportunity to earn new customers at a fair price, all while respecting the inboxes and mindshare of the list owner’s subscribers. But be wary, the list rental universe is often a dodgy one. Wise marketers and list owners alike should look first to companies that specialize in email lists that originate (and are mailed) from branded and respectable sources.

Takeaway: Email list rental is not in itself evil but, can certainly be bad if done the wrong way. Make sure you do your homework and ask the right questions. A little local knowledge can certainly help you out — speak to the right people becuase a little expert insight goes a long way.

About the author:

Scott Hardigree | Indiemark | @indiescott

As CEO of Indiemark, a full-service email marketing agency, Scott brings more than 12 years of strategic, creative, and technical email marketing expertise to clients seeking to maximize this ROI-rich channel. As a leader in the email industry, Indiemark provides a full array of email marketing services to leading brands looking to retain and monetize existing customers, acquire new customers and subscribers, and create passive revenue streams. Scott can be reached at scott@indiemark.com or (407) 614-5952.

In a recent post I discussed when and why it might be a good idea to contract with experts who possess, dedicated, email marketing experience. Now I’ll outline the guiding principles to consider before hiring an email marketing agency, email marketing consultant or in-house email marketing manager. Because all too often companies make their selection based on the wrong criteria, which causes heartache, inefficiency, and a significant amount of lost productivity and dollars.

Five things you shouldn’t do

1. Don’t limit your search geographically. Yes, the most expedient way to build trust is in face-to-face relationships, but that doesn’t mean trust can’t also be built on separate coasts or continents for that matter. Keep in mind that what you’re looking for is the correct fit. Restricting your search from the outset to a defined geographic area is unnecessarily limiting. With your marketing budget and ROI at risk, the stakes are just as high. In this day of the email and WebEx, communication is easy and instantaneous. In fact, when we do meet in person with our clients (whether they required ad hoc or fully managed services), meetings are usually focused and efficient because we’ve planned them in advance and time is limited.

2. Don’t screen out professionals based on size. If you’re a small company, you shouldn’t rule out working with a gun-for-hire simply because they offer more services and have more experience than you need; sure, you may not be a huge profit center for them but perhaps they have the precise expertise you need. Similarly, larger clients shouldn’t exclude small agencies or independent professionals from their consideration. Talented people at the helm of small shops may have more experience than a localized email marketing professional or the mid-level staffers that would be assigned to you at a big full-service agency. It’s the attention, expertise, and ideas that matter.

3. Don’t make industry experience a must-have. Marketing pros with a lot of category experience might be subject to industry group-think. No one group or individual will ever know as much as you do about your industry, so you should hire them for what they do know: the art and science of email marketing.
One of the things I love about being in email marketing is the cross-pollination of ideas gained from working across a variety of industries. Every industry is unique, but they all share common characteristics. Often what we learn serving a client in one industry triggers a fresh idea for a client in another.

4. Don’t ask for (or entertain) speculative work. Speculative campaigns or tests are the bane of the agency business, the same holds true for email-centric ones. Spec campaigns are like steroids, they often over-inflate the presenters’ capabilities. But the biggest reason not to ask for spec work is that the best prospects–the ones you really want–won’t do it. They don’t have to. The more they are willing to jump through speculative hoops for you, the more you should be suspicious. If they’re ready to give away their work there must not be a very good market for it.

5. Don’t avoid questions about your budget. Don’t let anyone tell you that money (or budget) doesn’t talk. Each agency or outsourcer has certain client budget minimums, arrived at through experience and predicated in part by the economy and their current client load. That’s why it’s important, for the sake of conducting an informed review, that you have some idea of what your budget is or should be. Maybe you’ve had an unpleasant experience by declaring your budget early on or what you thought was too openly (remember the first website you had developed?) It happens. But as a general rule, when you speak with the interested prospects, engage in open dialogue when it comes to your budget. In the end it will save you time, energy, and money.

So how should you select an email marketing partner?

1. Do determine what you need. The worst thing you can do is hire for a job and then not let them do it. Do you need someone to lead or someone to follow? A firm that can develop strategy or an expert at execution? A consultant that likes to have fun or one that’s all business? An employee to take orders or someone who will challenge your thinking?

2. Do initiate a conversation. Send the prospects an e-mail, or give them a call. Spend a few minutes on the phone together and you’ll get an immediate sense of chemistry and interest. Ask them about their history, who their current clients are, what their core capabilities are.

3. Do invite them to review a handful of case studies. Keep in mind that you’re not looking to see if they have good outcomes to report (all of them will) but to understand the thinking behind how they arrived at their solutions. You’ll learn about their process, what it is, how it works, and how it might fit your company and culture. Is it methodical? Inspiration-based? Data-driven?

When you find a good fit, discuss with them the best way to ensure a long and successful relationship. Come to clear agreement on your expectations for compensation and services. Then fire the starter’s gun and let them work.

Takeaway: Before hiring outsourced or in-house talent, first carefully consider your needs then initiate an honest conversion with prospective suppliers. Finding experts that meet your unique needs many not be an easy task so don’t limit your searches unnecessarily; after all, it’s results that matter.

At the risk of sounding boastful, it’s the breadth and depth of our experience, as well as our commitment to the craft, that makes us a top email marketing agency.

We’re 100% Email Marketing.

Together with Indiemark clients we’ll define a thoughtful and engaging email marketing program that optimizes the experience of your subscribers and prospects, and increase profitability.

Indiemark believes email marketing should look great and perform even better. We’ll design and code your messages and deliver them into the inbox with smashing success.
Indiemark knows how much deliverability matters, after all a great email program means nothing if it goes unseen or tested.

Indiemark uses short sentences whenever possible. We drive our clients’ success. We get results. Enough about us, what can we do for you?

Your email list is one of your most valuable assets. We’ll develop and execute a data plan that ensures long-term growth and thoughtful monetization and management of your lists.

We’re also technical dorks at Indiemark. We integrate and customize web solutions and APIs, whether open source or proprietary, everyday.

We’re doers too, working in concert with marketing executives and/or in-house teams we’re often called upon to manage the entire email marketing effort; soup to nuts.

We’ll transform your team into in-house experts, providing the knowledge and materials they need to master strategy and best practices.

• On-site and Virtual Training Sessions
• Workbooks and Style Guides
• Ongoing Consulting and Support

Software Integration and Customization

Integration and customization of web solutions and APIs, whether open source or proprietary, can save a lot of time and money. A wide range of software products can be used to quickly achieve certain business needs. However this software can rarely be used as it is and will require certain modification and tune up to perfectly match your requirements.

We frequently work with:

• Email Service Provider APIs
• Salesforce & SugerCRM
• Google Analytics & Omniture
• Eventbrite and many more

Check out our blog and share your thoughts!

Blog.indiemark.com

Note: This post is NOT written for list owners and publishers. It’s written for advertisers that rent emails lists or advertise in email newsletters. If you’re an advertiser who has, or is planning, to include 3rd-party email into your marketing mix it will help to use the channel more successfully and get a better ROI, with smaller budgets. In the end, it will help list owners, too. After all a happy advertiser is a repeat advertiser.

Throughout my years in email marketing both on the agency and list side, I’ve had a few conversations like this, and I paraphrase, “I’m canceling my campaigns because I’m not getting enough [clicks, leads, sales, or other tangible results].” The advertiser then pulls the campaign and leaves disappointed with the performance of the email list.

But there have also been instances when, before the advertiser (or their agency or list broker) pulled the campaign, they were willing make a few small adjustments and retest. And for those who once felt disappointed then saw an immediate improvement in campaign performance. I shared with them one tried-and-true secret to successful email advertising, which is:

Match your creative and success criteria to your campaign objective.

Marketing 101 right? But I cannot tell you how often I have seen that the objective, creative, and measures of success are completely misaligned. And when they are, the campaign is nowhere near as successful as it could be. For reasons unknown this misalignment happens more often with email.

The good news is that it’s an easy fix that can quickly invert the ROI of email marketing. When looking at an email-centric campaign, start by asking yourself these four questions:

1. What is my goal for this campaign?
2. Does my creative and landing page align with that goal?
3. Does my offer, creative and landing page make sense to my audience and not just to me?
4. How will I measure the success of the campaign, and does it align with the goal?

What are you trying to achieve? Branding? Registrations? A sales inquiry? An immediate purchase? Whatever your goal is, make sure that your creative, landing page, and measurements all align with the goal and make sense from the perspective of your audience (which is often different than yours).

Is your goal branding? Email effectively achieves key branding goals: awareness, message association, favorability, purchase intent, etc. I’ve found that most advertisers, especially when using e-newsletter advertisements, have great success with branding ads in the email channel. Their creatives are engaging, their brand is prominent, and they reinforce messages that they want the viewer to associate with their brands. But the disconnect, when there is one, comes when the advertiser measures the campaign by clicks or some other metric when the creative was never intended to elicit that kind of response. Brand is measured by the impact that viewing (i.e., an impression) the ad has on the perception and intent of the viewer, not by an immediate response. Instead use open-rates as your barometer.

Want visits to your website or new registrations? Great! Make sure to design your creative to elicit that kind of response. If your ad’s message is, “WidgetTown: The best widgets around. Click here for more.” you may have impacted the prospects’ brand perceptions, but you are unlikely to get them to click. Why should they? They have all the information they need, and down the road, if they need a widget, they are more likely to call you. But they’re not going to click right now or they, by virtual of impeccable timing, have an immediate need. If your goal is registrations, give the viewer a reason to click. Give them something that’s truly valuable (to them).

Is your goal lead generation? The incentive and landing page is now a critical part of your campaign. Does the creative tie in to the landing page? Is the incentive promoted in the creative clearly and prominently shown on the landing page? Is it clear on the landing page what the viewer must do next, and is the incentive reinforced? Are there distractions (navigation, social network links, etc.) that would derail the prospect from completing the task? Any of these can reduce the effectiveness of a lead-generation campaign and reduce the number of leads you generate.

Maybe your goal is online sales. Is it a product that someone would buy on impulse or should your campaigns be centered on events, such as holidays? Have you gone through the entire checkout process? Is it clean and simple, or convoluted and cryptic? Are you tracking cart abandonment so you can see where the problem spots are? Does your email service provider (ESP) or internal email solution support cart abandonment triggers? Are you placing a cookie in the visitors’ browsers so if they come back in a couple days and buy that product, you can credit the ad that generated the leads?

By the way, don’t try to achieve multiple goals with one campaign. It will be like a futon—it doesn’t make a very good sofa or a very good bed.

These are just of few of the basic but ever-present factors that can affect desired actions and thus your evaluation of the ROI of your 3rd party email campaigns. Just remember, the line between and email marketing success and relative failure in a fine one. Use these steps to ensure that your messages and objectives are inline and you can instantly sway the ROI-meter to your favor.

Takeaway: To find success in email list rental make sure that your creative, landing page, and measurements all align with your true goals and make sense from the perspective of your audience, which is often different than yours.