Email Marketers Say List Turnover Is Their Biggest Challenge

July 27, 2007; 04:16 AM
Email marketers feel like they're taking two steps forward and one step back when it comes to growing address lists, according to a recent JupiterResearch survey commissioned by Silverpop. They're making progress, but it's a slow slog uphill.

Nearly four out of 10 email marketers (39 percent) said list turnover is their biggest challenge in an online survey conducted by JupiterResearch in June. The survey polled 300 email marketers about their challenges and the assistance they seek from email service providers. It repeated a similar survey conducted last year, when marketers said the ability to analyze campaigns results was their most difficult challenge.

“Concerns over list growth aren't necessarily new, but it's interesting that it's become a top concern for email marketers," said Elaine O’Gorman, vice president of strategy for Silverpop. “Growing a strong database of customers and prospects is obviously the core part of any strong email marketing program. All elements of sophisticated email marketing – segmentation, personalization, dynamic content, lifestyle marketing and more – depend upon the quantity and quality of the email list.”

Yet while marketers work diligently to add new names to the list, others drop off or become inactive. List attrition for BtoB marketers averages 2.1 percent a month, according to MarketingSherpa's "Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007." The report indicates BtoC marketers lose, on average, 2.9 percent of their email addresses each month.

According to key findings from Silverpop’s “2006 Email List Growth Survey,” it’s little wonder marketers struggle with list growth. The study found that the tactics email marketers say they plan to implement in the next 12 months aren’t necessarily those that others deem very successful. For example, while 24 percent of respondents said they plan to implement a viral marketing campaign, only 10 percent said such actions were very successful. Fifteen percent of survey respondents plan to begin appending email addresses to their customer lists, but only 4 percent of those who had tried this tactic rated it successful.

“It’s generally wise to proceed cautiously with both viral marketing and email appends,” O’Gorman said. “The FTC has guidelines to follow when implementing a viral email campaign, and the quality of email appends can vary widely depending on the company providing the names and the availability of addresses for the target audiences you're trying to reach."

The JupiterResearch survey also found fewer marketers challenged by analyzing campaign results, with just one in four saying that's difficult compared to 32 percent who felt that way in 2006.

"Reporting and analytic features of email marketing systems have become much more sophisticated over the last few years," O’Gorman said. "Marketers are now able to gain valuable insights into what's working and can use that information to improve future campaigns."

To read more about Silverpop's "List Growth Survey," visit: http://www.silverpop.com/practices/studies/list_growth/index.html.

About Silverpop

Silverpop, a premier email service provider, supports the online relationship marketing needs of enterprise organizations by delivering the world's most comprehensive array of on-demand Web-based software solutions. Its software-as-a-service approach makes it easy and affordable for marketers to create, automate and execute lifecycle multi-channel marketing campaigns that are timely, relevant and measurable. Offering highly scalable tools supporting both high-volume BtoC marketing initiatives as well as high-involvement BtoB sales processes, Silverpop delivers a robust solution not available elsewhere in the marketplace.

With offices throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom, Silverpop is the only company that has appeared as one of the top two enterprise-oriented email service providers each of the last three years in JupiterReseach's annual evaluation. Silverpop provides online relationship marketing support to industry leading companies including Fossil, The Bombay Company, British Sky Broadcasting, Weather.com and more. Best practices and white papers are available at www.silverpop.com.