[JohnG]

There is a lot of work being done in this field.

That being said, what direct marketers are up against is what Seth Goodin calls "interuption marketing."

A lot of the email marketing by the big "permission based" direct marketing firms, [1] is "interuption brand marketing."

The whole purpose of this type of marketing is to drive traffic to a web site as the list administrator gets paid on the number of clicks.

Unfortunately, these folks forget something. Bulk email that the recipient requested to receive can be a very effective medium.

The key? Give the audience what it wants, meaning establish expectations up front, by telling the recipient clearly and specifically what to expect and then honor those expectations.

Bulk email that the recipient asked to receive but no longer wants, although solicited and so not spam, is a pain.

Most administrators of commercial mailing lists forget, email is a personal experience.

The recipient signs up to receive "useful" information, which can include "offers" on products or services. But, it is all about the relationship.

So, instead of running brand advertising designed to interrupt and generate traffic, mailers need to build that all important and elusive "relationship" with their list.

The desired goal? Have the recipient invite the sender into their home figuratively speaking and ask "here is my problem, what should I do?"

Then email is an extremely powerful marketing tool.

So instead of simply slapping an ad onto an email and blasting it out, with a provactive subject line, it becomes xyz list presents, with a jiggle, a dance, a story and a tune, to keep the list amused, entertained and coming back for more.

John

John Glube
Toronto, Canada

[1] I am talking about folks with confirmed opt-in data banks of over million email addresses and yes there are such animals around.

Then there are the unconfirmed "opt-in" mailing lists, with varying degrees of permission from single opt-in and a verification notice, to opt-out based on the implied consent theory, aka, you registered at the site to do x and by doing so you agree to receive advertising and finally to you registered at site x, agreed to what I will call the "we can spam you" privacy policy and find your email address being treated like a "hooker at a biker's convention." List sizes in the millions are not unknown.