Hard or Soft Boiled Opt-In? - How good is that list?

I recently found a posting from Maria Millares over at MobileMarketingNews on Mobile Spam In this article she has managed to sum up today's mobile marketing challenges in the US very succinctly.

I especially like the quote from Gary-Andereson Jones of Quartez:

"a disreputable minority with a 'gravy train' mentality are spoiling the opportunity for those businesses that operate their marketing campaigns with integrity."

Which she follows up later with her own quote on mobile spam:

"Business ethics aside, why should a company refrain from spamming with response rates ranging between 5% and 35%?"

So how does it start - well it starts with a list broker...

A list broker who contacted me recently - not realizing who he was approcahing - made some aggressive claims on the effectiveness of marketing to non-organic (3rd party opt-in) lists. We exchanged a few e-mails and to demonstrate where his philosophy leads him I'll take a quote from the e-mail:

"There will always be clutter and when you go down the motor way, how do you respond to bill boards, or ads on the sides of buses? Where do you draw the line.

I think Can Spam has worked, as it has given consumers the way to opt -out and I think Spam for email has lessened. "

It seems he is confusing out-of-home advertising and public television/radio advertising - all content over which we have a greater degree of control - with mobile marketing which appears on our mobile phone and we simply can't ignore... And clearly he hasn't been reading the same studies that I have that show that CAN-SPAM has been largely ineffective in stemming the tide of SPAM. [Info World] [ClickZ]

This same salesman bases some of his claims that marketing to non-orgranic 3rd party lists are both effective and legitimate on the similarities between mobile and e-mail lists and even provided me a link to a 2004 DoubleClick Consumer study on e-mail marketing. Here are some highlights - but not necessarily the ones that he will point out to you...

From the Executive Summary on the front page:

"Despite the fact that two-thirds of emails received are considered spam, consumers are increasingly likely to make purchases either online or offline in response to permission-based email (PBE), to see it as a replacement for direct mail communications like bills and statements, and to use it for customer service."

Please note the phrase "“considered SPAM"… if the e-mail is unexpected, from an unknown sender it is possible that it will be considered SPAM – even if there is a legitimate permission that can be traced. So - in spite of the unethical 2/3 of marketers out there, consumers are still willing to do business with the brands that follow best practice.

And from within the document:

"Spam Management: Increasing Sophistication in Management of In-Boxes

Consumers had consistent views of what constitutes spam both this year and last. Deceptiveness and unknown senders are on par with offensive subject matters. Once again, frequency and irrelevancy (even though permission was granted) can be the consumer tipping point between considering something permission-based and considering it spam (58% and 57% respectively noted those negative attributes) [Chart 5]. Interestingly, opinions vary on how much of an impact spam has on their ability to send and receive email: while 22% said it interferes a great deal, 33% said it has little or no impact."

...

"How do consumers manage the increasing glut of spam? They turn to the simple act of deletion (72% as compared to 60% two years ago) [Chart 6]. They have all but given up on the act of unsubscribing (only 20% do this as compared to 33% two years ago). Consumers are clearly sceptical of these messages and a median of only 7.2% of spam actually gets opened. Sixty-nine percent of consumers say they opened only 1 - 10% of them."

...

Some thoughts to consider:

• Without an ACTIVE 3^rd party opt-in the chances are great that a consumer will not recognize the sender.
• List rental is a volume business that will result in greater frequency.
• List rental may or may not qualify the relevancy of the campaign associated with the list rental.

All of this relates to e-mail marketing where consumers have been desensitized over the past few years as well as where they have been given greater tools to control the flood of SPAM arriving in their inboxes. When it comes to mobile SPAM the sensitivity is significantly higher, the consumer has fewer controls (today) on how to stop the unwanted messages and once the volumes reach the point where SPAM compromises their ability to use messaging as a means of person-to-person communication they will be tempted to turn it off altogether - something I assure you the carriers don'’t want to see.

Hard or soft boiled opt-in?

Opt-in permission is something that I take very seriously and as such the only acceptable opt-in permission - especially for 3rd party opt-in - is an ACTIVE opt-in.

An active opt-in is acheived when a consumer is given an express statement of intent that they may receive communications from 3rd parties. After presenting the consumer with this statement, the consumer must actively select (tick the box) to receive these 3rd party communications.

I should note that this is separate from 1st party marketing permission. In this case the consumer should also be given the statement that they may receive further marketing communications and should be required to opt-in to receive those communications.

But if we do this our opt-in consumer list volumes will plummet! Oh no!

Oh yes! You are absolutely right. But what no one seems to pay any attention to is the fact that the quality of the contacts goes up substantially - and marketing costs go down as you are not sending communications to people who aren't interested! This is actually a great thing - not a bad thing! And yes - revenues from 3rd party list rental will also go down - unless you increase the piece rate to account for a significantly higher value through a solid ACTIVE opt-in.

A list broker who recently contacted me claimed to have 8M "opt-in" mobile numbers that they will happily rent to marketers. 8M is a huge number by any standard even in the US where there are 180M mobile users. Anytime the number seems disproportionate to the market, you need to immediately question the thoroughness of the opt-in. And so I did.

Upon reviewing one of his source websites, I found that the opt-in permission for 3rd party communications is indeed contained in the website's privacy policy (see bottom of this article for the text) and covers both e-mail and SMS communications. This is legitimate, even if not as rigorous as I recommend to clients. The consumer's permission is implied with the acceptance of the Ts and Cs which include acceptance of the Privacy Policy. Thus - technically - this list broker can claim they have an opt-in list from the one website I reviewed. They can claim opt-in permission from this single source - although I haven't checked it for all the different sites that were used to accumulate the 8M.

So what's the point Troy?

Am I out to put all the list rental companies out of business - no. Marketing has used list rental for years - and very successfully. Today's list brokers have a wealth of information about consumers including more than just old fashioned demographics, but behavioural patterns and trends and more. I absolutely support the responsible use of these services to offer consumers communications that are timely, relevant, valuable and requested (TRVR).

My goal is to raise awareness on the best-practice guidelines and be an advocate for the consumer. It is up to the marketers and the list brokers to ensure best practice and legislative and regulatory compliance. The point is this: Don't be part of the disreputable minority with the 'gravy train' attitude. Be a responsible, ethical marketer. It's not that hard to do things right and the pay offs for your brand will be evident both today and in the long run.

If you're going to rent a list for mobile marketing:

• Make sure that you do your due diligence to confirm that it is truly an opt-in list
• Where possible, only rent lists that have an ACTIVE 3rd party opt-in process
• When using a list to communicate with the consumer, make sure your message is TRVR!
• Always follow best practice and code of conduct guidelines for your country/region

Feel free to comment on this piece or drop me a mail with any further questions you might have.

Troy

The Websites Privacy Policy Wording:
In addition, as a User, member of XXXXXXX and/or agreeing to receive e-mail marketing from XXXXXXX, you agree that such act constitutes an inquiry and/or application or purchase, as applicable, for purposes of the Amended Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR §310 et seq. (the "Rule"). Notwithstanding that your telephone number may be listed on the Federal Trade Commission's Do-Not-Call List, XXXXXXXX retains the right to contact you via telemarketing in accordance with the Rule. You also grant to XXXXXX the right to supply offers to you via text, SMS and/or MMS messages to the mobile phone number you may supply to XXXXXXXX. Moreover, by registering with, or requesting information from, a third-party advertiser at or through the Website, such action shall constitute an inquiry, application and/or purchase with the respective third-party advertiser for purposes of the Rule and you may be contacted via e-mail, direct mail and/or telemarketing by such third-party advertiser in accordance with the Rule.