Silverpop CEO Urges Marketers to Mine the Gold in Email Databases

Business Wire, Oct 8, 2007

LONDON -- Bill Nussey, CEO of Silverpop and author of "The Quiet Revolution in Email Marketing," recently called on marketers to implement simple tactics to unlock the value of customer relationships.

He spoke to marketers from throughout England and Europe in his annual address at Silverpop's Advanced Email Strategies Conference in London. Nussey urged attendees to think two dimensionally about their lists - not just about the number of email addresses but also the amount of information available for each person on the list.

"Email marketers are sitting on a potential goldmine, but few realize it. And even those who do recognize the value of their lists are having a hard time tapping into its rich promise," Nussey said.

Nussey outlined key areas email marketers should concentrate on, with mapping sales or data from other channels a priority. "Forget 4 percent uplift, or even 40 percent. Marketers can achieve as much as a 400 percent increase in ROI simply by cross- referencing customer information from other channels to your email database."

For example, adding information about the amount a person spends or the last time a purchase was made can give a program a tremendous boost by allowing for targeting. You could send special reward-oriented campaigns to heavy spenders and re-activation messages to those who haven't made a purchase in several months.

Other tactics recommended included conducting more surveys and polls, lead warming for both BtoB and high-involvement BtoC sales opportunities, using Web analytics and optimizing landing pages and micro-sites.

"Your email marketing database is probably far more valuable than you realize," Nussey said. "Unlocking the value of the relationships already in place is probably the highest return-on-investment available to marketers today."

Other industry experts presenting during the conference included Nate Elliott, senior analyst with JupiterResearch; Michael Nutley, editor-in-chief of New Media Age; Skip Fidura, email partner at OgilvyOne Worldwide; Dela Quist, CEO of Alchemy Worx; Zania Guy, online marketing manager of Metro International; David Hawdale, chief experience officer, Hawdale Associates; and from Silverpop, Ted Roberts, director of deliverability and ISP relations and Mike Weston, managing director.

About Silverpop

Silverpop is a premier email service provider that supports the online relationship marketing needs of enterprise organizations. With its comprehensive array of on-demand Web-based software solutions, it offers highly scalable tools supporting both high-volume BtoC marketing initiatives as well as high-involvement BtoB sales processes.

Recognized by Deloitte as the second-fastest growing technology company in Georgia in 2007, Atlanta-based Silverpop has offices throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom. It 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 analyst firm JupiterReseach's annual evaluation. Best practices and white papers are available at www.silverpop.com.