Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Lost My List's Opt-in/opt-out Permission Status

Posted by Mario R on 10/9/2009 at 11:56 AM ET 250 Points
Hello everyone. We keep our e-marketing lists in a database that ran a software patch recently. Unfortunately, due to a glitch, the patch stripped each email address from it's marketing permission status, so we're unsure now of which emails are opt-in, which are opt-out, which have bounced, etc.

Should we run an email campaign to all addresses to confirm their opt-in status? Please let me know your feedback as to some possible solutions to this problem. Thanks.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 10/9/2009 at 12:46 PM Moderator
    Yes. Unfortunately, you probably have to run an email campaign to confirm opt-in status.

    To make the best out of this not-so-great situation, you might consider (a) no commercial message in the opt-in confirmation campaign, (b) a small gift for everyone who responds (e.g., $10 gift card), and (c) an honest explanation of what happened, so your list doesn't think you're just using this as an opportunity to trick them into opting-in or slipping some spam into their inbox.

    There may be other options, but this is the only one that comes to mind. Yet another great reminder of the value of frequent back-ups, eh?
  • Posted on 10/9/2009 at 12:51 PM Member
    Definitely agree. We had a similar situation happen to us, we decided to be as transparent as possible and used some humor and informal language ("Oops! We messed up!") plus a 10% coupon and I think in the end we may actually have won some customers back that had at one point opted out.

    Good luck!
  • Posted by Mario R on 10/9/2009 at 12:59 PM Author
    Thanks. These are excellent suggestions. Unfortunately the nature of our business (non-retail financial services) prevents us from offering transactional discount offers or gifts.

    A key concern is if I use an opt-in invitation email, many individuals who are in fact opt-in but who just don't reply I'll have to recategorize as opt-out when in fact that's not the case.

  • Posted on 10/9/2009 at 1:43 PM Accepted
    You are, of course, correct. Your concern is well-founded. That's the price you have to pay for the error.

    If the number of individuals on the list is relatively small and you have the ability to contact them individually by phone, you can probably do that ... as long as it's done tastefully and carefully. Failing that, however, you will probably lose the majority of your former opt-ins, simply because they don't respond to the mea culpa email message.
  • Posted on 10/9/2009 at 1:45 PM Accepted
    I agree, the only thing I can think of is to send an "oops" email and be honest and upfront about why you're doing it.

    Do you have any "snail mail addresses" for the people on your list? If so, you may want to follow up that way for those that don't respond.

    You might also add something to your Web page, or any invoices you send out, saying you had a glitch and asking people to sign up again if they're not getting their newsletters.

    Can you offer a free report or white paper of some kind (no dollar value, but something perceived as valuable)?

    Then, go set up a backup system!

    Jodi

    Jodi
  • Posted by michael on 10/9/2009 at 1:52 PM Member
    You always run the risk of people thinking you're may also make mistakes with their personal data.

    I think you could tell them of the change and be open to the fact that the internal change has nothing to do with data, just opt in.

    There are many ways to spin it.

    Michael
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