Insights Into Email Marketing

Melissa Jones, Account Executive
May 20, 2010

An extremely cost-effective and efficient way to communicate with current clients and prospects, email marketing has all but replaced direct mail and call center marketing for many companies.

In the first generation of email product offerings, Billian's HealthDATA compiled a database of about 75,000 tested and deliverable hospital personnel email addresses. Having direct contact with over 6,800 hospitals nationwide for over 50 years, a bank of emails was pretty quickly secured and confirmed. These email addresses are still made available to customers through Email Append or Email Transmission Services today.

Given the resources required to produce and update an email list, particularly in the turnover-laden world of healthcare, quality email addresses commonly come at a price that does not always align with budget-constrained companies. In pursuit of lower-entry price points, many clients asked, "Can you provide us with your starting blocks and allow us to do the work to compile an email database ourselves?"

Billian's HealthDATA responded with a second generation of email product offerings. Now, in addition to Append and Transmission service lines, Inferred Emails are available through Portal subscriptions. Inferred Emails pair facility email conventions (firstname.lastname@hospital.org) with any contact names a facility reports. In the Portal, this produces approximately 86,000 Hospital emails and 3,500 Healthcare System contact emails. Inferred Email customers run their own email testing and permission campaigns, and typically experience deliverability of around 65%.

With the growing number of customers subscribing to email product lines, more and more marketers are looking for guidance on campaign management practices. Here is some insight on email marketing topics that Billian's HealthDATA customers have inquired about:

•    Permission Marketing
Send a first-contact email to recipients with information about company offerings and request permission to continue sending future emails. Generate a higher-quality recipient list by requesting that recipients opt-in to receive additional emails, rather than opt-out.

Click here to download a sample Permission Pass email.

•    Stay Compliant
Compliance laws require that the email not be deceptive with regard to who the sender is or what the content is about, include a physical mailing address, and offer some method of opt-out. Opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days and the option to opt-out must be available to recipients for 30 days.

For additional guidelines on CAN-SPAM compliance, visit: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm

•    Take the Next Step
Load the list of e-mail addresses that remain after opt-outs and bounce backs into your CRM system for future marketing campaigns. For companies that enforce a strict "opt-in only" email policy, simply revise the permission marketing strategy to include an "opt-in" option rather than an "opt-out" option and add e-mails to your CRM as recipients "opt-in" to future communication.

Consider developing a targeted list for your sales and marketing teams and be sure to do so in a responsible and legal manner.

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