E.U./U.S. Marketers Differ on List-Growth Tactics

E-mail list-growth tactics that work well in the U.S. don’t necessarily succeed in Europe, according to a recent study by e-mail service provider Silverpop.

While the most favored tactic for growing e-mail lists cited by marketers in Canada and the U.S. was offline advertising and direct marketing, the top tactic cited by European marketers was online marketing and search, according to Atlanta-based Silverpop’s “2006 List Growth Survey.”

The difference may be a result of the E.U.’s privacy rules passed in 2003 requiring marketers to get permission before sending e-mail.

Not surprisingly, the rules have had zero effect on spam, but have apparently had an impact on how law-abiding companies conduct their business.

“Adding addresses to the company’s database continues to be difficult, especially in Europe and the UK, with strong legislation requiring consent prior to mailing,” said Elaine O’Gorman, vice president of strategy for Silverpop.

The second most successful list-growth tactic cited by marketers on both sides of the Atlantic was gathering addresses at trade shows.

Marketers in the U.S. and Canada cited online marketing and search, and gathering addresses via their call centers as their third and fourth most successful e-mail list-growth tactics, respectively, while E.U. marketers cited gathering address in stores and at point of purchase as No. 3 and viral marketing as the fourth most successful list growth tactic.

Also, though European marketers cited search as a top e-mail list-growth strategy, just 28% place registration requests on every Web page.

“Online marketing/search is an important way to obtain email addresses for all marketers,” O’Gorman said. “But to be truly successful, your Web site must be infused with opt-in requests. Because search engines often bypass the home page, it’s best to include registration forms on every page of your site.”