ATLANTA, July 24, 2006 – A new survey conducted by email service provider Silverpop found that when it comes to gathering email addresses for marketing campaigns, tactics that work well on one side of the Atlantic don’t necessarily succeed on the other side.

“All elements of sophisticated email marketing – segmentation, personalization, dynamic content, lifecycle marketing and more – depend upon the quantity and quality of the email list,” said Elaine O’Gorman, vice president of strategy for Silverpop. “But 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.”

Silverpop’s “2006 Email List Growth Survey” asked email marketers about the tactics they currently use to grow lists and which ones they find to be most successful. Understanding what works in one country and not in another helps marketers better reach global online audiences.

List growth tactics rated as very successful by email marketers in the UK and Europe included:
1. Online marketing/search
2. Tradeshows
3. In-store/point of sale/purchase process
4. Viral marketing

Top tactics for marketers in the US and Canada included:
1. Offline advertising/direct marketing
2. Tradeshows
3. Online marketing/search
4. Call centers

“Online marketing/search is an important way to obtain email addresses for all marketers,” O’Gorman said. “But to be truly successful, your website 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.”

Yet despite the fact that search is the top choice of UK/EU marketers to grow email lists, only 28 percent place registration requests on every page of their site. One-third of US/Canadian companies place opt-in requests on every page.

O’Gorman recommends that marketers also follow these best practices to help encourage Web visitors to register for emails:
· Add opt-in requests to all pages on your Web site
· Simplify registration forms
· Provide a link to your privacy policy
· Show examples of emails the recipient is likely to receive
· Add a preference center to allow users to register for the content they want at the frequency they prefer

The survey also found that US/Canadian marketers make greater use of offline advertising and direct mail to grow email lists, a tactic that should be more strongly considered by UK/EU marketers. O’Gorman recommends that direct mail pieces should carry the company’s Web address and include an incentive to log on and sign up for emails.

“Adding email to offline marketing efforts is a cost-effective way to enhance relationships with current customers,” she said.

Gathering email addresses at tradeshows is equally popular on both sides of the Atlantic. But O’Gorman cautioned that gathering names of tradeshow attendees, especially if they’re dumping business cards into a fishbowl to win a prize, doesn’t constitute permission to email in many EU jurisdictions, and has the potential to alienate prospects elsewhere.

Another tactic that Silverpop’s survey found to be used by half of marketers in the US and Canada and four out of ten in the UK/EU is viral marketing. Yet less than 11 percent of marketers taking the survey ranked viral as a very successful tactic.

“Viral marketing requires a great deal of effort,” O’Gorman said. “You must have the absolutely right product offered to an audience, targeted with laser-like accuracy. You also have to get the creative just right to generate the viral pass-along effect you seek.”

To receive a copy of Silverpop’s “2006 List Growth Survey” findings, visit the Best Practices section of the company’s Web site at www.silverpop.com.

About Silverpop

Silverpop is a leading provider of permission-based email marketing solutions, strategy and services, with offices throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom. For the second year in a row, in 2005 JupiterResearch ranked Silverpop as the email service provider with the highest overall value for emailers with lists of over 150,000 recipients. Jupiter's annual evaluation of email service providers said "Silverpop offers one of the most complete email marketing applications, and together with its very usable interface, makes an excellent value for marketers."

Best practices and white papers are available at www.silverpop.com.