Direct marketing gets a lot of bad press, purchasing e-mail lists has a very low ROI and hence most marketers, don't even consider 3rd party eDM's for the marketing mix... and I couldn't be happier!!
Third party eDM companies such as Reward Central incentivise their audience to answer surveys, giving personal information about themselves in return for points, vouchers or cash. Many advertisers are cautiously concerned about the effectiveness of incentivised advertising, but if the targeting is right, this is a very powerful vehicle.
A great example of this is the Associates Degree in Business offered by RMIT. This is a completely new course with no external demand or online search by perspective students. Through 3rd party networks, I polled the Reward Central membership base and unearthed a number of young people and parents that admitted someone they know missed out on a business course placement. When the eDM went out we saw a 10% pass along rate meaning those who received the e-mail were acting as brand ambassadors and passing the offer along to those who may be interested.
The result of the e-mail send was to deliver 300% more applications than they required and stimulated a number of online searches for more information. I wonder if this strategy would improve applications for online MBA programs, worth a shot probably. Third party eDM is an ace I carry up my sleeve for almost every client and is certainly worth considering for your strategic marketing mix.
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