The egg, the chicken or both at the same time? Contacts segmentation or product launch?

[JayJay]

Hi! 

I am very grateful that you guys can maybe help me. 

Here's the context: we have a list of 5000 contacts that are inactive ( for most of them) and we do not know who they are... we have their emails and pretty much it. 

In parallel of this problematic list of contacts, 

we have a new product launch and we aiming to send a newsletter. 

We want to send an email to this 5000 contacts in order for them to let us know about who they are via a form and a way to re-engage the conversation with them as we grow and need to be more GDPR compliant. 

But we also want to send to this 5k contacts the new product launch. 

The egg or the chicken?

I was wondering if it would be better or more strategic to already divide these contacts into possible lists and send to each of these new list the product launch instead of sending them the product launch newsletter and then the email to get to know them better or vice versa. Who has to come first? 

My instinct tells me that out of these 5K contacts, some of them have already interact with us via a past product launch newsletter and thus I should send to those who clicked on that past newsletter the new product launch newsletter. Which already break down my 5K list of contact into a more nurtured least. 

Those that would fill in the form who then enter a workflow that re-engage the conversation with them and at the 2 interactions send the product launch... 

Or should we simply do both at the same time and recombine the list afterward? 

Thank you for your help!

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @JayJay,

Thanks for providing so much context, very helpful for answering your question.

One thing before I go into details, and I'll quote @DeliveryByJess here: "HubSpot's Acceptable Use Policy does not permit use of the marketing email tool for contacts that have not personally opted into your brand". If you're not 100% sure whether these contacts have opted into marketing communication from you, you would violate the acceptable use policy.

Assuming that these contacts have opted-in a while ago, I would strongly recommend to validate these emails first with a tool like Verifalia, Neverbounce, Email Hippo etc. There are probably a lot of soon-to-be hard bounces on your list which could damage your sender reputation and email health. You want to exclude these contacts from your promotion.

As far as actual campaign strategy goes, please keep in mind that these contacts have apparently not had any touchpoints with you recently and you're now promoting a launch which might be too aggressive for some people on the list. The risk of unsubscribes is quite high. After a long time of no activity, I'd try to ease these contacts back in. Consider meeting an old friend from decades ago, you need some time to warm up again.

The more you can segment and personalize your emails, the better. This will definitely help with campaign performance. That's why, if you can, I'd try to capture more information about the interests of your contacts before going into full-blown campaign launch mode. Not sure whether I'd frame this as "We'd like to get to know you better" in a time where people are very conscious about who they share their data with. I'd try to lead by being helpful and providing a useful resource. Once contacts have received a valuable piece of content or resource from you, they'll be much more open to any subsequent marketing activities.

Best regards!

[webdew · Accepted solution]

Hi @JayJay ,

Agree with @karstenkoehler here. First you need to verify your contacts before sending the mass emails. As you have a huge db of 5K contacts, if the system detects excessive hard bounces, HubSpot will suspend sending marketimg emails for your accounts. Check here: Marketing email sending is suspended.

Hope this helps!

If we were able to answer your query, kindly help the community by marking it as a solution.

Thanks and Regards. 

[DeliveryByJess · Accepted solution]

Hello @JayJay ,

As @karstenkoehler  mentioned, HubSpot's Accpetable Use Policy does not permit sending marketing emails  to contacts who have not personally and directly provided their email address and permission to your brand.  The markteing email tool can only be used for contacts who have already opted in, and can't be used to try and gain opt in for a contact who has not yet provided their permission.  This is true even for contacts who have been verrified by a third pary platform (please note this as well @webdew ).  All contacts used in the marketing email tool need to meet these minimum requirements. 

A best practice for contacts who have not yet opted in is to send them a 1:1 message from your personal inbox, either within your inbox okatform or through the connected inbox functionality in HubSpot.  The message can direct contacts to a fork or landing page where they can opt in if they like.  Any contact that submits on a form would meet HubSpot's opt in requirements and could be used in marketing emails from that point forward.  

This approach has mutiple benefits - it protects your brand from delivcerability problems caused by sending bulk unsolicited email, keeps your brand aligned with HubSpot's AUP and helps to prevent suspension for violations, and allows contacts to choose their own communication preferences which builds a relationship based on mutual trust and respect. 

[webdew · Accepted solution]

Hi @JayJay ,

Agree with @karstenkoehler here. First you need to verify your contacts before sending the mass emails. As you have a huge db of 5K contacts, if the system detects excessive hard bounces, HubSpot will suspend sending marketimg emails for your accounts. Check here: Marketing email sending is suspended.

Hope this helps!

If we were able to answer your query, kindly help the community by marking it as a solution.

Thanks and Regards. 

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @JayJay,

Thanks for providing so much context, very helpful for answering your question.

One thing before I go into details, and I'll quote @DeliveryByJess here: "HubSpot's Acceptable Use Policy does not permit use of the marketing email tool for contacts that have not personally opted into your brand". If you're not 100% sure whether these contacts have opted into marketing communication from you, you would violate the acceptable use policy.

Assuming that these contacts have opted-in a while ago, I would strongly recommend to validate these emails first with a tool like Verifalia, Neverbounce, Email Hippo etc. There are probably a lot of soon-to-be hard bounces on your list which could damage your sender reputation and email health. You want to exclude these contacts from your promotion.

As far as actual campaign strategy goes, please keep in mind that these contacts have apparently not had any touchpoints with you recently and you're now promoting a launch which might be too aggressive for some people on the list. The risk of unsubscribes is quite high. After a long time of no activity, I'd try to ease these contacts back in. Consider meeting an old friend from decades ago, you need some time to warm up again.

The more you can segment and personalize your emails, the better. This will definitely help with campaign performance. That's why, if you can, I'd try to capture more information about the interests of your contacts before going into full-blown campaign launch mode. Not sure whether I'd frame this as "We'd like to get to know you better" in a time where people are very conscious about who they share their data with. I'd try to lead by being helpful and providing a useful resource. Once contacts have received a valuable piece of content or resource from you, they'll be much more open to any subsequent marketing activities.

Best regards!

[JayJay]

Karsten! What can I say? Thank you for providing me with such great advises, insights and attention to data policy. Let's keep in touch 🙂