IP Targeting and Reverse Email Append

IP Targeting

IP Targeting is a process that allows brands to capture the IP addresses of visitors to its website using tracking pixels.  These IP addresses can then be matched to physical postal addresses, typically at about a 40 to 50% match rate.

For privacy reasons the website visitors’ names and addresses are not provided to the brand.  Rather, this data is sent directly to the brand’s direct mail printer.  The brand only gets the name and address if the mail recipient responds.

CLICK: Learn How to Set Up Automated Direct Mail Campaigns

Reverse Email Append via Batch Process

Brands use online forms to collect email addresses from hand-raiser prospects who are seeking a coupon, news or special offers.  98% of the time the email address is the primary bit of personally identifiable information (PII) provided and two-thirds of the time email is the only form of PII required (based on our original research) .

While it has been possible for years to convert emails to names and addresses using a batch Reverse Email Append (REA) process, there have been drawbacks which have hindered adoption.

  • Minimum fees per file submission range from $100 to $500 or more
  • Data quality has been hit or miss (one vendor we tested had 8% bad addresses!)
  • Match rates have been in the 30 to 50% range
  • Manual effort is required to output the emails, upload the file into the REA service providers’ application, download and re-merge the file into the email database

Reverse Email Append via API

While API’s are now available to automate the REA process, they have drawbacks:

  • While there are no per append minimums, annual minimums typically range from $10K to $30K.
  • Integrating the API requires developers to write programs in languages such as PHP and internal resources may be hard to obtain.
  • Match rates are still just 30% to 50% depending on the individual source.
  • Many email compilers do not offer APIs.

Inbound Insight has developed a new disruptive solution called the Insight API™ that solves all of the issues associated with Reverse Email Append (batch or API).

The Insight API is a configurable API wrapper that taps into multiple third-party consumer and email databases in one pass.  Here is how it solves the issues mentioned above:

  • No per project minimums and low annual minimum commitment across all data enhancement processes (not just REA).
  • Industry-leading REA match rates of up to 80% (twice the industry average!)
  • Integration options that include batch and traditional API as well as:
    • Ability to ingest data by simply receiving a cc on the email triggered by a new form fill…this can be set up in minutes with no programming skills required.
    • Ability to set up automated workflows in order to send data to print service providers to mail as frequently as daily

In other words, you get the power of multiple real-time APIs without any of the drawbacks.  Plus, because the REA process is enhancing the brand’s own data, the prospect’s name and address can be provided back to the brand with no privacy legislation implications.

New tools such as the Insight API allow automated real-time conversion of new emails as they are submitted, which can feed automated direct mail programs for daily mailings (while the user is still in a buying mindset) and can help pinpoint there the prospect lives in order to mention local store address (applies to both direct mail and email campaigns).

Reverse email append is another great tool for marketers to use to increase conversion from prospect to customer.

Conclusion

IP Targeting and IP Reverse Append has its place to reach people who visit specific pages or who abandon a shopping cart.  Brands should not overlook the value of their email subscriber database, especially with match rates of 80% now available for batch conversion of historical data.  (We also recommend appending demographic data in order to prioritize and optimize messaging, plus a persistent Consumer ID to eliminate duplicate records.)

New tools such as the Insight API allow automated real-time conversion of new emails as they are submitted, which can feed automated direct mail programs for daily mailings (while the user is still in a buying mindset) and can help pinpoint there the prospect lives in order to mention local store address (applies to both direct mail and email campaigns).

Reverse email append is another great tool for marketers to use to increase conversion from prospect to customer.