It’s a given to most businesses that they need to protect the data of their customers. But what about potential leads and unsubscribed users? You might not think of this data as “yours” to protect yet, but perhaps you should. Because you could be inadvertently making a very big privacy mistake if not. By applying the same data privacy policy to any data you interact with, you’ll ensure a compliant, clean database of leads and customers, as well as unsubscribed users. And that sets you up for a better, more cost-effective method of building your email list as you work to win back unsubscribers.
Everyone has a list of unsubscribed email addresses collecting metaphorical dust. Valuable email addresses you spent time and money collecting, only to be rendered useless. With a campaign to win back unsubscribers, you can reactivate these previously subscribed email addresses at a lower cost than generating new ones. And while nearly any email marketer will recognize the incredible opportunity there, what might not be as readily obvious is the privacy protection it also offers.
A campaign designed to win back unsubscribers utilizes pre-pinging to check if an email address already appears on an email list. When targeting previously subscribed users, you would pre-ping an unsubscribe list and tailor the content to win back the subscriber. Similar campaigns might target new leads and pre-ping against subscriber lists to see if they are already on the list. Either way, the data should be sent via one-way encryption so that the user’s email isn’t visible to either party. A hashed email is always hashed the same way, so the encrypted email address is unique to the users, without revealing their personal data.
Previously, some marketers may have attempted campaigns to win back unsubscribers without encrypting the email data. In effect, that means that unencrypted email addresses were being passed to a publisher without consent. This is not within best practices, and could even be a privacy violation in some places. If this sounds like you, don’t worry—you’re not alone. We’ve heard of some major brands making this very mistake. The good news? A campaign to win back unsubscribers can work for any company, at any size. You just need a technology partner to make sure you’re following all applicable privacy regulations.
Consider how you would want a relationship to start out: built on trust, or by sharing personal information without consent? Treating your potential leads with the same care as current customers lays the foundation for a better business relationship. By encrypting data during every pre-ping, you can build a compliant database that’s also cost-effective. Pre-pinging ensures you’ll never pay for the same email address twice, and encryption is a simple step that safeguards all involved.
Ready to launch a campaign to win back unsubscribers? We can show you how to save time and money by reactivating those lost users. We all know it costs less to sell to a current customer than it does to convert a new one. Let us show you how that’s true for reactivating unsubscribed users as well.