Anne T.
Team Building Retreats to Generate Bottom Line Boosting Strategies►Corporate Event Planning to Reward Corporate Teams
Tools that grab e-mail addresses of site visitors and give them the option of clicking to receive more information?
I haven't seen these for a while. In the past, I have visited sites at which there is a pop up in which my e-mail address is pre-loaded. It would then give the option of clicking okay to receive information. This was different from the pop-ups for ezine subscriptions. Of course, the specific tool would require functionality that will by-pass pop-up blockers.
Is anyone familiar with these? How do they work? Has anyone been able to use these to boost conversion rates? Any tips or advice you could share for using this type of tool would also be appreciated.
Clarification added April 16, 2009:
It has only happened a couple of times. I wish I could remember the sites. I hadn't visited these sites before and I was actually quite shocked when it happened. I have disabled the automatic fill feature on my PC so that wasn't it either. The idea of this is not for spam but to facilitate permission marketing, however, yes, it could be misused by aggressive spammers.
Here is what prompted my question. This morning I was speaking with someone who claimed I wasn't making proper use of web analytics to boost conversion rates. He indicated that technology is available to provide the e-mail addresses of all site visitors. I had never heard of this and was curious so I posted this question. The only thing that I have seen that came close was what I was describing. I do have privacy concerns so I was curious to see if anyone on here had experience with this.
Clarification added April 16, 2009:
The person who told me about the analytics is not my advisor. He is someone who contacted us to pitch his services. He has not been hired for anything. He described analytics that could go further and get e-mail addresses. I had never heard of this so I posted here and described the closest I had seen to this.
So far, no one is coming forward and saying "Yes this exists and we use it with great success". It will be interesting to see if ANYBODY responds like this. The prospective supplier is supposed to send more information. It will be interesting to see what it is.
Clarification added April 23, 2009:
Okay I have found out something about this but not from the company that originally explained this. Apparently it doesn't work exactly as I first understood it. It isalso apparently perfectly legal. It can't grab e-mails from unknown site visitors. Here is what I now understand based on how this was just explained to me.
It's based on something called "Demand Generation". I have never heard of it. Apparently, Marketing Automation firms use a cookie based technology integrated into a robust end-to-end Marketing platform. While this i not new in the IT industry, it is not well known, or widely promoted.The providers of the technology warrant that it is well managed and applied, and that it adheres to strict legal limitations. 3 major suppliers are Eloqua, Marketo and Silverpop. Apparently this service, tracks the activities of unknown site visitors and then when the individual provides contact information, it matches up the activities with the history of the site visitor's activities. It also tracks visitors who are already in a company's database. That way one can trace the effectiveness of a marketing campaign. Apparently what some firms do is to purchase databases, preload information from databses into their Marketing CRM. Then, when someone from the database visits the site, the information is matched and the visitor is identified. This is all done by some kind of a cookie that retrieves information from the computer. The company gets an e-mail to indicate that someone from the database is visiting the site. That is likely how my e-mail address came to be pre-loaded in that pop-up window on a site that I have not previously visited. I have invited someone from Eloqua to come and explain this properly as I am sure I have not. I hope this clears up some of the confusion.
Good Answers (3)
Kristin A.
Manager, North American Demand Management at Ariba
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1), Lead Generation (1)
Silverpop Engage B2B Automation Web Tracking allows you to track visits to your website, link this data to Engage B2B Automation and subsequently target communications to contacts based on the web pages they have viewed. The visits will be recorded once a string of HTML code, provided by Silverpop during set up, is included on each website or webpage to be tracked.
Two IDs
When a domain (e.g. www.silverpop.com) is tracked, each visitor to the website is randomly assigned a web sync ID cookie. Meanwhile, each record in Engage B2B Automation is randomly assigned a unique ID, the Engage B2B sync ID cookie. In order to track who is clicking on your website, these IDs need to be tied together so the web sync ID is no longer anonymous and the contact’s website activity is stored in Engage B2B Automation. Once the linking occurs, the web sync ID is associated with the Engage B2B sync ID, and thus is identified as the contact in your Engage B2B Automation database.
Two Cookies
There are two scenarios that could tie the Engage B2B ID with the web sync ID:
1. Existing Engage B2B sync ID linked with website activity
The visitor has already been assigned an Engage B2B Automation sync ID by subscribing to your database (e.g. by submitting a survey built in Engage B2B Automation). Thus the contact’s information is stored in your Engage B2B Automation database. By directing this user from an Engage B2B Automation resource (e.g. email, survey, or microsite) to your tracked website, the Engage B2B sync ID is passed through the Silverpop gateway and an Engage B2B sync ID cookie is created. Once the contact reaches the tracked website, another cookie (the web sync ID) is created. At that point the website visitor is identified because the two cookies are associated.
2. Existing web sync ID linked with contact information in Engage B2B Automation
The visitor browses a tracked website and is assigned a web sync ID cookie. If the visitor is then directed to an Engage B2B Automation resource and is identified (i.e. receives an Engage B2B sync ID) by submitting contact information to your database, the two sync IDs are associated. Identification can occur by submitting an Engage B2B Automation survey, opening an authenticated microsite or submitting a customized web services form.
Identified or Unidentified?
The visitor’s website activity (that is, which pages were visited) will be stored for 24 hours, unless the visitor is identified. For example, if a visitor visits your tracked website but does not identify, that website activity will be purged after 24 hours. However, the web sync ID cookie will remain on the contact’s computer indefinitely unless that person manually deletes the cookie. Even if the web sync ID cookie is deleted, the website history for that contact will remain up until the time the cookie was deleted. To continue the example, if the same visitor returns to the tracked website and is identified within 24 hours of first clicking on the site, the website history (including the past 24 hours) will be tracked at that time, and into the future.
In another example, if the same visitor returns a month later and is identified, any website activity in the past 24 hours will be tracked, as well as all future activity on your domain.
First- or Third-Party Cookies?
A first-party cookie originates on or is sent to the website you are currently viewing. Most commonly, this type of cookie is used to store information, like your preferences, when visiting that site. A third-party cookie originates on or is sent to a website that is different from the one you are currently viewing. This type of cookie is often used to track your web page use for advertising or other marketing purposes. Silverpop’ only uses first-party cookies.
Links:
- http://www.silverpop.com/marketing-products/engage-B2B/index.html
- http://www.silverpop.com/marketing-resources/index.html
Clarification added May 8, 2009:
Enabled or Disabled?
In order for web tracking to occur, not only does the visitor need to be identified, but java scripting and cookies must be enabled on the contact’s browser. Browsers which block third-party cookies will not prevent web tracking from occurring because Silverpop only uses first-party cookies.
What is tracked?
Activity on any of the registered domain webpages which contain the string of HTML code received from Silverpop will be tracked. Thus, if the contact is identified, you will be able to determine the total number of pages the contact has visited in a certain time frame. Tracking will include any third level domains included under the primary domain. For example, you can build lists using statements such as “they visited this webpage at least x number of times” and “they visited this website at least x number of times.” You can also use date modifiers when creating a dynamic list to target a contact within a specific time after they were identified on your website.
Using Web Tracking to Target Communications
Build dynamic lists based on your contacts’ real-time website activity or create automated campaigns which send a contact a follow up/thank you email immediately following their visit to your site. By using dynamic content, you can target your communication to the contact’s preferences depending on whatever website or page they viewed.
Hi Anne,
I am the Director of Product Marketing at Eloqua and I was forwarded your post by a colleague.
To clarify, Eloqua and other demand generation/marketing automation systems help marketers measure their efforts by integrating three key business functions:
1. they integrate direct marketing channels like email, direct mail, voice, SMS on a single platform. Marketing workflow automation lets marketers build out campaigns using these channels and then 'set and forget' programs like lead nurturing, webinars, event communications, software downloads - virtually any multi-touch or multi-channel campaign that would otherwise be difficult or time-consuming to coordinate and execute.
2. they track inbound web-based activity, like email click-thru's, visits to websites, landing pages, microsites and form submissions using web analytics capabilities. This helps marketers directly tie outbound campaigns to inbound activity to understand cause and effect. It also helps them understand where all web visitors come from, leading referrers (like keywords or industry sites), most popular pages, and other key statistics on web visits.
3. They integrate all of this activity into a company's sales force automation system to better manage lead flow from campaigns and, more importantly, to help salespeople understand what their prospects are interested in so they can have more relevant conversations with them.
Your question deals specifically with how marketers use these systems to identify their website visitors, and their email addresses. There are two ways to identify website visitors:
1. by offering content on the website that is valuable enough that visitors will actually type their email address into a form to access it, or
2. by linking an email address obtained in some offline manner (like a tradeshow or list purchase) with prospect's website browsing history (via a cookie). Marketing automation systems do this automatically by using unique tracking links for each prospect email. When one of those links is clicked, the systems links the contact record in the marketing database to a cookie on a prospect's browser.
Both of these techniques require the prospect to take action by either submitting a form or responding to an email offer. And neither will work if the visitor does not accept cookies. As written earlier, there are no systems that can gather someone’s email address simply because they visit a website.
In either case, the act of sending an email to a prospect must be done in a way that is not in violation of any applicable local, state, national or international laws or regulations regarding email or privacy. It also should be in line with current best practices on permission-based marketing. That means that in order to send a follow up email to someone, you must state on your website how you will and will not use their information. Eloqua’s practices and website is certified by TRUSTe and they are a great resource for understanding these rules and expectations. You can take a look at our policy as an example as well.
I hope this helps clarify things for you.
Best,
Jim Williams
Director, Product Marketing
Eloqua
Jim.williams@eloqua.com
Links:
There are services out there that will make an educated guess as to the visitor's identity.
For example, LeadForce1 looks at the IP address of visitors to your site, matches that against keywords and titles you designate, and then cross-references that against Jigsaw to come up with the most likely identity of each site visitor.
The service is relatively inexpensive (low monthly fee then pay $1 per lead).
Links:
More Answers (13)
You must be mistaken. The only way a website can know an e-mail address is if the user types it in.
What you might have seen is:
- A site where you were previously registered (and that remembered you).
or:
- You have a plug-in installed on your browser that can automatically fill certain fields with information that you provided to that same plug-in.
Clarification added April 20, 2009:
I believe that the one that contacted you to pitch his services just replied this question.
No, there is no way you can caught e-mail addresses from visitors.
I mean, there is no LEGAL way to do it.
As I said before, users have to type them in (either manually, or using an auto-fill plug-in on the browser). The only way this will happen differently is on infected computers.
If that guy can prove what he's saying, then he must be exploiting some browser bug. If this is what he wants you to install onto your website, then be careful TWICE!
- Once because it's illegal, and YOU (your company) can be prosecuted for that.
- Then, because he could be installing something more (a trojan), and YOU (your company) could become exploited itself.
I've been working in computer business (software development) for more than 20 years, and believe me:
You don't want to STEAL visitors e-mails.
The only way to use e-mails addresses that you obtained is by SPAMMING, and the only companies that SPAM are labelled as UNRELIABLE.
Clarification added April 20, 2009:
Also:
Don't try to harvest e-mails by requesting them so people can get access to "free" information.
You'll either end up with less people knowing your offers, or...
you'll end up with a bunch of fake e-mails on your database.
And if someone says that there are tools to make sure e-mails are not fake, then ask him if there are no tools that bypass this "validation".
Aggressive marketing is dangerous. You might get more business done, but you'll end up with potential haters that, if annoyed enough, can become motivated to put you out of business.
What you don't want, and don't need, is NEGATIVE marketing.
Try to have a look on tools like McAfee's SiteAdvisor, and you'll might have a glimpse of what I'm trying to say.
Do not make anyone mad at your company. You'll benefit much more from that.
Clarification added April 24, 2009:
Thanks for the clarification. :-)
Yes, that's might be it.
Beware, never the less, that even if you get an e-mail address from that service (of a visitor to your site) you still might not be able (legally) to use it.
I mean, if the visitor is from the European Union, his e-mail address can't be used without explicit consent (opt-in for European Union).
I'm very strict with SPAM that I receive. Here in Portugal there is an entity for privacy issues called CNPD (Comissão Nacional de Protecção de Dados) and I usually report spam to these guys. Companies that spam are fined, and could even be closed down if they keep spamming.
I know that in the US the legislation is opt-out, but beware because the owner of an "innocent" e-mail service based in the US might be European.
Good luck.
Hillel P.
Marketing and Lead Generation for Israel's Leading Export Companies - IsraelExporter.com!
Best Answers in: Business Development (1), Search Marketing (1), Starting Up (1)
I would advise that you create an information site - simply sharing information. Have the email form somewhere on the side. This way your visitors won't feel like you are trying to shove the email sign up form in their faces.
To help you boost conversion rates we have recently launched our brand new Super Website Marketing Handbook:
Links:
Al K.
SEO, Digital/Interactive Marketing, HTML/CSS
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1), Search Marketing (1)
Thanks for the clarification. I think your "advisor" needs to be fired. There's no such program to provide email addresses of all site visitors. Imagine if every site you visited automatically harvested (magically) your email.
As far as using your web analytics to boost conversion, that has nothing to do with emails. Again, fire this person. He/she clearly has no idea what he/she is talking about.
Web analytics breaks down your visitors to your website. You use web analytics to uncover user behavior, keyword searches, and other nuggets. It takes time to review the raw data, to make inferences, and to then take action.
In the case of boosting conversions, you need to know what conversions you are talking about. Are you counting sales as conversions? Are you counting brochure download? Are you counting lead submission? Things like that, you need to break down and know.
Then in the analysis you need to see where you have placed your conversion points - and with the analytics, you see if visitors are drilling that far. If not - figure it out, and test a new design to your website.
But that's an example of how web analytics is to be used. Not to magically jump to conclusion that you are using web analytics wrong so go out and find a program that will harvest emails. That logic is irrational and plain stupid.
Wouldn't that be a marketers dream! :)
Unfortunately the only way to gather data is by having the user manually input the data accurately on their own and opt in to your offerings....
As Hillel mentioned, I too have had great success in the past with providing free information to my target market by offering relevant content or giveaways. This can be done in various formats such as HTML, PDF and direct mail that they have to subscribe to (simple database MYSQL script that a programmer can write for web for you). You can also use third party tools such as Constant Contact and they can provide a script that you put on your website and the contact information goes directly into a database that you can control. By making a good offering you will motivate the consumer to give accurate information. In the case that you are marketing heavily (mass or direct), you should undoubtedly have something set up on your website to collect data that you can become the owner of and follow up on to increase conversion rates. However be careful not to abuse the data as people can always opt out and that lead is gone until they opt in again.
Also note, that if you were to just collect anyone and everyone's email who visited your site, you would likely be collecting information from a lot of people who may have accidentally been there and as a result you would be wasting money by marketing to them.
He/she who owns the most relevant data will be king!
Good Luck!
Jeff O.
Producer and Host of Marketing Made Simple TV
Best Answers in: Lead Generation (2), Job Search (1), Internet Marketing (1), Business Development (1)
In my opinion, let it go. Don't capture email addresses at all. Give it way and drive word of mouth.
It's a scary, frightening world, but I did it with www.findnewcustomers.net and it is exploding!
Good luck.
Links:
Yes - there *are* programs people can incorporate into their websites that gather e-mail addresses. I have encountered them many times in my webmaster tools searches.
I do not use them and would not use them. It's an underhanded tactic.
Jay H.
CEO, The Annuitas Group
Best Answers in: Lead Generation (4), Direct Marketing (3), Customer Relationship Management (2), Advertising (1), Business Development (1), Sales Techniques (1), Professional Networking (1)
Your last clarification has it correct.
Links:
Actually there are a number of options, but you need to remember it is illegal to harvest email without asking permission re: Federal CAN SPAM act. You can see a number of helpful email tools here:
Links:
Alec M.
Entrepreneur, Visionary, Avid Experientialist [LiON]
Best Answers in: Conference Planning (2), Certification and Licenses (1), Business Analytics (1), Planning (1), Branding (1), Interface Design (1), Career Management (1), Computers and Software (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
We use a tool called LeadLander. It doesn't grab email addresses, but allows you to see the names of the organizations that hit your website, and some basic contact info that is all pulled from the public domain. This can be hit or miss because it identifies them by IP address, but it's a great way to get some passive leads without being creepy.
Mike K.
Interactive Marketing Specialist at Data Dog Interactive Marketing
Best Answers in: Lead Generation (6), Internet Marketing (5), Direct Marketing (4), Business Development (3), Sales Techniques (2)
Hi Anne,
A former colleague of mine now works for a company called Broadlook Technologies that has a product in this ball park, but not exactly what you describe. Have a look . . .
Best Regards,
Mike
