What Is Email Appending?
Definition
Email appending is the practice of updating or adding missing customer email addresses to an existing database. It works by matching a company’s current customer data, such as name, phone number, or postal address, with a trusted third-party database to find and attach the correct email address.
It helps businesses verify the accuracy of their customers’ email addresses. As a marketing strategy, email appending lets businesses maintain an up-to-date contact list. It improves deliverability, ensuring that businesses can reach their customers, improve engagement rates, and maximize email marketing campaigns.
Example
Let’s say you’re running a local bookstore. You have a list made up of 1,000 customers, but you only have their names and phone numbers. The thing is, you want to send promotional messages about new book releases and discounts.
Since you don’t have their email addresses, you can’t reach your customers via email. To fix this, you work with an email appending service. It matches your customer list with a reliable database and finds 800 valid email addresses. You can now use these addresses to send newsletters and special offers to engage customers and drive sales.
How important is email appending?
Email appending provides you with accurate and up-to-date addresses. This lets you connect with as many customers, sponsors, or volunteers as possible, effectively expanding your reach. Thanks to accurate customer information from email appending, you can improve segmentation and deliver personalized campaigns.
However, it comes with unique challenges:
- Potential issues with accuracy. The accuracy of your results will largely depend on the quality of the database and the data you provide. Inaccurate data can affect your reputation and lower customer engagement. To avoid this, it’s best to know your data sources.
- User consent. Appending emails may be viewed as spam by your customers since you’ll be sending emails without permission. To avoid issues with user consent and privacy, obtain opt-in permission and respect opt-out requests.
Email appending best practices
Follow these best practices to get the most out of email appending:
- Know where your data is coming from. Choose reliable data sources and use multiple appends to ensure data accuracy.
- Know when to append. Append in advance and only during off-seasons.
- Keep your data. Don’t discard your append data. You can use that for future campaigns.
- Comply with anti-spam regulations. Only use appends when you need them, such as when you’re trying to reach new prospects.
Related terms
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