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Don’t call me, as I won’t be calling you

by Phil Barrett

Our National do not call list was launched this week and Canadians were ready for it.

Over 90,000 calls to register phone numbers per hour were being placed on the toll free number and over a million phone numbers were registered within the first 24 hours alone – and that’s with phone lines getting over-run and the website crashing a few times due to volume. 

I decided to wait a few days and was able to quickly add my mobile number to the registry today from their website.  There are two ways to register your phone number: www.LNNTE-DNCL.gc.ca or call the toll-free number 1-866-580-3625

What does this mean for marketers? 

It probably means we can rely less on cost effective off-shore outbound programs to generate new acquisitions or grow existing customers.  Telemarketers have 30 days to comply with your registration and can face hefty fines of up to $15,000 for breaching the list.

Could this mean a revival in print or direct marketing?

Maybe… but my bet is that the real opportunity for acquisition will be through digital channels that are more cost effective, highly targeted and highly measurable as I started to blog about here. 

Imagine only paying for the letter packages that actually get opened – and not for every piece that gets spammed across an area code.  That’s exactly what CPC or cost per click affords us now.  And if you think that’s cost effective, some networks are offering CPA – or cost per action models. That’s like only paying for the letters that are opened and actioned on – like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. 

Interruption marketing is dead.

The do not call list may relegate some ROI acquisition models meaningless, but smart marketers are already creating new models that aren’t just digital – but are based on permission or engaging the consumer based on observed behaviour – as opposed to just interrupting them at dinner time and hoping for the best :)

  • Larry
    Soooo glad to be out of the data-selling business!
    Having said that, explicit-permission based calling is still allowed, so everyone should be careful to read those opt-in and opt-out statements on online forms; which you should anyways.
    Probably the coolest form of online DR tactics is Search Retargeting. It works like this:
    The URL you click on in to your Google search campaign goes to a page with nothing but a cookied pixel, then redirects you on to the right page. Later on, you're surfing around and those ad networks are looking for that cookie, and if they find it, they'll serve a banner specific to your previous search. According to studies presented at last week's VROOM conference in Toronto, the pre-qualification that happens through search retargetting doubles response and acquisition rates. The key is to work with a big enough ad network to make it work. It is possible, especially in Canada, to over-target, resulting in very few hits.
    The other option is to work with a jelly cloud network, which relies on spyware to track users' web usage and create behaviour profiles. These also allow behavioural adserving across multiple portals, verticles and networks, taking advantage of search retargetting. You just have to have the stomach for relying on spyware.
    Still, better than dinner-time calls.
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