You may have heard rumblings about this, but Potomac Tech Wire reports on it succinctly:

“Dulles-based AOL and Yahoo have developed a plan to charge email marketers a fee to allow their emails to bypass spam filtering technologies that often block legitimate email. The move — being compared to stamps on letters — is aimed at allowing legitimate marketers (such as banks, publishers and associations) to get their email messages through spam filters that often block requested messages. Companies using the fee-based system would need to verify that they have been given permission to send email to the end-user. Silicon Valley-based Goodmail Systems said on Monday that its technology will be used for the new system, which would be voluntary. Marketers not wanting to pay the fee would be allowed to use the existing system, but risk that their messages be blocked by spam filters. The New York Times reported that both companies are considering charging between 1/4 cent to 1 cent per email for those firms joining the program.”

Of course it’s all about AOL and Yahoo maximizing profits, but I see this as a potential win-win. Companies engaged in legitimate email marketing spend time, money, and resources trying to keep themselves whitelisted. They don’t have to use the new system, but it may wind up being more cost-effective do so.

Napkin math: Let’s say I’m sending 100,000 emails, but right now am getting 70% deliverability. Assume half my list is AOL and Yahoo addresses. If paying AOL and Yahoo a half-cent an email means I spend $250 to improve my overall deliverability to 90%, that means 20,000 more emails get through. Depending on my business model, it’s likely that will be money very well spent: If I have an average cost per order of $50 and a conversion rate of just one percent, I’ve spent $250 to make $10,000.

Marketing takeaway: Don’t panic. Analyze your email program. Paying a half-cent an email may be flushing money down the drain … but it could also be the best thing that happened to your online marketing program.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2006 at 8:34 am and is filed under Internet Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways.