IAB Releases 'Email Monetization' Guidelines

Document offers advice and best practices for advertisers and publishers.

By Bill Mickey
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today released a best-practices report called "Email Monetization Strategies." The report offers guidance on leveraging email as a marketing and revenue-generating tool, and targets its advice to both advertisers and publishers.

The guidelines cite a 2009 report by Datran Media and eMarketer that says 59 percent of marketers will be increasing their spend on email marketing while reducing offline spending. That's the highest increase out of all other channels measured by the report.

IAB's report covers "email inventory types" (newsletters, standalone advertising) and the purchasing models for each. List rental recommendations are also covered, along with campaign optimization strategies and list enhancement techniques.

The report also highlights embedded video in email as an "emerging trend," and outlines key considerations from choosing the right player to pricing models.

In a section for publishers called "Data Collection Best Practices," privacy considerations are outlined, as well as data capture recommendations. Here, the IAB recommends that full name and postal information should be collected along with the email address at a minimum, and the association counsels to avoid "extensive" data capture too early in the process. "Full postal record with email address is the minimum for effective relationship development," says the report.