Acxiom Digital's VP and GM explains how to use email marketing to capturing leads generated by searches.

In my previous column, I mentioned that one of the ways to begin to integrate email marketing into your broader digital marketing efforts was through a combination of search and email marketing. Today I'm going to discuss this in greater detail.

But first, let's talk about you. If your company is involved with email marketing in this CAN-SPAM world, someone is certain to be focused on these three areas:

1. Growing the list of opt-in email addresses

2. Increasing the number and quality of online leads

3. Providing a higher value online experience for prospects

Wouldn't it be nice if you could find a way to kill three birds with one stone?

Think about the last search you conducted for a product or service in which you were personally interested. Were you ready to buy at that moment? Or were you seeking information about a product category? Or doing comparison shopping? In all likelihood, you were not on the verge of an immediate purchase. You were, however, raising your hand to indicate interest, and savvy marketers should be able to respond appropriately.

However, many marketers treat search marketing today as an opportunity to propose marriage to prospective customers. In other words, they assume your search is going to lead you to a purchase "right now." As a result, marketers go into sell mode with their paid search ads. The reality of search is that it is often merely an indication that someone is a potential customer who is looking for information-- not an immediate purchase. So your best opportunity is not to propose marriage, but rather to ask her for a date. 

Someone searching for information wants exactly that: information. Not a pitch. So while you should use paid search to get her attention, it's really about what you do once you've gotten her attention. As she goes through the purchase cycle, she'll be doing fewer searches, making paid search a decreasingly effective marketing tool. So your first two steps are: 

1. Use paid search to attract the notice of people actively looking for information on or related to your product category.

2. Drive responders to a landing page that begins to capture profile information in return for something of immediate value to them.

The key to Step 2 is to begin the process of quantifying the value of each prospect and to score them in terms of time to purchase and propensity to buy. And finally, there is Step 3:

3. Focus your landing page on the acquisition of new opt-in email subscribers

In the world of CAN-SPAM, email is a very poor tool for getting someone's attention for the first time. Yet during the purchase cycle, it becomes increasingly effective assuming you've had the opportunity to get them to opt-in for email communications. 

Think about the date analogy. The key is to provide her something of value to get her to opt-in for further engagement with you. And let's remember what she was searching for in the first place: information. So, at the landing page give, her a white paper or a case study. Educate her on the nuances of your product category (e.g. LCD vs. DLP vs. plasma with customer product reviews)-- maybe even offer a free trial of your product or a sweepstakes. While a sweepstakes stretches my definition of "information," it's a tried and true tactic for email opt-in (although the true value of the leads you collect is often negligible).

Once you've got her permission for follow-up emails, you can continue the dialogue and help her navigate through the purchase decision. As you learn more about her -- her motivations, needs, and preferences -- you can engage her and boost conversion by adding to the depth and customization of information provided via your ongoing email campaigns. In this way, you become a valued resource, thereby increasing the odds that when she is ready to buy, she comes directly to you (because she won't be using search at this point). Oh, and you'll have killed three birds with one stone!

Chris Marriott is vice president and general manager, Eastern Region, Acxiom Digital. Read full bio.