Cost of co-registration?

I recently read your article "Partner Power" ("Net Sales," August) about using co-registration campaigns. It was misleading on pricing and incomplete as far as ways to find co-registration providers. The article only mentions the usefulness of co-registration in obtaining newsletter subscribers. However, it is also very effective in enticing consumers to sign up for memberships, loyalty programs, catalog subscriptions, product launches, special offers and more.

The only co-registration leads advertisers can purchase for such low prices as those in your article are usually from opt-out or incentivized offers. Running an incentivized campaign works if the purpose of the campaign is simply to build a bulk list. However, if advertisers are looking to acquire new customers, it is difficult to tell whether those consumers are truly interested in the advertisers' offer, or whether they knew they were signing up for it at all. To run a legitimate opt-in co-registration campaign, advertisers can expect to pay at least 25 cents for basic consumer contact information, and the price goes up from there. It is difficult to test a sound media mix of co-registration sites with the small budgets suggested in the article. To run a quality campaign, we usually tell our clients to spend at least $10,000.

Certainly, the Co-Registration Directory is a good resource to search for partners, but there are other means to find them, including the Direct Marketing Association's website (www.the-dma. org) and by typing "co-registration" into a major search engine.

SCOTT MASON

Director of Marketing

Innovation Ads

New York City

"Net Sales" columnist Catherine Seda responds: Companies that manage special offers and customer programs as separate signup processes, not from within one newsletter, can absolutely use co-registration for any lead- or sales-generation campaign. And while it's helpful to know that your company recommends a 25 cents per lead/$10,000 minimum investment, growing entrepreneurs can test non-incentive-based, opt-in solutions for less money.

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