The Fact: CO-REG Works

Co-registration, or co-reg, has received some bad reviews in the online lead generation marketplace, but it doesn't need be that way if you are careful and attentive. There are some effective methods for running legitimate and profitable co-reg campaigns.

If your campaign is only for Opt-in subscribers then you need to define what opt-in is very carefully to make sure all the leads are coming from users who "expressly" request to receive email about a product. Be sure to collect the right opt-in proofs to avoid spam complaints. You need to know exactly who made the request. Make sure you have a record that proves the user opted in - this includes the time and date stamp of when the user opted in, an lP address and the website where the opt-in happened.

Manage your rejection criteria and make sure your rejected leads or records as they are called don't contain wrong or invalid email addresses, duplicated email addresses or records already in the advertiser's database. These should not be lumped in with valid leads.

Legitimize your data fields. Most co-reg publishers collect a first name, last name, email address, zip code and country. Beyond that, be explicit about what other fields you require and be consistent.

Guard your data and insure that general demographic data collected as part of registration can be used any way you want. Additional data that is collected as part of a specific advertiser's opt-in offer belongs to that advertiser and you can't store it, analyze it or sell it.

Control your offer fully. Make sure you know where your offer is running. That means everywhere your offer is running. Beware of a lead gen company that won't reveal absolutely every site your offer is placed.