E-mail marketing can be an economical and
efficient way for any business large or small to
promote their business and build their customer
base. There are however a few very important
things that you should know though before
starting an e-mail marketing campaign. In this
article we will cover spam e-mail and permission
levels as they apply to e-mail marketing.
First let’s discuss ‘Spam E-mail’
– we’ve all gotten it, advertisements
that we did not ask for and that clutter our
e-mail boxes daily. Just like the junk mail we
get in our traditional mail boxes. If a person
did not ask for your information then you are
quality of sending spam mail. For the integrity
of yourself and your business don’t ever
send spam e-mail.
If you are starting or already have started an
e-mail marketing campaign for your business one
of the most important things for your business is
that you impress your customers; past, current,
and/or future. Sending spam e-mail is going to
nothing at all to do this and it can damage your
business in different ways.
The CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of
Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act)
provides very clear guidelines for using e-mail
marketing. We won’t go into the details at
this time but you can read the specific
guidelines at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
website. Not following these guidelines can
result in loss of business as well as some sever
fines.
SpamCop is in business for the purpose of keeping
track of businesses and individuals who send spam
e-mail. This is a company that you do not want to
be known at. To avoid getting on the SpamCop
blacklist simply do a little homework before you
embark on an e-mail marketing campaign.
Don’t send spam e-mail.
The best way to avoid sending spam e-mail or
being convicted of sending spam e-mail is to
never send marketing e-mails to anyone who did
not ask or give you permission to send your
marketing e-mails to. Permission marketing is
safe because the only way you send e-mail is with
the person’s permission.
To make the most of your e-mail marketing
campaign you should be familiar with the five
different levels of permission marketing;
Opt-out, Negative Opt-in, Opt-in, Confirmed
Opt-in, and Double Opt-in. Each of these are ways
of giving prospective customers to join your
mailing list and thus receiving your marketing
information and we are going to cover each one
individually.
Opt-out e-mails are the most dangerous form of
‘permission marketing’. How this works
is you collect e-mail addresses from some source
and send your marketing information to the
recipient. Why it is called ‘opt-out’
is there is also included a way for the receiver
to ask to be removed, stop receiving e-mails, or
in other words ‘opt-out’ of your
mailing list. In reality this could still be
considered ‘spam’ or at least thought
to be spam e-mail. They did not give you specific
permission to send your information.
Negative Opt-in e-mails are a little better as
far as not chancing getting confused with sending
spam mail but it also does not necessarily give
the receiver the best opinion of your business.
Normally this type of permission marketing
involves a form, we’ve all seen them, and
there will a check box next to something like
‘Yes, send me your junk mail so I can get
annoyed with you.’ The box will already be
checked meaning if the person doesn’t remove
the check they have given you permission to do
just that – send them your marketing
material. While you may get a customer or two
using this method most people will not realize
the box was already checked and could still
report you for sending spam e-mail.
The Opt-in method of e-mail permission marketing
is very close to Opt-out marketing except for one
key feature. Rather than having the box checked
already the box will be empty. For the person
filling out the form to give you permission to
market your information they will need to place a
check mark in the box. Opt-in permission is
probably the most frequently used form of e-mail
permission marketing.
Confirmed Opt-in permission is for the
subscriber, person asking for your information,
will receive and e-mail asking them to confirm
the fact that they requested or gave you
permission to market to them. This type of
permission is good because it not only gives the
other person the chance to change their mind but
it also helps to keep your mailing list clean
– if this confirmation e-mail is returned
undeliverable or ‘bounces’ then you
won’t add it to your list and waste time
mailing to that address.
Double Opt-in permission is by far the safest
form of marketing permission. What it comes down
to is the subscriber is subscribing to your
e-mail marketing campaign twice. When they first
subscribe they are sent a confirmation e-mail.
The difference between Confirmed Opt-in and
Double Opt-in permission is with the second type
there is also an ‘activation link’
within the confirmation e-mail. The recipient
must click this link in the confirmation e-mail
or they will not be added to the mailing list.
E-mail marketing can be efficient and effective
but it won’t be either if your business is
accused of sending spam e-mail to prospective
customers. While using any form of permission
marketing you can avoid some problems you will
not bypass all. Using the double opt-in method is
by far the safest for you and your business
– once the subscriber has subscribed twice
it’s very difficult for them to say they
didn’t ask for your marketing information.
Faith Wright-Draper (aka
byfaithonly) has been writing for over 40
years as a journalist, ghostwriter, and
freelancer. She currently writes for
several blogs, freelances, and writes on
her own website www.byfaithonly.com