March 14th 2000 By Nigel Fenwick | When is direct marketing really spam? |
Many consumers are frustrated at the volume of unwanted emails flooding their inboxes every day. With the increased use of email marketing, eRetailers should consider what customers perceive as spamming (unwanted emails), and how to avoid being labeled a spammer. The answer lies in effective “opting-out”. |
It’s generally accepted that when a customer joins an email subscribe list (opts-in), the list owner is free to send as many emails to that person as they like. When executed within reason, this is not considered spamming, since the consumer has requested contact via email. |
However, now that email promotion is becoming the biggest method of generating repeat traffic, we are in danger of swamping consumers with email messages, reducing the effectiveness of the medium. |
Many companies send out millions of emails a month to individuals who have opted-in to their mailing lists. Unfortunately, many of these individuals may not be aware they have opted in to the list. |
It all depends upon what a company defines "opting-in" to be. |
For example, some companies consider opting-in to include any customer that purchases from them, and provides their email address for their order confirmation. In this case, customers may receive email promotions without specifically requesting email contact. Is this spamming? |
A few good companies provide customers with options to join their email lists. Some companies include the opt-in option at the very end of a form, often already checked off, requiring a customer to uncheck it to opt-out of the list. |
However, there are plenty of companies that choose to bury the truth within their privacy policy. Often these clearly state that they may pass a customer’s information to other companies. How many consumers actually take the time to read these privacy policies?
Many of these sites display “trusted site” credentials, giving the impression to consumers that their data is safe. The consumer only discovers the truth by wading through pages of 'privacy policy' small print. Many consumers believe that the mere existence of a privacy policy means their data will be protected. |
What then is spam, in this era of huge direct email campaigns? How should an eRetailer avoid being labeled a spammer? |
If we, the eRetailing community, want to protect our ability to mail to our customers, then we need to set high openness standards, protecting customers from unwanted emails. |
Ask the customer | One way of doing this is to clearly ask each customer to select an option to opt-in or opt-out of email promotion lists, whenever we want to add that person to our list database. Give examples of the types of emails a customer might receive so the customer can make a more informed decision. Many customer will choose to receive emails detailing product promotions. |
Don't hide behind small print | If you want to share your customer data, clearly state at the point of capture, that data may be passed to a third party. Don’t hide this information in the small print on the site. If you think customers would object to this, then perhaps you should reconsider your policy. |
Make it easy to unsubscribe | Finally, make it very easy for a customer to unsubscribe from your list. Don’t put the unsubscribe details at the bottom of the email, put it at the top. Many people don’t bother to read unwanted email promotions; they go straight to the junk-mail folder. By making it easy to unsubscribe, you will get a more targeted list to people who want to hear from you. You will also avoid turning good customers off by sending unwanted emails. |
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