Spam and email marketing

Companies considering email marketing might be concerned that their name or product will become associated with spam, that most invasive evil of internet messaging. And they should be as being seen as the source of spam is a sure way of losing customers. But don't let it put you off email marketing as there is a world of difference between the two extremes and it is simple enough to keep on the right side.



Seth Godwin, then of Yahoo!, coined the phrase 'permission based email marketing' and it nicely sums up the process and how it differs from spam.



The fundamental difference is that, as customers have given their permission to receive them, direct marketing emails are:



• Expected,


• Relevant,


• Individual,


• Opportune, and


• Legal.



To put a little flesh on each heading:



A recipient will have completed a form, ticked a box and have received at least one welcoming email so will be familiar with the name in the From address line.



The company which sent the email will know something of the person it was sent to. This could include certain preferences that they included when signing up or it could be just because of the circumstances surrounding the way they subscribed. Either way, the offer included on the email will be of interest to them.



The form used when they signed up will have included their name and preferred title so the email will be addressed to them at a personal level.



Sensible email marketing campaign planning will include a considered transmission time, one convenient to the recipient rather than the sender. Further, there will be gaps between transmissions.



And finally the requirements of the law. In general the regulations, intended to control and restrict spam, are sensible, easy to conform to and not restrictive. The Information Commissioner's Office provides guidelines in a readable form and, whilst registration is mandatory, it is simple and cheap. Most importantly, the recipient will have the option on every email to opt out.



These five points define permission based email marketing and a recipient, and just as importantly their spam filters, will be able to tell difference so giving substantially higher opening rates.



About the author: Oliver Penn is a freelance author who has the vast knowledge in email marketing list and email software. For more information on email marketing she suggests you to visit: http://www.wizemail.co.uk