Rule One of Email Marketing: Keep Your Nose Clean
Last week I made a breezy statement about how the dirty underhanded method of email marketing doesn’t actually work and it’s hardly a real option for anyone hoping to successfully use email marketing. As obvious as I (and you, my educated reader) find this to be, my spam box is a strong indication that there are plenty of people who still haven’t gotten the memo. So, let’s put it out there just one more time.
The following are four awesomely simple reasons to keep all of your email marketing efforts above board (meaning legal and in compliance with the CAN-SPAM act)
Spam Buttons Exist: If you send an unwanted email, the reader has a handy little spam button that they can click to their heart’s content. Enough of that (read: over .01% of your recipients) and you’ll be marked as a spammer and will be unable to send at all. What you really want to to stand out from all those spammers out there.
Spam is Bad: Proper email marketing isn’t spam. Spam is illegal and rude. Need I say more?
Engagement Trumps Volume: A smaller active and engaged subscriber list is better than a large list that pays you absolutely no attention whatsoever. There are plenty of legit was to grow your subscriber list and enhance your newsletter for the readers you do have.
Subscribers Like Options: We’ve talked about this before. From target marketing and marketing segmentation on your end to having obvious subscribe categories that allow your readers to pick and choose the content they receive, options are a good thing. Buying a list and sending without permission flies in the face of this very solid advice.
There are many further reasons why one might want to develop their list: to grow it manageable, to know that they were authentically and realistically aware of how their marketing efforts were going, and have the pleasure and pride in knowing that growth came as the result of honest effort. But if that sounds a bit flowery to you, think of it this way: honest email marketing is the only way to develop a good reputation and actually land your email newsletters in the inboxes of interested readers.