The line between spam marketing and legitimate email marketing campaigns has become more and more subtle as the virtual world has grown. Fortunately, however, there are a number of principles of integrity and effectiveness that business owners can stick to when managing their email marketing. Email advertisements, customer newsletters and other online forms of communication can be vital to your sales and relevance in the online world, so make sure that you are keeping on your customer’s good side, and not straying into the world of spam by being aware of what constitutes good email marketing and following both the legal regulations and the best practices below.
Spam or Not? Know the Difference
The first step in knowing how to toe the line between spamming your clients and successfully advertising to them via email is defining your terms correctly. Spam is junk mail or unsolicited correspondence that is received online, whether through email, instant messaging, text messaging or other online communication methods. According to the federal CAN-SPAM Act, there are several things that businesses can do to ensure that they are not sending out spam emails.
•Do not send customers or clients unsolicited messages or marketing materials. They must have given their full consent to sign up for a newsletter or alert service to their email or telephone.
•Do not send customers or clients emails with unclear, deceptive or misleading subject lines. This will help you avoid legal issues with headlines as well as help you grow and maintain your virtual integrity among your client base.
•Each message or email that is sent out must include obvious and accurate instructions on how to unsubscribe or opt-out from that list. If a customer takes this step, the sender must remove them from any further correspondence of that kind within 10 days of receiving that request.
•All commercial emails must necessarily include the sender’s physical postal address.
What Kind of Emails Will Help Build My Business?
There is much more to good email marketing than just knowing how to avoid sounding or looking like spam. Besides ensuring that all your emails are solicited, all of your subscribers have given their express permission to be on your list and all your advertising is transparent and direct, it is also important to curate the quality and quantity of your outgoing emails. Know the differences between the various types of emails, as shown below.
•Direct: Email marketing messages that are direct are obviously attempting to persuade clients or customers to buy or consider a certain good or service. These emails might include advertisements, notifications about sales or marketing information about a certain item.
•Retention: These email types are less focused directly on sales and more focused on building a relationship with the customer, with the hopes that this bond will later lead to brand loyalty and, of course, sales. Retention emails might include weekly or monthly newsletters that update customers on the happenings within the business, emails with articles, tips and tools for the consumer and any other commercial emails in which nothing is being directly advertised.
Many successful email marketing campaigns strive to balance these two types of email correspondence so that consumers are more likely to read incoming messages. For example, if clients know that every email they open from a certain business is likely to contain a graphic advertisement for a certain product, they may not open every single one. But if they enjoy the retention emails that contain helpful articles and tips that are related to the product, they might be more likely to open and read more emails from that particular business.
When it comes to building a successful email marketing campaign, be sure to vary the types of emails you send, avoid sending out anything that appears to be spam and aim to create a loyal, interested customer base.
Legal Disclaimer
The content on our website is only meant to provide general information and is not legal advice. We make our best efforts to make sure the information is accurate, but we cannot guarantee it. Do not rely on the content as legal advice. For assistance with legal problems or for a legal inquiry please contact you attorney.