I just got spammed by a local business owner, so I’d like to take a moment to share some pointers on how to do email marketing effectively. These are very basic pointers, not going into the finer points of using systems like MailChimp or Constant Contact, just the most basic things to keep in mind before starting.
- Don’t email someone who is not expecting it. If they didn’t give you their email at some point, you don’t have permission to email them. Just going through a directory of people you assume
would be interested and spamming them isn’t good enough. You know what they say happens when you assume (but you can take out the “U” this time). Plus, it’s a direct violation of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.
- Don’t turn your text into images. Sure, you may be using Microsoft Publisher and Outlook like any professional email marketer would (yes, that’s sarcasm), but images get blocked, so your message is now completely worthless. Even if images get through, wouldn’t you like people to interact with your messages, maybe even copy a good link or save some important fact? Once it’s an image, that’s not an option. Plus, you’re wasting bandwidth that I need to watch Hulu.
- Links should be links, not image ALT tags. Your unsubscribe “link” does me no good if I can’t click on it. Plus, I’ve learned over the years that emailing a spammer to unsubscribe just lets them know I’m real and the volume increases. Luckily, the SPAM button is quite handy. Plus, this is a borderline violation of the CAN-SPAM Act since it is not easy for the layperson to unsubscribe.
- If you’re going to spam someone, spend the time to make it look pretty. Reducing the image quality so low that I can’t even read some of the text is a really poor decision.
- Don’t attempt to sell spam victims on your email newsletter advertising, unless you are hoping to make people smile/chuckle/laugh.
Hopefully this list gets you going in the right direction. If it was mildly offensive, it’s probably because you violated one or more of the pointers and you’re upset for being called out on it.
Enjoy!
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