Can I add just anyone to my email marketing list?
It’s easy to get over excited when building an email marketing list. After all, you’ve probably got a huge list of people who could potentially be interested in receiving your information:
- People in your email address book
- People you’re connected to on Facebook / LinkedIn etc
- People who have given you business cards
- People you’ve already done business with
- People who have asked for quotes from you in the past
- People who follow you on Twitter or Google Buzz
And so off you go, willy nilly adding them to your email marketing list, ready to receive your marketing message.
But as you start sending out newsletters,or autoresponders, you find the complaint emails coming in thick and fast. Followed by the unsubscribe requests. Next you find that your ISP has stopped you from sending outgoing email because you’ve been classed as a spammer. And even if you could send email, no-one will receive it because your email address is blacklisted on all of the ISP servers worldwide because so many people have accused you of spamming.
Sounds extreme, doesn’t it? But it happens.
The simple fact is that you CAN’T add just anyone to your email marketing list and expect there to be no repercussions.
If you’re serious about email marketing, building a list and promoting yourself well by email, you HAVE to have people’s permission to send them information. That means operating an opt in list, and preferably DOUBLE opt in (which I’ll talk about in a future blogpost).
If people haven’t given you their permission ot add them to your list and send them your information, then YOU ARE SPAMMING THEM and they have every reason to complain.
It’s no good saying “But I only email once in a blue moon”, or “But we met at a Chamber do” or even “But I’m sure you’ll be interested in what I have to send”. No good at all, because as soon as you send someone something unsolicited and commercial, they have every right to complain that you are spamming them.
If you want to be taken seriously, thought of as a professional, and to make sure that your email marketing works well, you need to ensure that you use a system that can handle opt in (and unsubscribe) requests, and manages your list in a professional manner.
Not sure whether your email marketing adheres to these rules? Get in touch: 0845 505 7897 or drop us an email, and let us advise you!
Mike
Exactly, not to mention being Blacklisted. It’s worth remembering that many ISP’s will use blacklist databases as a filter to prevent spam and to enhance their internet security, which would seriously damage your marketing efforts. So best to keep things clean. Quality over quantity!
Posted 2-19-2010
Bryony Thomas
The law is just one of the reasons that people should ask for permission. Offering people content and allowing them to give you their permission is in itself an act of engagement. Spamming them will irritate, and damage your sales funnel.
Posted 2-18-2010