If You’re Using Email As A Marketing Tool, Then Failing To Read This Could Cost You Thousands.

(This is a lengthy article so if you prefer to print and read, take this link to a pdf version - Perils of Email Marketing )

Due to the enormous levels of email abuse by the unscrupulous, Governments both here in Australia and overseas (especially the USA) are legislating against unsolicited emails, commonly know as SPAM.

“SPAM” mail is the practice of sending massive amounts of e-mail promotions or advertisements (and scams) to people that have not asked for it. Spam mail is controversial and there are many levels of definitions for it. Many times, spam e-mail lists are created by “harvesting” e-mail addresses from discussion boards and groups, chat rooms, IRC, and web pages.
(Source: Pugmarks)

Many business owners recognise these tactics as unacceptable but fail to see one common practice in the same way.

What is that practice?

It’s when you meet someone, take their card and add their name to your email broadcast list, sending them promotional material without their permission. While you may not think this to be a serious offence, let me tell you a true life story that happened just this week.

A client of mine had a stand at a trade show. On the stand they ran a competition offering a substantial prize. To enter, you had to place your business card into the entry box. On the front of the box was a clear and distinct message saying, “By entering this competition, you agree to receive promotional material about our upcoming events”

Hundreds of people entered. Over the next few days, the client transferred the entrant details into their database and began sending promotional materials. All was going smoothly until this email arrived (names changed to protect their identities)

Hi Graham

I would just like to point out we did not stop by your stand and provide our contact details or request to be sent any information. Our details must therefore have been obtained from our stand

Therefore the 2 emails you have sent regarding your business constitute SPAM and make you potentially subject to heavy fines under the Australian Anti SPAM laws. Please remove us from you mailing list until such time as we specifically request to be added to it

In addition your failure to provide an Opt Out facility in your emails is a further breach of the Anti SPAM laws, again leaving you subject to a fine

Best regards

Paul

Graham doesn’t know how their card got into the entry box. He states quite categorically that he didn’t put it there himself. We can only assume is was put there by a third party whoever that was and for whatever reason, we don’t know.

Several emails were exchanged until fortunately an apology was accepted.

Think it won’t happen to you? That the legislation doesn’t have teeth? Think again!

“The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) has taken action against a spammer in the first case to be brought under Australia’s Spam Act.

“Spammer Wayne Mansfield, listed in Spamhaus ROKSO database, is charged with sending at least 56 million commercial emails in twelve months after the Spam Act 2003 commenced in April 2004. Most of the messages are believed to have been unsolicited and in breach of the Act.

“The article continues to explain the apparent legislative breeches and says,
Penalties for contravention of the Spam Act can be up to $220,000 per day for first-time corporate offenders and up to $1.1 million per day for repeat offenders. Profits can also be forfeited and compensation paid to victims.
(Article source: Spamhaus News)

Other articles on the site reveal how infringements in other jurisdictions have led to fines and jail sentences.

I urge each and every one of you to seriously consider your email newsletter transactions. In my opinion, using Outlook or any similar software to distribute broadcast emails to any list is fraught with risk.

Any person with any form of grudge against you can, and is likely to, report you for sending unsolicited emails. When your host gets wind of any complaint against you, your account may be frozen, leaving you without both emails and a website. Worse still; some hosts will simply delete you. Even your Domain name is at risk.

We all know that building a database of prospects and customers and keeping in touch with them is an effective, easy and inexpensive method of doing business. Done right it can be highly profitable. Making a mistake can be very costly as you have seen.

The anti SPAM legislation has serious implications for all email list owners, from the largest of businesses down to your local bridge club or your netball team.

I’m sure that you, like me, receive all forms of unwanted emails promoting all kinds of weird products we don’t want, don’t need, would never buy or even imagine using. The legislation is designed to catch those people, not innocent people like Graham. Inevitably though, the errant ways of the few will lead to restrictions for the rest of us.

Here’s what we suggest you do to minimise your risk:

• Never add anyone’s name to your broadcast list yourself
• Make absolutely sure that any and all outgoing broadcast emails clearly state your full Company name, address and contact information including the phone number
• Make absolutely sure that you provide an automatic Unsubscribe process. Simply saying “To unsubscribe, please send a reply email with the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the subject line” is clearly insufficient
• Provide a “Subscribe” facility on your website to allow interested parties to add themselves to their list. Add a privacy statement to the effect that their email details will be kept confidential
• Use a double opt in process even for those who voluntarily add their own names to your list. Double opt in means that after they have subscribed, they don’t receive any information from you until they have confirmed their subscription. Sure, some will chose not to confirm you didn’t want them on your list anyway so it’s of no concern.

One other point - today, more and more Australians are using html email templates for their newsletters. There are some problems with this; allow me to elaborate…

• Many host servers, particularly in the Corporate world, block html files meaning that your message goes unread
• Often your graphics won’t display meaning that your logo and parts of your message are lost
• Html files use more bandwidth than plain text files and some domestic users may block your messages because they have an adverse impact on their service fees
• They generally don’t result in traffic back to your website, meaning that your search engine rankings don’t benefit from the potential traffic such messages can generate.

Better instead to send a simple plain text message with a powerful subject line with a few lines of content that encourage the reader to click through to your site where you article or offer can be read and where you carefully take your reader to your required course of action.

If your email service provider doesn’t provide all of these facilities, change providers immediately. Stop sending broadcasts and download your data from their service for safe keeping. Look straightaway for a more professional service.

What you’re looking for is an autoresponder; preferably one that can manage several lists and one that has both serial and sequential capabilities. Autoresponders are masked under several glamorous names such as Email list managers, or Ezine blasters; let me tell you that they all do the same job.

Let me explain the two terms serial and sequential for you:

• A serial autoresponder manages subscription lists. Just like when you subscribe to National Geographic and you receive copies starting from the next edition, a serial autoresponder adds you to an existing list and sends whatever comes next.
• A sequential autoresponder always starts your subscription from edition 1 and sends each edition to you at pre determined intervals. Highly relevant as an enquiry follow up from a website.

Another point to consider is ongoing costs. It staggers me that Australian businesses are prepared to pay through the nose for such programs.

It’s not unusual for an Australian autoresponder to charge you a fee per 1,000 records stored plus a second fee per 1,000 emails sent. I did the maths recently and found that, if using a typical Australian product, I would be paying in excess of $500 per month for emails to my International database.

That’s ridiculous by comparison with the service I use. I pay just $US19.95 per month irrespective of how many emails I send, how often I send them and how many people I send them to.

The three autoresponders I highly recommend are detailed under Recommended Resources on this site where you’re welcome to have a look at them.

Note: This article does not constitute legal advise. We recommend you consult with your lawyer for a detailed review of your rights and liabilities under this legislation. You should be especially cautious if you have US subscribers on your list.