Netizens at Night, Net Marketers by Day

None of us like receiving spam or junk email (call it "spam" and you're a Netizen; call it "junk" or "direct email" and maybe you're just a pragmatist). Marketers have already found, however, that direct email can be highly effective. By taking a look at what people (all of us are Netizens at night) don't like about junk email and how people can deal with it, organizations can better understand how to avoid "spam" and cook up some effective marketing instead.

Please believe this fact: direct email really works. Harvard, Wake Forest and Stanford universities, for example, launched massive email campaigns which made a difference in alumni giving to the tune of millions of dollars.

Netizens and Net Marketers disagree about the appropriate starting place for an email list. Netizens believe that people should only be sent an email if they have specifically agreed, in advance, to receive a specific mailing. Netizens see getting email the same way they might see getting a subscription to a magazine -- if they've agreed to receive that particular publication, fine. But send it to them for free on a trial basis and that's spam.

Net Marketers may disagree, saying, for example, that if an organization has acquired a list of email addresses, then it's okay to email them, even if they haven't agreed to that specific campaign.

Now, think about the junk email you personally get. To reduce the volume you receive, you must be proactive. For starters, scan the email for a link to click on so that you can type REMOVE in the subject line and get off the mailing list. It works. Use it.

As marketers, we know that people like you expect to be able to opt out. Therefore, our direct mail campaign must make it easy for you to opt out. We recommend placing the opt out message in three places: at the end of the direct email, (a common practice, so some people will look there) somewhere else in the email and on your organization's Website.

Even an opt-out click is not enough, however, for true Netizens. These people are so offended by spam they often respond to its receipt by contacting the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (CAUCE) and reporting the transgressor. In other words, Net Marketers, they're going to turn you in.

If the service you use to send your direct email out is reasonably pro-business, then chances are that this service will send you polite emails saying that you've been reported and, by the way, read your contract - you're not allowed to spam people. At this point, request the exact email addresses of the people who are complaining and make sure they're off your list.

If you've chosen an email service that's in the Netizen camp, however, you may get fired as a customer. So before you launch a direct email campaign, check your service provider's policy about sending out email. Define "unsolicited."

Netizens must face facts: even if the federal government does make unsolicited email illegal, we're still going to receive junk email - junk faxes are illegal and we still get those. Net Marketers, must also face facts: if you're going to launch a direct email campaign, it's best to have an existing relationship with those people on your list, give them an easy way to opt out, and pay special attention to the true Netizens. Chances are, your competition will some day figure all this out; start now, and you can get ahead of them.

This article first appeared as a column written by Dave Tedlock, NetOutcomes' president, for Inside Tucson Business and/or the New Mexico Business Weekly.

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