Question

Topic: E-Marketing

E-mail Marketing - We Need Some Clarification

Posted by Anonymous on 10/25/2004 at 4:16 PM ET 40 Points
Our website is setup like many to automatically store client information when they request information from us. We use the contact info to send out postcards, brochures etc. However, since we usually respond to quotes via email, we also have almost an equal amount of email addresses.

We are now developing an email marketing campaign and I would like to know if I can legally use the email addresses we have collected as our E-mailing list. Although the email address is a required field on our website we never setup an "opt-in" option. The mailing system we will be using will of course have an "opt out" feature, but I am cautious about sending mail to those who have already requested information from us other than the initial "quote request"

Is there anything wrong about sending these contacts additional email as long as it has the opt out feature and what consequenses do we face, if any?
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  • Posted by Carl Crawford on 10/25/2004 at 4:46 PM Member
    hi mmprint,

    i dont think you would want to SPAM your customers. i agree with night_butterflz.

    but then again you are asking if it aganist the law, i dont know but i think it could possibly be (if it is not then it should be).

    Carl Crawford
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 10/25/2004 at 6:20 PM Accepted
    I think this would be a reasonable rule set to use:

    1. Don't buy or rent lists. Ever.
    2. Invite people to register for e-mail newsletters...
    3. Allow them to stipulate/select the types of subject they want to receive news or product info about.
    4. Send them an e-mail when they register with a link they must click to confirm the registration.
    5. Only send them e-mail with the type of info they selected (UNLESS they start to buy/negotiate with you in which case the e-mail follows the course of the conversation).
    6. Include Opt-Out and account Update links in every e-mail you send to your Opt-In list.

    This will ensure you operate on an double opt-in basis and meet the expectations of a reasonable person.

    Is it legal? I think so. Probably best to check with your lawyer though to ensure compliance in your jurisdiction.

    There are a number of e-mail marketing experts on this forum -check the top 25 in this category if you are looking to use a consultant to help you with this project...

    Whatever you do, don't spam. The negative brand impact is far worse than any sales you might generate. In your business you want quality customers and those types are looking for high-integrity suppliers, not spammers.

    Is it legal to use your existing list? If you collected it as suggested above, it probably is OK. If in doubt, why not send them a one-off with an opt-out link, explaining what you are going to do. ask them to click a link to opt-in, or a link to opt-out. Any that don't opt in, don't mail again. It probably means their address has changed.

    If you follow the six steps above you should be safe.

    Good Luck.

    ChrisB
  • Posted by Inbox_Interactive on 10/25/2004 at 6:49 PM Member
    Interesting topic, and "hats off" to you for being so concerned about doing the right thing. As you're learning, though, the "right thing" is subjective, and one person's morally, ethically, and legally acceptable marketing is another person's spam.

    First, let's address the legal aspects. Is this illegal? No. If you comply with CAN-SPAM (for the most part, honor opt-out requests and include a physical mailing address), you probably don't have anything to worry about legally. Depending on the size of your business, you may want to contact a lawyer, but in the real world, most small businesses don't have that luxury; they take their chances.

    I fully realize there are people who say that anything that is not explicity opted in (positive opt-in, preferably double) is spam. I disagree. It's sort of like direct mail, where the joke goes, "Direct mail is what you send, junk mail is what you get."

    Personally, if a message is on target and of interest to me, I don't really care if it's unsolicited or not. I deal with it every day in my postal mailbox, so I really don't get worked up over spam in my inbox, either. So easy to delete...

    So, all of these people in your list appear to have at least some interest in what you're doing; they were on your site and either bought something or requested information. To me, that passes the sniff test, and I don't think you'd be drawn and quartered for sending such a mailing.

    Yes, in a perfect world, you'd send them a note saying, "Here's what I'm going to do (send you stuff). If you don't want it, do nothing. You won't hear from me again. If you do want it, click here, opt in, then click again when I send you your confirmation message."

    So pure and so tidy. The problem? You'll get very few opt-ins, because (1) most people won't even open your message, (2) some of those who open probably won't bother to click through, and (3) some of those who sign up won't confirm. I'd be surprised if you kept 5% of your list after such a rigorous process.

    Then you have the opt-out method, such as the one you're considering, but the problem with that is that most people won't even open your message, so if they say nothing, is that really giving their consent? Of course not.

    So, with both extremes to consider, one pristine and pure but probably not very successful, the other less saintly but probably keeping more of your list intact... what to do?

    If you had a large enough list, you could do a 5-10% sample on an opt-out basis and see how many complaints you get. If it's huge, ditch the plan and move on. However, my guess is that your list is too small to test something like this effectively (about 1000 records?).

    At this point, it's really all up to you and what kind of business you run. If you decide to send it all opt out on the basis that these people all expressed explcit interest (no negative opt ins) or were customers, I think you could successfully argue your point. Sure, you'll get a complaint or two, but that's a fact of life for even the most squeakly clean mailer. Conversely, if that doesn't let you sleep at night and you think it's the "wrong thing to do," then kudos to you for living with your convictions at the expense of a few bucks. We routinely turn away huge accounts because we just don't like the business they're in, and while our bank account suffers, I can look myself in the mirror each day.

    If you can do the same, power on.

    My $0.02.

    Paul
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