When Is It Spamming?

Comment

Comment by Jon D. Speer on February 20, 2008 at 11:26am

Brooke - Just sent an email.

Comment by Brooke DeRam on February 20, 2008 at 11:23am

I don't know... all my junk mail goes straight into the shreader (I LOVE MY SHREADER!) - most of the time before I even read it. if it goes into my junk email folder, I at least peruse to make sure that it's something that I can delete. You just never know when your spam filters are going to go haywire on you and start putting non-junk in junk.

Comment by Brooke DeRam on February 20, 2008 at 11:22am

JOn.. I've had email issues the last couple days. Can you try sending to me again? bderam@tomatofishmktg.com. Thanks.

Comment by Lisa Hedrick on February 20, 2008 at 8:58am

that 41 cents legitimizes your commitment... and to some extent your credibility.. mind you it doesn't make you a marketing genius, but i'll much more likely flip through my junk "real" mail then I'll even look at spam.

Comment by Jon D. Speer on February 20, 2008 at 12:54am

Touche!

Comment by Patric Welch on February 20, 2008 at 12:52am

Does anyone else but me find it odd that sending out mass email is considered spam but if you were to drop a letter in the mail to each of these people, no one would ever think twice about it being a legitimate piece of mail?

Funny how 41 cents is the difference between a targeted marketing campaign and spam.

Comment by Jon D. Speer on February 13, 2008 at 9:49pm

Brooke - Thanks for the comments. I tried to send an email to the address you provided and it was kicked back.
j

Comment by Brooke DeRam on February 11, 2008 at 1:38pm

Just saw your comment: "So how do you solicit permission to send emails?"

Here are some fairly easy wasy to get started:

1) Add an opt-in form to your web site.
2) Ask. When you're on the phone or in a meeting or whenever. Ask for a business card (if you don't already have one) and tell them you send out emails re: blah blah blah and are they interested in receiving them - if they are... right that on the back of the bcard.
3) Put a disclaimer in your invoice to all current clients telling them that you'd like to start communicating with them via email more. Ask them to say Yes or No on the copy of the invoice that they send back.

Comment by Brooke DeRam on February 11, 2008 at 1:33pm

As a marketing and design firm, my company deals with these issues on an almost daily basis. We have multiple clients that we provide Email Marketing services for - from designing the email (template or custom) to helping them segment their lists, etc.

The issue of SPAM is a very complex and fairly grey one, in my opinion.

You can take a very conservative approach to the service that 'All Email is Spam' but if you are sending email (even in mass) to existing clients to inform them about a new service or event that you will be attending I would classify it as NOT SPAM. Your clients and colleagues should be happy to get information on where to find more information about you (your company) and the new service offerings you have - assuming that they are happy with your current services. :)

As for Email Clients, I've tried quite a few and have researched even more - what feature is most important to you? Are you looking for an app that has templates? Do you want to create your own customized templates and emails? Are you more interested in the repoting capabilites (which will eventually help you to segment out your lists to increase responses like Jim Brown mentioned)?

If you would like help, shoot me an email (bderam@tomatofishmtkg.com) - I'd be happy to introduce you to the software we use and discuss other Email Clients that are available as well.

One last thing, and this is very important - you have to provide an 'opt-out' link that is clearly visible and your company name/address must be on every email that you send out.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm

Comment by Jon D. Speer on February 8, 2008 at 2:14pm

Okay, all. Again, thanks for the great thought provoking comments and suggestions. I now feel more educated on email marketing and will implement many of your suggestions.

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