Email Your Customers - Without Spamming!

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Your customers hate SPAM. In fact, they despise it so much that many of them have posted anti-spam web sites with links to services that report suspected panderers of SPAM - also known as UBE (unsolicited bulk email) or UCE (unsolicited commercial email). These services notify your ISP, domain host, email provider and anyone else listed in the header of your email. 

While there are few laws regarding SPAM (some states have recently enacted their own), the results of being labeled are commercially disastrous. You may find yourself without access to the Internet and email when your ISP disconnects you. Most ISP and email services contractually prohibit spamming and in addition to terminating your service may impose fines.

As a respectable business you may find it disconcerting to find yourself labeled as a spammer. But, unless you follow certain guidelines you are, for all intents and purposes, Guilty!

So, how do you reach your customers without risking the wrath of anti-spammers? Their web sites spell it out clearly.
 

Explicit and Implicit

First, avoid rented lists. Despite promises made by the purveyors of these, few are legitimate opt-in lists (more on this later). The only safe source is your own house list.

Don't have a house list you say? Well, it's time you started building one. It's not difficult and if you follow the proper procedures you will soon find yourself with a sizable list of potential customers who actually want to hear from you! 

There are 2 types of legitimate recipients in your house list - Explicit and Implicit.

Explicit members are those who have directly requested your solicitations (newsletter, electronic catalog etc.). In most cases they have signed up on your web site to receive mailings from you. These are opt-in members. And, you better be sure they are double opt-in to avoid problems later with anti-spam regulators. Double opt-in means your members requested your solicitation on your sign up form, then verified their registration by responding to a confirmation email. This confirmation prevents unscrupulous third parties from signing up other email addresses without the owners' permission. You can use a double opt-in service found in email engines like Constant Contact or Vertical Response. Or, you can set up your own with an Autoresponder service or program like ProAutoResponder or AutoResponsePlus. Many hosted domains offer autoresponders. These are usually simple, but effective.

Implicit members are individuals with whom you have a prior relationship. Typically these are customers who have purchased from you before, but they may also be visitors who requested information about your products, or corresponded with you via email.

Both explicit and implicit subscribers are allowed by anti-spammers. However, you must provide an unsubscribe option in each email you send.

 
A Word About Safelists

You may have heard of these on the Web. Safelists are made up of subscribers that all agree to receive emails from each other. The good news is you can email to them without fear of being labeled a spammer. Unfortunately, the volume of emails is tremendous and most subscribers, if not all, join solely to send  email. They rarely read  them. In fact, many set up email addresses specifically for receiving and deleting their safelist email. It is possible to be heard among the masses if your headline is strong enough to catch the eye, and your message is concise and attractive. But, this is the realm of "business opportunities" so unless you are selling a soft commodity (like software or ebooks) this is probably not an appropriate forum.

 
Content Requirements

A list of legitimate recipients does not give you carte blanche to email them. In addition to aggravating your customers with daily emails (unless such frequency is appropriate for your audience) you are inviting "unsubscribe" requests. If you want to keep your members happy offer them something of value. Newsletters, such as the one associated with this article, are a good example. In exchange for relevant information, you receive the opportunity to communicate regularly with them. It's a win-win situation.

Other valuable services include: reports on your customers' web site traffic or uptime, recipes (if your product or service is food related), electronic catalogs - especially those that cater to specific audiences (e.g., hobbyists, collectors) and expert advise in your subscribers' field of interest. 

Whatever format you choose for your communication be sure to include the following in every email. If you don't you could be accused of spamming.

A legitimate return address: You want your customers to communicate with you. Be sure to provide a contact email address (and phone, street address etc.). False reply addresses are a hallmark of spammers.

An appropriate subject line: Your email subject line should truthfully describe the content of your communication. Your credibility is ruined with subjects like "Your Order Confirmation" followed by a sales pitch.

An unsubscribe link: Provide a link to allow the recipient to remove their email address from your mailings. If possible, use a third party that guarantees removal. Many unscrupulous spammers use unsubscribe responses to verify the recipient is reading their email!

A subscription reminder: Your customers web surf frequently and may have forgotten that they subscribed. Remind them how you received their address and offer options to unsubscribe or modify their subscription. Remember, only your own house list is acceptable so don't reference "partner sites." They either signed up for your  service or they didn't.

 
So start building that house list. If you stick to the rules it will become a valuable commodity to you and a real service to your customers. And, once again "Spam" will mean only one thing -  mystery lunch meat.

Mailware Tip: You can store customer email addresses in Mailware and specify whether they wish to receive emails from you (on the additional info tab of the customer screen) You can also set up specific email campaigns and export your list to use with an email program or service.