 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Avoiding the Spam Label
In email marketing, no four-letter word incites more outrage than SPAM. Simply defined, SPAM is unwanted, unsolicited email. These days, email users are so concerned about SPAM and viruses that even legitimate email marketers are mistakenly reported as SPAMmers. And while federal CAN-SPAM legislation and state laws certainly help better define the rules around sending commercial emails, from a perception point of view, one person's SPAM may be someone else's wanted information.
Never, ever rent or buy email lists
Using rented or purchased lists significantly increases the odds that you'll be accused of sending SPAM. For your protection, BlueHornet discourages the use of those lists for any reason. However targeted, people on rented and bought lists have not given you permission to communicate with them. Consider this: it only takes one SPAM complaint to create a legal, technical and financial nightmare for your company. ISPs and email monitoring groups will blacklist a company with just a few consumer complaints.
Double Opt-In is a must
To protect our customers from SPAM complaints, BlueHornet requires that senders maintain verifiable proof that permission to send emails has been requested and granted from a subscriber not just once, but twice. We call this level of permission Double Opt-In (DOI). Research shows that the Double Opt-In process offers better return on investment than single opted-in lists, delivering almost double the response rates, with higher conversion rates, and much lower opt-out rates. The reason? Double Opt-In subscribers truly want to receive the company's information.
Remove unsubscribers quickly
BlueHornet's eMarketing Suite version (eMS) automatically processes subscriber opt-out requests immediately. However, if you receive an unsubscribe request via email, respond quickly. Federal law says that unsubscribe requests must be handled within 10 days, but even that's too long from an industry best practice position. By responding quickly, you show respect for your subscribers' wishes and your commitment to a permission-based email program.
Write subject lines carefully
The subject line is among the most important introductions to your reader. It determines whether your message is deleted or read further. Almost everyone approaches their inbox with caution (Is it SPAM? Is it virus-ridden? Is it a bad joke?), so the relationship and trust you build with customers is essential. Here are some tips for crafting good subject lines:
- Be effective. Focus on clear benefits and value and provide credible solutions to customer needs. See Avoiding the Delete Button for more tips.
- Be compelling and relevant. Develop subject lines that speak to the attached contents and are not misleading.
- Be brief. Craft subject lines that are no longer than six or seven words. Test your email before it's sent to ensure clarity, and that words aren't cut off in mid sentence.
- Establish credibility in your message and avoid any "SPAM-like" language. Sure triggers for blocking by SPAM filters: the word "free," exclamation points, dollar signs, words in all upper case letters, and the color red. Check out the SPAM Rating Tool in eMS 3.0 that measures how much SPAM language is in your email before you send it.
Protection through the BlueHornet system
- BlueHornet's eMarketing Suite includes features that inherently protect you from appearing to send unwanted mail and provide assurances to consumers that you follow credible permission-based practices.
- Tell subscribers where they came from. Our system automatically lets subscribers see how and when their email addresses were opted into your list.
- Tell subscribers who to contact. Links to your organization's contact information and address are automatically included in the Double Opt-In email.
- Respond to suspected abuse. A link is automatically place in the footer of your message that allows subscribers to report suspected email abuse to an internal source at your organization first, rather than to the FTC or an ISP.
- Check your emails. Our SPAM Rating Tool (integrated into your eMS system) allows you to evaluate an email for "red flag" language and determine the probability of being filtered by ISPs. Additionally, we offer in-depth HTML rendering reports that can tell you about code changes that will greatly reduce the likelihood your messages will be filtered or blocked. Talk to your BlueHornet Client Relationship Manager for more information about this valuable added service we provide.
Keep the "from" field consistent and credible
Use your company name, not an unknown personal name, in the "from" field and don't change it. Not only does this help develop customer relationships, it ensures that your "from" field isn't blocked by SPAM filters because the customers know you and want to hear from you.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
What good email marketing means to me (thanks, Aretha).
Finally, the best way to ensure your email messages aren't interpreted as SPAM is to develop a targeted, thoughtful campaign based on honesty and straightforwardness. Respecting the privacy of your database is paramount. That means never, ever sharing your list. That means including a respectful privacy statement or link to a statement in every message you send. Maintain your list to ensure that only those who want to receive emails from you are receiving them. Scrub unusable email addresses to ensure they're not bounced (a red flag of SPAM with ISP's).
Ultimately, your attention to detail and respect will spell effectiveness and win the trust, and business, of your customers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
