Email marketing’s PR challenges begin and end with spam. As our Catapult team hit the streets to talk with consumers, they heard nearly a hundred consumers express—each in their own way—that spam isn’t limited to penny stocks, Nigerian bank scams, and Viagra. “When referring to email marketing most people think of spam,” surmised Kristeen Hudson based on the interviews she conducted.
Spam is ‘junk mail’. It’s any communication where companies initiate contact and miss the mark. Even when permission is granted, sending relevant email can be a challenge. When unsolicited email is sent, it becomes nearly impossible to deliver something that the consumer interprets as relevant.
According to another new ExactTarget employee, Caitilin Landrigan, “When asked about spam, many people replied that they simply deleted the spam, because clicking the unsubscribe link would only confirm their address was active and increase spam quantities.” This perception continues despite the efforts of responsible marketers to comply with CAN-SPAM. But, could this legislation actually be part of the problem?
Very few of the consumers we interviewed knew that the US government had passed a law to combat spam. They had never heard the term CAN-SPAM. The question, “What is the CAN-SPAM act?” drew blank stares and wild guesses. Of the people interviewed, the only woman that was familiar with CAN-SPAM subsequently shared that her husband is a network administrator. Even if some consumers know what CAN-SPAM is, but by in large, they don’t know and they don’t care.
The disconnect lies in this simple reality, while still too many email marketers hide behind CAN-SPAM compliance—sending unsolicited email with the promise of honoring unsubscribes, the recipients aren’t aware of the rules marketers are playing by. Furthermore, the legal requirement to honor unsubscribes has been rendered impotent because consumers still think it will exacerbate their personal spam problem. That is why ISPs must hold emailers to a higher standard.
Fortunately, consumers do not consider all commercial email spam. In fact, most interviewees gloated about a couple of their personal favorites. The programs consumers consider relationship-worthy follow rules of online engagement that consumers do understand: Permission, respect, and relevance! Honor these and CAN-SPAM becomes a non-issue for email marketers.
This post is part of a series on Consumer Perceptions of Marketing.
Previous post in series: Permission Makes All The Difference
Next post in series: Annoying Consumers with Too Many Emails
Spam is ‘junk mail’. It’s any communication where companies initiate contact and miss the mark. Even when permission is granted, sending relevant email can be a challenge. When unsolicited email is sent, it becomes nearly impossible to deliver something that the consumer interprets as relevant.
According to another new ExactTarget employee, Caitilin Landrigan, “When asked about spam, many people replied that they simply deleted the spam, because clicking the unsubscribe link would only confirm their address was active and increase spam quantities.” This perception continues despite the efforts of responsible marketers to comply with CAN-SPAM. But, could this legislation actually be part of the problem?
Very few of the consumers we interviewed knew that the US government had passed a law to combat spam. They had never heard the term CAN-SPAM. The question, “What is the CAN-SPAM act?” drew blank stares and wild guesses. Of the people interviewed, the only woman that was familiar with CAN-SPAM subsequently shared that her husband is a network administrator. Even if some consumers know what CAN-SPAM is, but by in large, they don’t know and they don’t care.
The disconnect lies in this simple reality, while still too many email marketers hide behind CAN-SPAM compliance—sending unsolicited email with the promise of honoring unsubscribes, the recipients aren’t aware of the rules marketers are playing by. Furthermore, the legal requirement to honor unsubscribes has been rendered impotent because consumers still think it will exacerbate their personal spam problem. That is why ISPs must hold emailers to a higher standard.
Fortunately, consumers do not consider all commercial email spam. In fact, most interviewees gloated about a couple of their personal favorites. The programs consumers consider relationship-worthy follow rules of online engagement that consumers do understand: Permission, respect, and relevance! Honor these and CAN-SPAM becomes a non-issue for email marketers.
This post is part of a series on Consumer Perceptions of Marketing.
Previous post in series: Permission Makes All The Difference
Next post in series: Annoying Consumers with Too Many Emails
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