Why do you really need to know the difference between spam and opt-in e-mail? If you're accused of spamming, or if your messages get caught in spam filters, you'll suffer lost revenue, inaccurate campaign measurement and a damaged reputation. You could have your e-mail account shut down or blocked, and you could even lose your Web site.
Have you ever heard of a "blacklist," or a "black hole list"? These are the lists of known or suspected spammers maintained by spam-fighting organizations--and you'll want to keep your name off of them at all costs! Most of these lists are created based on reports from recipients of spam, and since they operate on a "guilty until proven innocent" principle, you can find yourself having to do some very serious (and very public) defense of your mailing practices to clear your name.
Major ISPs and online services worldwide use the blacklists of the anti-spam groups to filter spam before it ever reaches their customers. So if your name appears on one of these lists, you can be sure a high percentage of your messages will never reach your subscribers--they'll be filtered by the ISPs!
If you think all this sounds a bit extreme, just think about the situation from an ISP's point of view. All those spam messages take up a ton of bandwidth, and this costs the ISPs money. Plus, as the ISPs' customers get more and more annoyed with spam, they start to complain about the problem. And the ISPs know that if they can't keep their customers happy, those customers will leave.
That's why many of the larger online services are also implementing their own anti-spam measures. The latest releases of MSN (Hotmail), Yahoo! and AOL all include some form of spam filtering or reporting. And these features are getting used a lot! In early March, AOL reported that they'd blocked more than 1 billion spam messages in one day. And AOL users use the "report spam" feature up to 5.5 million times every single day!
Various levels of government are also starting to get involved in the fight against spam. Many states now have anti-spam laws, and it's quite possible there will be a federal law in place soon. While it's still hard for individual e-mail users to use the laws to do much about spam, large online service providers have successfully sued spammers who were seen as high-jacking their bandwidth resources.
The silly thing about all this controversy is that spam is quite simply not an effective marketing tool. People aren't open to accepting offers from companies they have no relationship with. And even if a spammer does make a few sales after sending out several million e-mails, it's just not a viable long-term business strategy.
Think about it. If you send out 20 million e-mails and make 10 sales, you've probably at least mildly annoyed well over 19 million people. Does that sound like good business sense to you? Are people who are annoyed with you the first time you spam them likely to respond any better when you try to e-mail them again? No. Spam is just not a good way to establish a decent relationship with your customers.
Plus, spammers make life harder for legitimate opt-in e-mail marketers, since spam filters are getting more rigid, and e-mail users are starting to delete more messages than they actually read. More and more people are using spam filters to divert spam away from their inboxes, which results in many legitimate e-mail messages being caught in spam filters. Here are the things you must do to avoid being accused of spamming:
1. Keep records of how and when people are added to your opt-in list. Of course, keeping good records is always good business practice, but in the case of opt-in lists, it's critical. If you're ever accused of spamming, your battle to clear your name will be much easier if you have good records to back yourself up.
2. Track requests to opt out, and remove people who opt out of your list immediately. Again, records are a good way to keep yourself safe. And remove requests always need to be taken seriously. If you can't implement remove requests every day, make sure you always deal with them before sending a mailing.
3. Post your privacy policy on your Web site and abide by it. This is just good business sense, and it will also increase your opt-in rate, since people will feel more comfortable sharing information they are confident won't be abused.
4. Investigate third-party service providers before signing any contracts for e-mail services. Remember that in the world of e-mail promotions, you're judged by the company you keep. If you're dealing with less-than-honest service providers, you could be the one who ends up in hot water.
5. Be careful with rental lists. Always ask to see the form that's used to collect e-mail addresses for a rental list, so you can be sure that people on the lists have given permission to be contacted and that they gave the list broker permission to sell or rent their address.
6. Use a real return e-mail address that has enough storage space to receive your bounce-backs and opt-outs. If you're using a free e-mail service, make sure you have plenty of room in your account before you do a mailing.
7. Provide easy instructions on how to unsubscribe from your list. If you don't do this, your message will be flagged as spam, plain and simple. Even if you instruct people to unsubscribe by clicking on a link or sending e-mail to a specific address, honor any remove requests that are sent to your return e-mail address as well.
8. No matter how tempting it may be, do not reply to any angry messages you get from people accusing you of sending them spam. Simply remove them promptly from your list, and be glad they're gone.
The easiest way to know for sure that you're not spamming is to ask yourself whether the people you'll be mailing to have given you permission to contact them. Your newsletter subscribers and customers fit this description. E-mail addresses you've purchased on a CD for $40 do not.
The second test is to make sure your message is being sent to a targeted list of people. If you sell computer software, your existing customers and subscribers will be open to offers relating to computers, software and maybe even computer accessories. But even though they know you, they will not be happy if you send them offers for discount travel or adult Web sites. They won't understand why you're sending them offers that have nothing to do with the relationship you've established with them, and your messages will be considered spam!
Don't forget to include an easy way for customers to opt out of your e-mail list. You'll probably have a few people ask to be removed from your list after each mailing, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, if people have no interest in hearing from you, should you be wasting your resources on them?
Fighting Back
This writer was accused of spamming. This is how she handled it.
Sending e-mail to people without their permission, known as "spamming," isn't just wrong . . . it's evil. I'm not a spammer. But I have been accused of this deviant act. An accusation can provoke a nasty response from a recipient or even get your Web site shut down. Responding to any such allegation is vital to prevent your site from going offline or to help you get back online quickly.
ISPs receive complaints via SpamCop or other auto-reporting tools, and many have custom applications for tracking this growing problem. ISPs then send out "spam reports" to suspected spammers. If you receive a spam report, follow the instructions promptly and carefully. I got one when an organization sent out its newsletter, in which an article of mine was featured. My Web site address was included.
Fortunately, the organization immediately responded to the spam report and explained to my ISP that I hadn't issued a "spamvertisement," that I was a guest author. However, my Web site was still disabled for 24 hours.
A few actions can help protect you from spam traps. Most important, don't buy software that harvests e-mail addresses or bulk e-mail lists. Rob Bell, president and CEO of 1ShoppingCart.com Corp., an e-commerce solution provider that serves more than 8,000 clients, reports that many spam complaints are generated from their customers who import e-mail lists. "Individuals who subscribe to these lists never know what they are going to get. Often, they forget that they subscribed to the list in the first place and then send a spam complaint," says Bell.
Offering a "double opt-in" procedure also deters spam complaints. Subscribers opt in to receive e-mail. Then their first e-mail asks them to confirm their registration. Also, avoid future confusion by informing subscribers what will be in your e-mail. "Don't lure them in with a prize then hammer them to death with marketing, unless you are very clear about what's going to happen before they agree," warns Julian Haight, creator of SpamCop, a notification system that allows spam victims to alert the spammer's ISP.--Catherine Seda
