Often I am asked for my general take on email marketing. Both the current state and what I think the future holds. I would like to think that because of my background in compliance, or the fact that I have worked with the email departments of some of the largest brands in the world, people trust that I know a thing or two about a thing or two. But if we’re being honest, and we are, I think it has much less to do with any ‘expertise’ I have and more to do with what I have come to think of as a collective and ongoing “Chicken Little Syndrome”. Because email has such a volatile history, people are afraid the sky may be falling and naturally that makes them nervous.
For the record – It is my strong opinion that every company with a marketing strategy should embrace email as a uniquely powerful extension of their brand. Unfortunately it is also my very real experience that many Companies completely miss the mark on this. In fact they get it all wrong!
In some cases, email is dismissed as a ‘lesser’ channel and is given much less weight than more traditional media like Print, Broadcast or even Display; Email invites the brand directly into the consumers very personal space; An emotional forum with your message sharing inventory with things as personal to the consumer as correspondence with their kids teachers, best friends and family members. Dismissing it as a lesser channel is not only a mistake, it can cause your email marketing efforts to fall flat or outright fail.
On the opposite side of the spectrum there are those that have experienced firsthand exactly how powerful email can be and have forgotten that “With great power comes great responsibility..” Yep, I just totally quoted from Spiderman – so sue me, it’s a valid point! When people see success they want MORE. Wanting more has been the downfall of entire civilizations so it’s not hard to see how a marketer, even with the best of intentions, can run astray.
While the circumstances in these two scenarios are very different, they lead to the same offense being carried out: A lack of respect for the consumer inbox. This lack of respect, whether spurred by dismissal or greed, can have a devastating and long term impact on not only the marketers themselves but the email marketing industry as a whole.
From my role in compliance, I’ve found myself awkwardly in the middle of ethical debates between Privacy Officers and Marketing Directors. Each with good points and jobs to do that are often in direct conflict with one another. In the middle of this I usually offer that there is one simple rule to follow, no matter what side of this debate you find yourself on; In the end, the consumer should win and if they do, they’ll be a happy and continuous subscriber, or better a willing and responsive new acquisition. Think of it as an extension of “The Customer is Always Right” rule. Seems simple right? If only!
Through the passing and enforcement of laws like the CAN SPAM Act, both sides are pretty clear on what they CAN’T Do. The basic tenants of CAN SPAM for instance are widely understood by pretty much any company with an email strategy. For me, providing guidance on following the laws as they are clearly defined is the simple part of my job. Sure there is a chain of responsibility that is often misunderstood or even overlooked when I am working with multifaceted organizations that are collecting and distributing data through a number of channels. Add to that the complexity of channels that don’t interact or rely on one another from day to day and it becomes even more complicated. In the end however that is more a matter of knowledge and logistics. Once discovery has been completed and all channels, along with their role in the chain of compliance, have been identified then ultimately technology and monitoring take over.
While the hard fast rules of CAN SPAM are simple to follow and easy to execute with the right tools in place, there is still a lot of room for interpretation and just plain confusion about what is and is not acceptable either from a legal or ethical perspective. It is in this Grey Area that I’ve watched many companies struggle. I’ve also seen the outcome of those struggles as the decisions manifest themselves in success or failure and I have learned much from both.
I’m going to use this space over the next year as a place to share some of the lessons I’ve learned and those I will undoubtedly continue to learn as I work in this great, evolving industry. Starting with this first and most important rule that all successful email marketers have in common; Consumer Respect is as important to your email strategy as legal compliance.
Some very simple things that every email marketer should do before hitting send…
1. Add Value – Just because you can send something ask yourself the value it brings to the recipient. If you can’t answer that in any meaningful way, then don’t hit send.
2. Control Frequency – No one wants to get three messages about your brand in a single day. Period. So be an advocate for your audience and know when and how your brand is represented. Further use the tools available to limit exposure from multiple partners. If you are not sure how to do this talk to me I am happy to help.
3. Listen to complaints and analyze your Unsubscribe Data – While unsubscribes are an inevitability in email marketing, there is much that can be learned about the success or potential failure of your email campaigns by understanding what motivates an unsubscribe from either your internal list as well as your marketing partners.
4. Be a Recipient - Not surprisingly a number of email marketers guard their own email addresses like it were the Hope Diamond. If you are among these, sign up for brands you actually love and become an active and open minded email recipient. Be honest with yourself about what you love and hate about the way these brands interact with you and then be more honest – are you engaging your consumers in a more meaningful way?
I will touch on each of these points separately and in more detail in future posts. By sharing my unique insight into what consistently works, as well as mistakes we can all learn from and avoid in the future I hope to see email marketing continue to thrive and grow in 2011 and beyond. We all need to do our parts as responsible, respectful marketers. Our industry depends on it!
Wishing you all and Happy and Healthy New Year!
Theresa Farmer
January 3, 2011