There is a great deal of controversy and noise today on the issue of "spam." So I thought I'd help clear up exactly what spam is and show how you can take advantage of this great, new medium of email marketing, without "spamming" or getting accused of being a "spammer."
What is Spam?
The exact definition of spam varies depending on whom you talk to, but I'll give the most generally accepted definition. "Spam" is defined as unsolicited commercial email (UCE), which is basically email that is sent out to a list where you don't have permission of the people on that list to send that type of information.
Several years ago some people started selling software that would allow you to "harvest" email addresses from the web. You could type in a keyword, and the software would go and find all the web sites that had that particular keyword, and it would then locate any email links on those sites, compiling a list. This is definitely "harvesting" email addresses, and sending to that type of list is most definitely unsolicited commercial email, or spam. It will also get you into all kinds of trouble.
There are also companies selling CDs with millions of email addresses, and all of these that I have seen are made up of harvested emails.
What are Opt-In Lists?
On the other side of the coin, there are "opt-in" lists, where people have signed up to receive information on gardening, golf, running a computer network, debt consolidation, music, or a wide variety of other topics. People on "opt-in" lists have signed up to receive information on a specific topic, so you can send them the information they have signed up for.
Typically, some company will offer for people to sign up for an opt-in list on a specific topic, then they will rent that list to companies who want to sell products or services to that type of public. Each promotional email that goes out to that list will include instructions for the recipient to "opt out" at any time. In other words, they can get off the list and stop receiving that information.
In-House Lists
It is smart to set up your web site so that you collect email addresses of visitors to the site, usually through some kind of free offer, such as a free email newsletter, offering free information, or in the case of a software company, a free demo download.
It's a good idea to include a check-box where if the person leaves that box checked, it says that they are giving you permission to send them email. That way you are building up a list you can actually use to send out email (which costs you virtually nothing). When you generate your list to send to, you just remove the people who unchecked that box, in other words the people who didn't give their permission.
Marketing to an in-house email list is extremely effective today, even despite the onslought of spam. People are used to and they accept receiving communication from companies that they do business with. Sending email to in-house lists is more effective today than sending to opt-in lists.
Disadvantages of Spamming
If you send email to harvested lists or any list where you don't have any kind of OK from the recipient, there are numerous bad things that could happen. First of all, many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have a strict policy against this. Some even have a "zero tolerance" policy, whereby if they receive ONE complaint that you are sending spam, they will shut down your web site.
Even if your ISP isn't so hard-line on this issue, if they receive a complaint they will contact you and ask you what your policies are. If your actions don't align with their policies, they may drop your web site.
There are also web sites where people can report you as a "spammer" and you get listed on their black list. Then certain ISPs subscribe to this black list and if you get put on the list, your email will no longer even reach email addresses at those ISPs that subscribe. I don't agree with this practice, because for one thing, these organizations are totally vigilante in nature. If your company is reported to them as a spammer, they won't even check out the truth of the claim. Theyll just put you on their list. So it kind of violates some of the rules of what's commonly considered justice
What Are the Accepted Practices in Email Marketing?
Now that I've scared you (sorry), I'll say that there are certain accepted practices in regard to email marketing, which are for the most part now codified in the CAN-SPAM federal law. See my analysis of that law here.
Conclusion
I hope I've made the whole subject of email marketing a bit clearer. It's a great new medium, cost-effective, it gets fast response, and the number of available lists is growing all the time.
