Have you ever wondered why, while making a purchase at a particular store, you are asked for your email address? Or why your inbox is suddenly populated with offers from companies in which you can’t recall ever having expressed an interest?
Welcome to the sometimes sneaky world of email marketing and the marketplace of your personal information. According to CAN-SPAM laws, it is Illegal to send an unsolicited marketing message electronically to an individual unless their contact information was acquired in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale. We oftentimes overlook fine print stating that our information can be shared or sold to third-party entities. So, although you thought you were requesting deals and offers from your local home goods store, you could effectively be opening a Pandora’s Box of emails promoting everything from googley-gadgets to doo-dads.
While it’s virtually impossible to eliminate all possibility of unwanted emails, here are a few ways to decrease their occurrence:
- Take advantage of your Junk E-mail Filter
- Review the privacy policies of Web sites
- Watch out for check boxes that are already selected
- Don’t reply to spam
- Don’t forward chain e-mail messages
SproutLoud has incorporated emailing best practices by insisting that any lists uploaded and sent through our partner platform, Exact Target, be homegrown lists of consumers who have specifically and knowingly opted-in to each company’s database. This is a best practice that must be followed for marketers to remain free and clear from regulatory constraints and anti spam systems on the web. Spamming people is not only bad form, it can also result in your IP address to be blacklisted. Remember, even if you are CAN-SPAM compliant, sending legitimate but uninvited marketing emails is not necessarily best practice, and can lead to the ruin of all your email marketing campaigns. Approach with much caution!
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