Permissions Based Marketing

If you are familiar with my philosophies, you will know that one of my core foundations for the email strategies I teach are what's called: "Permissions Based Marketing". Here is the link to the Wikipedia page in case you aren't familiar.

This morning I saw a rare post from one of my favorite blogs on the internet, "The Responsible Marketing Blog" regarding the recent changes to users privacy permissions on Linkedin. Click here to read his take.

It really got me thinking. I wonder how many companies and people in them, make these kinds of decisions to take liberal action with peoples info every day?

In what ways do they justify this? In my experience, people who are making these decisions usually don't think about the entire picture. In terms of email, I see it often that they think about their own policies and usually CAN SPAM. But what about the recipient? They are all to often forgotten in the decision to send them mail they didn't directly ask for.

Because in the US, we live in an opt-out world. But the reality is that the recipient is the one who ultimately decides to delete or mark as spam, and guess what, if they do that often enough then their ESP takes notice and your digital reputation and future deliverability is damaged.

What's the moral of this story??? ALWAYS ask permission from your subscribers. Be forthright, clear, and honest in your intentions. Always use opt-in procedures for both your internal and external emails.

Permissions Based Email Mantras:
For those of you who can appreciate some solid mantras, here is my list (which hangs on my wall to remind me daily):

·        “Teach me today, sell me when I am ready.”

·        “People only care about their problems not your product.”

·        “People won’t remember what you say, but they will remember how you make them feel. Move, touch, inspire.”

·        “Practice storytelling- speak your brand truth. Give voice to your brand enthusiasts.”

·        “Consider how you handle yourself when the sale is not imminent- this is speaks volumes about your brand.”

·        “Show them what you will be sending and how often to set the expectations and BUILD TRUST.”

·        “Give guidance, share info, and always remain positive.”

·        “Provide access to plenty of relevant info- make them into educated buyers.”

·        “Focus on being interested, instead of interesting.”

·        “Tell me what you can’t do, and I will believe you when you tell me what you can do.”

·        “Do less and ship.” –seth godin

 

Bill C-28/Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation

Do you email to Canada, from Canada, or have subscribers who may live part of the year in Canada? 

Anytime you use Canadian transmission lines to send electronic communications you should be aware of the new C-28/FISA bill that Canada is trying to pass into law.

Are you familiar with the US CAN SPAM laws?
Well there are several differences in this new Canadian law, namely:

• It will put an expiration date on the opt-in of 18 months. If your subscribers opted-in more than 18 months ago, you would either need to ask for renewed permissions or STOP SENDING.
• These new rules cover all electronic communications (email, SMS, IM, etc.)
• This bill requires you as a marketer to be able to prove that the recipient Opt-in (instead of the CAN SPAM approach which only mandates an easy way to Opt-out.)
• As a marketer, you must inform your subscribers on what they are going to receive.

For more info, here is a great site: http://www.inboxmarketer.com/Bill-C28.asp 

The US CAN-SPAM Laws De-Mystified

The United States Federal Trade Commission introduced CAN-SPAM legislation back in 2003 that requires marketers to abide by the following guidelines in order to send email to their mailing lists:

• A valid postal mailing address embedded in all commercial emails.
• A valid return email address or internet based reply mechanism that will function for at least 30 days after the sending date.
• A working “Unsubscribe” link that is clear and easy to find.
• When someone unsubscribes, you must honor that request within 10 business days.
• A subject line that is directly relevant to the content of the message.
• A piece of the message that clearly designates the message as an advertisement.

Then on 7/7/08, the US government updated these laws with the following requirements:

• Further definition that a PO Box is valid for a physical postal address in your messages.
• Redefines a “person” as: “an individual, group, unincorporated association, limited or general partnership, corporation or other business entity”.
• Sets criteria allowing multiple “senders” of a commercial email, under certain conditions, to identify a single company as the sole “designated sender” of the message.
• Requires marketers to make their opt-out process easy.