email marketing
Definition of Email SPAM Changes
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Most marketers understand email SPAM as “unsolicited commercial email.” But has the definition changed while we weren’t looking?
A recent survey from Q Interactive and Marketing Sherpa tried to find out why consumers hit the “MARK AS SPAM” button and what they consider SPAM.
The interesting part - most people didn’t even cite “permission” as an issue.
Here are some of their findings.
Definition of SPAM to consumers:
- 56% - consider marketing messages from known senders to be spam if the message is “just not interesting to me.”
- 50% consider “too frequent emails from companies I know” to be spam.
- 31% cite “emails that were once useful but aren’t relevant anymore.”
Why did you hit the “Report SPAM button?”
- “The email was not of interest to me” (41%).
- “I receive too much email from the sender” (25%).
- “I receive too much email from all senders” (20%).
So what does this mean to marketers? Here are a couple ideas:
- Take the pulse of your subscriber base. Find out what they think about the frequency and relevancy of your emails.
- Give more options for subscribers. Make it easy to segment your lists so subscribers only get the most relevant, topical emails.
- Educate your subscribers. The survey seems to imply many don’t understand what the “report SPAM” button does. Help your subscribers understand the process for managing your email communications.
Topics: Fandango, charleston sc marketing, charleston sc web design, email marketing, tech news | No Comments »
Where in the world do I click?
Friday, June 22nd, 2007One of my favorite email marketing blogs, RetailEmail.blogspot.com, has a new post dissecting Home Depot’s email creative, specifically the inconsistency of hyperlinking their images and text.
I argue this point every day: make your links look clickable, and keep the clickable elements consistent. It’s something we can all do a better job of throughout the development process. And no, the “hand” is not enough.
Here’s some old, but still relevant advice from the W3C and Useit.com on how to best use links and link copy (no “click here,” please).
Topics: Marketing & Advertising, email marketing | 1 Comment »