Just say NO (to spam)!

Thanks to the economic downturn, Hormel’s iconic canned meat, SPAM, has become more popular. But that doesn’t mean spam is more popular in people’s email boxes than on their plates. While it may be tempting to blast email everyone on your entire subscription list for a short-term gain, it will most likely result in irritated customers and fewer overall subscribers.

Email is cheap, yes. Email is easy, yes. Email has the power to drive your customers running in or running out of your doors. Treat your customers with respect by treating their inboxes with respect and you’ll continue to build long-lasting, mutually-beneficial relationships with your customers.

For more on this topic, read ExactTarget’s “No Executive Left Behind Whitepaper”.
http://email.exacttarget.com/uploadedFiles/Resources/Whitepapers/ExactTarget_No_Executive_Left_Behind.pdf


Virtually Yourz,
Dana Neuts

To opt-in or not to opt-in?

A typical day in the life of an email inbox reveals personal email, business email, subscription based newsletters and the dreaded spam. If you’re the one sending out that newsletter, how do you make sure it’s not being sent to the virtual round file, otherwise known as the spam or bulk mail folder?

One way to improve the chances that your newsletter is actually seen by human eyeballs is to ask your customers to opt-in or even double opt-in to receive your messages. Single opt-in policies ask subscribers for permission to send email communication to a particular email address.

In the double opt-in scenario, you are not only asking for permission, but also confirmation that the email address in question does wish to receive email from a certain company. For example, you visit a company’s website and give them permission by subscribing to a newsletter. Shortly thereafter, the given email address receives a brief message asking the subscriber to again confirm their desire to receive emails. After permission has been confirmed this second time, the company will begin sending emails.

Yes, asking customers to opt-in will take more time. However, your chances of escaping the spam filter and arriving shiny and new in the inbox will improve greatly.

For more information on email marketing policies from two companies who should know, ExactTarget and Constant Contact, visit the following pages.

ExactTarget: Email Marketing CAN-SPAM Compliance
http://email.exacttarget.com/Resources/Whitepapers/CANSPAMComplianceforEmailMarketing.html

Constant Contact: Confirmed Opt-In Guide
http://www.constantcontact.com/aka/docs/pdf/confirmed_optin_user_guide.pdf

Virtually Yourz,
Dana Blozis

Blogging Basics - Moderating Comments

I encourage you to leave comments about my blog postings to add information, ask questions or leave feedback. Please note that I will post all relevant comments to my blog as quickly as possible. However, I will be reviewing comments before they can be posted. Why, you ask? The age-old problem of SPAM. If I don't moderate, it seems that anyone can post any bogus stuff to my blog. I hope to avoid that. Thanks for your understanding!

Virtually Yourz,

Dana