Email Marketing Etiquette for Newbies

Did you know there are rules that apply to how all email marketing and email advertising should be done? You might not be aware of that, if you're brand new to online business. You may, however, have already been approached (by email, no doubt!) by some companies trying to lead you astray with their tactics.

Smart online business owners happily follow the rules of email marketing and web site promotion. These aren't just rules for how to get your messages to the most people. They're guidelines for ethical treatment of customer inboxes, and responsible email marketers follow them consistently.

Rule Number 1: Spamming's Illegal, and Just Plain Rude! Unless you have an amazingly powerful spam filter, it's safe to bet you've received a spam message sometime today. In fact, a recent study suggests up to eighty percent of all email being sent in the world today is spam!

That's a lot of junk email! But let's go back to that unwanted message in your inbox. What did you do with it? If you're like most of us, you scowled a little and moved it to your spam folder. You probably didn't open the message and say, "Wow, I'd like something from those guys!"

Now, put yourself in the shoes of your email recipients. If you're sending messages to people who didn't ask you to or don't even know who you are, stop right now!

Spamming, the practice of sending unsolicited bulk email messages, is against the law. It's also rude and, plainly, bad business. Some spammers may not be trying to sell you anything. Their goal might be to implant some nasty bug on your computer.

Either way, their messages are an unwelcome intrustion in your life. Do you really want to be included in that bad impression? If you've considered buying into some bulk email marketing/spamming scheme, reconsider. Spamming doesn't gain you customers in the long run; it gets you banned from the Internet.

Rule Number 2: Sloppy Writing Offends Customers "Cn you red this sentance?" The previous sentence is just a test, but it's a great illustration of how some email marketers create email advertising content. They're so busy scheming about how to get to a million inboxes, they don't have time to proofread.

Your respectable online business can be brought low by sloppy, badly written email marketing messages. Read that first sentence again. Did it make you want to buy something, or simply irritate you? Don't damage your online presence by skimping on quality content.

Rule Number 3: Good Marketers Allow Opt-outsYou know you've experienced this...you sign up for a newsletter, only to start receiving several messages a day from its publisher. There's no opt-out link on their email as required by CAN SPAM, the American anti-spam regulation, so unless you can trap it in your spam filter, you're the one trapped forever, receiving unwanted messages.

A reputable email marketer includes the required "unsubscribe" link in every message. Think of it this way; do you really want someone who has no desire to buy your products on your email list? What's the point of that interaction? Allow uninterested readers to opt-out of your email list; it will keep your open rates and sales conversions more realistic.

Rule Number 4: Email Marketing Must Tell the Truth, the outright lies being told in subject lines and email content can ruin email marketing for us all. Legitimate companies don't need to fib about what they're offering...their fine products and strong emailing reputations speak for themselves.

It's never acceptable to misrepresent your company or its products in any email marketing or email advertising website promotions, in fact, it's illegal in many countries. It may boost your open rate, but is that worth the "spammer" label? Another way spammers run afoul of the law is in "spoofing" someone else's email address so the recipient doesn't know who sent the message.

It goes without saying that most of you would never consider doing something that unethical. It may be tempting to take a shortcut, but why scramble for new prospects when you've burned all your old ones? Try to remember that good guys on the Internet are building profitable companies by telling the truth about themselves and their products.

These rules are probably plain common sense to most of you reading this article. If they're not, consider them a word to the wise. Email marketing can help us all build our companies, if everyone starts following the rules. Help turn the tide toward "white hat" marketing by keeping the email arena clean.

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