Ethical Marketing Begins with Permission!

Last week we posted “Tips for Successful Email Marketing” and just casually mentioned permissions and non-spamming activities. This has been on my mind for the entire week and the subject actually warrants its own post…Permission Marketing.

As in any type of on-line marketing venture, there are rules and guidelines to abide by and you need to be aware of the dangers, especially when you are mass marketing. One of the biggest dangers of email marketing is spam mail.

It is extremely important that you do not include anyone on your mailing list (even friends, family, colleagues etc.) without his or her permission. Make people work to sign up for your newsletter by requiring them to email a certain address with a "subscribe" instruction, or by providing a newsletter sign-up box on your site for them to add their address to your list. Records are also extremely important; keep a backup with full contact details (telephone, fax, email and snail-mail) for your ISP and web hosting company. Always keep a copy of all your outgoing email, especially the newsletter itself.

Permission Marketing is an approach to selling goods and services in which the recipient agrees in advance, or chooses to receive your advertisements, newsletters, or other marketing information. Anyone with an email address suffers from information overload, automated telemarketing, and spam, that most people welcome the idea of permission marketing.

Internet marketing pioneer, Seth Godin states, "Permission marketing turns strangers into friends and friends into loyal customers. It's not just about entertainment - it's about education."

As long as there is the Internet, spamming will always exist. Its economically viable to spammers because they have no operating costs beyond the management of their mailing lists, and it is difficult to hold senders accountable for their mass mailings. Because it is virtually impossible to monitor every unsolicited email sent to every email address, spammers are numerous, and the volume of unsolicited mail has become very high.

But for those who send out unsolicited advertisements that actually get reported and caught, the penalty is just as high. If you are labeled a “spammer”, many destructive consequences can happen to you, whether temporary or permanent. Worst-case scenario, your ISP (Internet service provider) will deny you access to your account pending an investigation; your web hosting company may shut down your site; and finally, you will be blacklisted.

Permission Marketing isn’t just ethical marketing, it also shows respect for your own business, industry and most of all, your valued customer.

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