spam
Email Campaigns - The Hidden Menace of the Spam Filter
The are two factors that can conspire to frustrate an email marketer's efforts. One is the ease with which people can subscribe to an email newsletter, the other is the ease with which they can set their spam filter to block them.
There is an argument that says you should make it as easy as possible for people to sign-up: just collect their email addresses and do not trouble them for anything further. That could be a missed opportunity, but it could also create a problem later if they sign-up on a whim having seen something that was only of interest at that moment in time. I know, I do that all the time.
You can easily create channels or topics so subscribers can choose which of your messages they wish to read. If you do that and stick to them in future mailings - and there are systems that will help you - you will keep their interest. If you don't, you risk losing their interest over time until you send something you really want them to read only by then they are already filtering you out.
My argument, therefore, is that you should make it as easy as possible to unsubscribe: it is counter-productive not to do so. If you don't offer an obvious and easy way out, human nature means they will take the next easiest method which is to block all your messages using a spam filter.
World-Record Fine for Spammers
Next time you check your email and wade through the spam, pause, smile, and think of Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines, it'll gladden your heart. They have just been fined a world-record $234 million by a court in Los Angeles for sending 730,000 messages to MySpace users.
Anti-spam Strategies
Everyone needs an anti-spam strategy. Here are some measures you can take to minimise the disruption to your business that spam can cause.
Measure 1
Spam
The simple reason spam exists is because in all the millions of Internet users in the world, there are always sufficient numbers of them who are gullible enough to buy from spammers.
