Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Email Marketing To Customers

Posted by Anonymous on 11/14/2006 at 5:17 PM ET 250 Points
It is common practice for businesses to add customers to their email lists without offering an opt-in/out checkbox in the purchase process or even mentioning that they'll be added to the list.

I realize that, without affirmative consent, these marketers are theoretically obliged to label messages to these recipients as advertisements, but few of them do and few of them are being held accountable for it.

What do you think about this from legal, best practices, and ethical standpoints?

Thanks,
Matt
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by telemoxie on 11/14/2006 at 6:09 PM Member
    ahunt states that it is a violation of Federal law to email folks without their consent. That is not my understanding of the law. It is legal, under certain circumstances, to send unsolicited email.

    For a recent discussion on the topic, see: https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=15555

    You should also read up on the CAN SPAM law (opt out mechanism, non-misleading header info, etc.)
  • Posted by Mark on 11/15/2006 at 4:10 AM Accepted
    Federal Can-Spam does not oblige the sender to get an explicit opt-in. It's more about the content of the commercial messages you do send out. But check the details.

    Best practice has long been to get an explicit opt-in (recipient must check a box) before sending stuff.

    It isn't always done. Pragmatically speaking, big brands get away with it because they can. They have a strong enough brand or customer relationship that any quibbles on behalf of the recipient can be rode over roughshod.

    Smaller orgs / weaker brands have a bigger problem with not getting an explicit opt-in. They're more likely to run into all the problems associated with raised spam complaints, deliverability issues etc.

    In the long-term, flexibility in this area is likely to decrease. As customers take more control and sender reputation plays an ever-increasing role in whether your email gets delivered, then even big corps will have to pay more respect to the issue of permission.
  • Posted by darcy.moen on 11/15/2006 at 8:52 AM Member
    Canada has adopted some of the strictest policies regarding the use of personal information in the world. Fines for violating Canadian Federal law start at ten thousand dollars for the first offence, and jump to $100,000 on the second and subsequent offences. So if you have an emailing list of three addresses and all three recipients file complaints, you could be liable for a fine of $210,000. In short, we take the use of personal information very seriously. For an overview of the rules and regulations we follow regarding the collection and use of personal information in Canada, see: https://privacyguide.cebi.ca/default_e.asp

    I advise all my clients to follow the principles and ethical guidelines regarding the use of email addresses and other personal information as outlined in the document listed here: https://privacyguide.cebi.ca/capacite_enabled/prp_privacy/default_e.asp

    To sum up what is said in the document.

    * appoint one person within your organization to be responsible for administering and policing use of all information collected.
    * include contact information for this person in all correspondence and promotions.
    * have an'opt out' process in place organization wide.
    * honor every request to 'opt out' and be sure that every request results in removal from ALL lists immediately.
    * never assume you have permission to use personal information unless you have been absolutely transparent in your data collection. If information collected is in doubt, don't use it! Always assume the answer is 'No'.
    * if the purpose for which information is collected changes, seek permission to use personal information from the beginning again.
    * render all old data anonymous, and begin data collection/permission anew.
    * never ever ever sell or rent your data to outside third parties.

    This is now the MINIMUM standards of use of email and personal information expected within Canada. While it may be rather strict, if one remains within the guidelines/laws...one finds that the lists we generate have much higher participation rates, well defined areas of interest of our customers, and our data is very current. I quite like the law and find that it really does reflect the majority of the general public's expectations regarding the ethical use of their personal contact information.

    I hope this helps you.

    Darcy Moen
    Customer Loyalty Network
  • Posted by whimziequiltz on 11/15/2006 at 2:12 PM Accepted
    I just finished the recent post about personal views on unsolicited e-mail and then came upon your question. Some say wait for them to ask, some say ask first (but ask what? first). It's all so confusing!

    I'm a really small business - my newsletter mailing list is 35. Of that, about 5 have actually 'opted-in' in the sense that I have an actual e-mail from them signing up specifically for the newsletter. The other 30 are past customers or perople who have expressed an interest in my product but not bought.

    No one's ever asked me not to send them the newsletter - and I would immediately comply if they did.

    Nonetheless, I'm going to put some information in my communications with people in the future letting them know I'll be sending them the newsletter and if they opt-out they won't have to deal with me ever again.

    You asked what I would be doing from an ethical standpoint and I guess that's where I'd make a stand. If you've shown interest I don't feel I'm doing anything wrong to continue that relationship, but if you say stop, then I will.
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