| Best Practices in Strategic Email Marketing | May, 2003 |
Execution
What is proper 'permission' - really?
By Geoff Linton
How important is permission in email marketing? It's what separates you from the scourge of the industry - spam. Slang for unsolicited email, 'spam' has provoked unprecedented levels of protest from privacy groups angered by invasion of what people generally consider to be very private territory - their electronic mail box. Some 30 US states are drafting anti-spam legislation as major ISPs, such as AOL, Yahoo and MSN band together to find a common solution. Inbox is a member of the CMA which strictly follows privacy best practices in Canada.
In the meantime, the bar keeps rising on what is considered acceptable permission. In Canada, regulations currently vary depending on your sector and it's important to know the type of permission you have collected. There are three main types:
- Negative option or 'Opt Out' - The most common form used in the early days of email marketing it provides recipients with a box which has been pre-checked (in order to not subscribe, the recipient must uncheck the box). Opt-out is generally frowned upon today, and won't prevent your ISP from shutting down your Web site if they receive 3 or more complaints about you.
- 'Opt-In' - There is the same check box, but this time recipients must fill in to receive future email communications. It's presently the standard practice.
- Double Opt-In - Same as above, but this time with the added step of reconfirming by email. After the recipient clicks, the marketer sends an email to them and asks that they simply confirm a second time as a 'reply'.
Geoff Linton is Vice-president of Inbox Marketer, an email marketing and publishing company.
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