A faithful reader and customer wrote me a letter this past week. In
it, he described his frustrating situation. As he was not the first
to write about this particular dilemma, I felt I should address it.
Being new to internet marketing, with a limited marketing budget, this
fellow had been utilizing many low cost advertising resources. These
consisted mostly of free classified sites and newsgroups. As most marketers
know, this form of advertising can be very time consuming and the results
somewhat discouraging.
His question went something like this...
"Instead of making sales and getting leads, I seem to be getting
more and more unsolicited email. Most of the offers tell me bulk email
works much better than other forms of internet marketing. I'm thinking
of trying it, are there any reasons why I shouldn't?"
Okay, just the facts...
There are basically two types of direct email marketing.
1. "Unsolicited Bulk Email"
2. "Opt-in" Direct Email
1. "Unsolicited Bulk Email"
This is the practice of transmitting mass quantities of email to
large lists of "unqualified" email addresses.
This practice in itself is a very controversial subject. You must
be very careful when considering using bulk email to market your wares
on the internet.
Why? Let's just say your reputation is at stake.
Unsolicited bulk email is frowned upon by many internet citizens.
You may have heard this practice of sending unsolicited bulk email referred
to as "spamming." (Yes, the name comes from the famous comedy skit "Spam!
Spam! Spam!" by Monty Python.) In the online world, spamming means sending
unsolicited email directly to a list of unsuspecting email addresses
or newsgroups.
Just why is bulk email so popular? Simple. It¡¯s far cheaper than
traditional bulk postage mail. The costs associated with traditional
bulk mailing can cut deeply into potential profits immediately. Postage
costs alone can break the bank. Bulk email is very cheap.
So why not try it?
The simple fact is, unsolicited bulk email is considered bad "netiquette"
by many netizens. If you send unsolicited email to addresses that do
not want commercial email, you can get into more trouble than you would
expect.
What kind of trouble?
A. Since a large number of internet citizens DO NOT approve of unsolicited
email and WILL complain to your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
B. Many ISP¡¯s will discontinue your account when they get complaints
from angry recipients of your unsolicited bulk email.
Does sending your ad to thousands of unsuspecting addresses really
work anyway? Do you really get any genuinely interested leads mixed
in with all those flames? Sure you can. Are they enough to offset all
the negative factors of bulk email? NO.
But hey, it's your business and it's your decision. If you want to
play it safe though, you should consider the next type of direct email
marketing.
2. "Opt-In" Direct Email
"Opt-In" Direct Email is the practice sending commercial email to
recipients that HAVE approved of commercial email. If you really want
to try bulk email marketing but aren¡¯t up to the rigors of unsolicited
bulk email, consider hiring a company that specializes in direct email
or using list management software such as
Email Marketer.
In addition to advertising in targeted ezines such as my BizWeb Gazette,
you can also "rent" Opt-In Direct Email lists. These opt-in lists are
targeted email lists which offer marketers a "politically correct" way
to reach their target audience on the net. Not only will your offer
be sent to a targeted list, you won't have to worry about flames and
ISP cancellation. All recipients have "opted in" to receive offers like
yours.
Although this targeted direct email marketing can be more costly
than unsolicited bulk email marketing, it is far more effective. Here
are some excellent resources for targeted Opt-In lists:
MeMail, Advertising.com, Bulletmail, Targ-It, E-Target, Htmail, PostMaster
Direct, The Direct Email List Source
