The Ins & Outs of Email Marketing Permissions

With the increasing popularity and effectiveness of email marketing, we thought some of our readers would benefit from the Ins & Outs of Email Marketing Permissions. This can be a sticky subject, especially since the practice is fairly new and the "rules" are still being ironed out. Keep in mind that the information below is only a snippet of what you'd need to know before you launch an email marketing campaign...

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Getting Permission
A key aspect of email marketing is that it is permission-based; this means you must have a person’s permission to communicate with them via email address.

There are three types of permission:

1. Explicit- the individual signed up to receive communications (for example on a web site or in a guest book) and expects to receive email marketing communications.
2. Implicit- the individual has an existing relationship with you (knows who you are) but might not be aware that you will be sending them an email marketing communication.
3. None- no relationship exists (also known as “spam”)

Of these permission types, only the first two, explicit and implicit equal qualified lists for email marketing, with explicit being the most ideal. It is a good idea to ask yourself two questions for each address (1) Do they know who I am? And (2) Will they care about what I am sending? If the answer is yes to both of these you have a good list to send to. If more than 30 percent of your list is implicit permission names, you should think about moving the permission reminder to the top of your email campaign. If you cannot answer yes to at least one of these questions the name should be removed from your list.

Permission Reminder:
This is a short explanation of how the recipient got on your list and how to unsubscribe should they decide not to receive email from you again. Infuze Marketing adds this to all email campaigns.

Labels: email marketing permission