Don't dabble in email marketing unless you know what you're doing. Minor email marketing mistakes can anger your customers and ruin your company's reputation. Serious Email marketing mistakes can subject your business to government fines.
Don't send email without masking the "to" addresses
It always seems like a no-brainer once it happens, but still it happens: email marketers send an email marketing blast that leaves hundreds of email addresses in the "to" field exposed for all to read. This careless error is easily prevented by using the "blind copy" field for email addresses or using an email marketing application or vendor that automatically hides the addresses.
The severity and consequences of this mistake depends on the content of the email. If recipients of a Black Friday sale email see each other's addresses, no harm may have been done. If, however, the recipients are all participating in a health study, or taking a particular prescription drug, disclosure of email addresses could have serious privacy implications.
Make it easy to opt out
Every marketing email should include an "unsubscribe" link that will let the recipient remove her email address from your marketing list. Once an individual "unsubscribes" it is vital that her email address is purged from the marketing database. Sending email to someone who has unsubscribed is bad customer service - and a violation of US CAN-SPAM law.
Don't send mail to children under 13 without parental permission
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) restricts companies from gathering information online from children under 13. You may think it is okay to send an email to a child, since you are not collecting information from him. However, if the child replies to a marketing message, or makes an inquiry, or unsubscribes, then you have knowingly collected information from a child in violation of COPPA.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces COPPA. If the FTC finds out you have been sending email to children under 13, your company had better have signed consent forms from their parents in your files, or you can face serious fines and other consequences.
Don't keep stale email addresses
No one wants to receive outdated email messages from companies they no longer do business with. Clean and purge bounce-backs from your database. Don't save email addresses of customers who have opted out of marketing emails, and don't keep any personal information related to customers longer than you need to keep it.
Email marketing is a valuable tool, but companies need to be aware of best practices in email marketing so they can avoid making costly mistakes.
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Don't send email without masking the "to" addresses
It always seems like a no-brainer once it happens, but still it happens: email marketers send an email marketing blast that leaves hundreds of email addresses in the "to" field exposed for all to read. This careless error is easily prevented by using the "blind copy" field for email addresses or using an email marketing application or vendor that automatically hides the addresses.
The severity and consequences of this mistake depends on the content of the email. If recipients of a Black Friday sale email see each other's addresses, no harm may have been done. If, however, the recipients are all participating in a health study, or taking a particular prescription drug, disclosure of email addresses could have serious privacy implications.
Make it easy to opt out
Every marketing email should include an "unsubscribe" link that will let the recipient remove her email address from your marketing list. Once an individual "unsubscribes" it is vital that her email address is purged from the marketing database. Sending email to someone who has unsubscribed is bad customer service - and a violation of US CAN-SPAM law.
Don't send mail to children under 13 without parental permission
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) restricts companies from gathering information online from children under 13. You may think it is okay to send an email to a child, since you are not collecting information from him. However, if the child replies to a marketing message, or makes an inquiry, or unsubscribes, then you have knowingly collected information from a child in violation of COPPA.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces COPPA. If the FTC finds out you have been sending email to children under 13, your company had better have signed consent forms from their parents in your files, or you can face serious fines and other consequences.
Don't keep stale email addresses
No one wants to receive outdated email messages from companies they no longer do business with. Clean and purge bounce-backs from your database. Don't save email addresses of customers who have opted out of marketing emails, and don't keep any personal information related to customers longer than you need to keep it.
Email marketing is a valuable tool, but companies need to be aware of best practices in email marketing so they can avoid making costly mistakes.
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