Updated 11/2/2007
Marketing via email can be a good low cost way to get your message out to many buyers.
However, there are some problems you need to watch out for.
"Spamming" is defined as sending marketing email to someone without them asking for it.
Bear in mind that what one person is interested in may be another person's "spam".
you need to be careful who you mail to; some areas of the US have legal penalties for "spamming"
A simple checklist you can follow for doing marketing properly:
- Be sure the list you're emailing to is "Opt In"; that the members have contacted you requesting the information.
- As users sign up, have them add your address to their address book, so email gets through to them. Doing this
also avoids the Earthlink "Spam Blocker / Spaminator" return emails that require you to "click this link to
verify your address".
- Be sure to precede your subject line with the string "ADV:". This flags the email as an advertisement,
and is considered "friendly"; you may get filtered less by some ISPs.
- If you have any subscribers on AOL:
> read AOL's bulk email policies http://postmaster.aol.com/guidelines/bulk_email.html
> Pay special attention to the "Mailer FAQ"
http://postmaster.aol.com/guidelines/bulk_email.html
> AOL is very picky_ about the number of emails sent to them that bounce, so be
sure to police your returns and remove addresses on the first bounce.
> You may need to sign up for AOL's "Whitelist" to be sure of getting your messages through.
- avoid common spam keywords like "unsubcribe"
- Be sure your email server's Internet address isn't on any blacklists. MX Toolbox website checks 147 different blacklists http://www.mxtoolbox.com
Some resources for email marketing:
