Messaging News - August 2008 - (Page 29) are hurdles that some people conquer better or worse than others.” To aid marketers, Acxiom has layered a services agency on top of the technology and the analytics it provides, covering everything from production and strategy, to account management. Onge adds that Acxiom staff of trained experts help its customers understand what they can do with the data, and then assist them in actually creating a meaningful strategy with it by helping to answer the question: ‘So you’ve come up with a great plan, can you actually achieve it?’ Spam or Not? Discuss The grey area in the CAN-SPAM Act stems from the ability to include marketing messages in transactional emails, so long as the transactional portion of the message (i.e., the confirmation or acknowledgement of your order) comes first. While it is permissible to include relevant offers related to the initial transaction, how much is too much? The answer varies widely depending on whom you speak with. “First, do no harm,” says Stewart. “Follow CAN-SPAM by providing a clear and easy way for your subscribers to opt-out of your email messages then honor those requests as quickly as possible. However, don’t forget that the Act also does explicitly permit you to provide a menu of subscription choices to your subscribers, such that they may opt-out of your promotions, for example, but stay subscribed to your monthly newsletter. We’ve found that our clients who provide this type of profile/subscription page see fewer complete opt-outs since they’ve provided their subscribers with a way to opt-down.” While CAN-SPAM allows marketers to send unsolicited email messages, “Don’t do it!” adds Stewart. “The best practice for deliverability and optimizing the return from email is to send only to those that ‘raised their hands’ and gave you explicit approval to send them email. The first email you send to a subscriber or new customer is often the result of something they’ve done, such as made a purchase or subscribed to your publication. This first ‘welcome email’ is often the most opened or clicked communication a marketer ever sends. It can include commercial information, provided that the email subject line is non-commercial, and that the transactional information precedes the commercial or advertising information. Even better if you can make that ad relevant to the product they just bought. In fact, learning to plan and optimize each communication with each individual subscriber is the ultimate key to a thriving email marketing program.” To Onge, the notion of “optingdown” runs counter to the definition of a transactional email. “Categorically, transactional mes- sages have one of the highest open rate of any message a marketer can send to somebody so it’s a prime opportunity to offer something relevant to the receiver. If you can do that, you can really increase your ability to sell more to your customer base. The concept of allowing people to opt-down is wonderful, but I think it’s only marginally related to transactional messaging. Transactional messages are a ‘trusted message’ by the recipient. Don’t break that trust.“ MB/TMP FOR YOUR REFERENCE Acxiom Corporation www.acxiom.com ExactTarget www.exacttarget.com FTC CAN-SPAM Act www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/ pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm StrongMail Systems, Inc. www.strongmail.com http://www.acxiom.com http://www.exacttarget.com http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm http://www.strongmail.com
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