Responsible Email Marketing Guidelines Published by Direct Marketing Association Florida Chapter; Industry Standards Emphasize Responsible Use of Email Marketing

Business Wire, March 18, 2003

Business Editors/Marketing/Advertising Writers

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2003

Email marketing has been the victim of its own success, as unsolicited email continues to stream into electronic inboxes. With over half the U.S. population now online, email is a highly successful and cost-effective marketing technique when used properly.

The Florida Chapter of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reminds marketers that commercial guidelines are available to govern acceptable email usage. These "best practices" include:

1. Marketers may send commercial solicitations online under the following circumstances:

a) The solicitations are sent to the marketers' own customers, or

b) Individuals have given their affirmative consent to the marketer to receive solicitations online, or

c) Individuals did not opt out after the marketer has given notice of the opportunity to opt out from solicitations online, or

d) The marketer has received assurance from the third party list provider that the individuals whose e-mail addresses appear on that list have consented to receive solicitations online, or they have not opted out when given the chance.

2. In each solicitation sent online, marketers should furnish individuals with a link they can use to: a) request that the marketer not send them future email, and b) request that the marketer not rent, sell, or exchange their e-mail addresses for online solicitation purposes.

The above requests should be honored quickly. Marketers who rent, sell, or exchange information also need to notify recipients how to "opt-out" of information transfer to third-party marketers. Marketers should process commercial e-mail lists obtained from third parties using The DMA's e-Mail Preference Service suppression file.

Solicitations sent online should disclose the marketer's identity and contact information. The subject line should be clear, honest, and not misleading. Additional information regarding online marketing guidelines is available at http://www.the-dma.org/guidelines/onlineguidelines.shtml.> About the Direct Marketing Association Florida Chapter

The Florida Chapter of the DMA has over 300 members, including catalogers, Internet retailers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and other vertical segments. Visit http://www.fdma.org and http://www.the-dma.org for further information. The FDMA hosts luncheon meetings on the third Thursday of every month.