Stopping the madness: despite concerns about spam, e-mail can be a marketing tool—if used correctly

Concrete Producer, The, March, 2004 by Tom Bagsarian

Isn't it amazing how we've moved from communicating by telephone to fax machine to e-mail so seamlessly just the last few years. The good news is we now are more productive. The bad news is the proliferation of unwanted, unsolicited, and sometime crude e-mail may be on the verge of ruining of very good thing, I'm talking, of course, about spam.

The legal issues regarding spam are convoluted and messy. During a three-day Federal Trade Commission (FTC) forum on the subject last year, a consensus couldn't even be reached on simply defining what spare is, despite attendees spending the entire opening morning trying to hammer out a definition. For our purposes, let's agree that spam is unsolicited e-mail from someone you don't know.

The good news for you is spam is far less of a burden to work e-mail accounts than to personal accounts. Forty percent of those who receive e-mail at work get no spam at all according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Spam accounts for less than 10% of e-mail for a whopping 66% of people who receive e-mail at work.

That's good to hear. But the bad new is, if someone who receives an email he considers spam from your business, it will stand out more and get his attention, casting you in a poor light. Worse, if used improperly, e-mail may get you in other kinds of trouble.

Legal issues

The U.S. House and Senate passed anti-spam legislation late in 2003. Spammers would face $250 fines for each pitch, possibly adding up to $6 million for the worst offenders.

The slippery slope is that a new federal law would usurp existing state laws, some of which allow e-mail recipients to sue spammers directly. California's law, which went into effect Jan. 1, would even ban truthful spare, as long as it is unsolicited. The FTC estimates 16% of spam is from legitimate advertisers selling legal products.

A Do Not Spam Registry from the FTC may be in the works. But it may face the same First Amendment legal challenge as the federal Do No Call Registry restricting telemarketing.

Spam and you

So how do you stay out of legal trouble but still use e-mail to deliver a positive message about your company? How does spare's proliferation affect you and other concrete producers? The danger is that people's hostility and fear of spare may prevent you from using e-mail for legitimate marketing and advertising.

Nolo, a provider of legal books, software, and Web-based information and tools, has advice for those who want to use e-mail for marketing, but without being lumped as spammers.

* Invite people to subscribe to an e-mail newsletter instead of sending unsolicited e-mail. Include a sign-up form on your site. Explain you'll only send timely and informative information.

* Include late-breaking, useful information. Your business pitch will go over well if you package it with truly unique and valuable content.

* Make it easy to stop receiving e-mail. Every message should include brief, friendly instructions on how to be removed from your e-mailing list. Even subscribers will appreciate knowing that you've made it easy to stop.

For additional information, visit www.nolo.com. You also can visit www.pewinternet.com to download "Spam: How it is Hurting Email and Degrading Life on the Internet."