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Spam-Free Copy For Your Marketing Campaigns
Are you a spammer? Perhaps unwittingly so because so much of the email you get comes from companies that
seemingly cannot spell the word “free,” and they deliberately misspell it to do an end run around SPAM filters.
One problem: it doesn’t work. Ooops . . . make that 2 problems because if you weren’t a spammer before, you are now branded as one just because you used one of their tricks.
See, those spam work-arounds are from marketers whom you presume to successful (or seem to be) and their copy suffers from the “spastic period” that occurs after every other letter on that one particular word. Many good-intentioned biz folks see their conventions and model them.
That was the first mistake.
Ryan Peterson is Infusion Software’s Email Systems Manager and in today’s guest post he gives the experienced and expert’s take on how not to be a spammer. Hopefully this will sound the death knell for the iconic SPAM conventions of “freeee,” “F.ree,” or “f.r.ee” and all of it’s other despicable variations.
Folks, take notes and implement immediately. The man knows what he’s talking about.
Take it away Ryan . . .
If You Dress, Walk And Talk Like A Spammer . . .
“In Junior High a local police officer, Officer McCaslin, came to my very small school to talk about gangs.
While I had never been involved with the small-town five member gang, there was something said by Officer McCaslin that stuck with me. He said “If it looks, walks, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck.” So if you dressed, walked, and talked like a gang member expect to get police attention. We can argue whether this is correct or even legal, but that is how it was.
In the email world right now there are many police out there. From organizations dedicated to identifying spammers like the appropriately named ‘SpamCop’ all the way down to individual users that click the “Report as SPAM” button at the bottom of emails.
Just like Officer McCaslin, these “police” don’t always know or care if you are a spammer; they just know if you dress, walk and talk like a spammer. If you are perceived to be a spammer then you will be treated like one and your email deliverability will suffer.
So here are some quick tips to avoid being labeled a spammer when you’re not.
Don’t dress like a spammer: Spammers often try to use crafty techniques to get through SPAM filters by changing characters in words. For example, a spammer might change ‘mortgage’ to ‘m0rtgage’ or ‘Free’ to ‘F.r.e.e.’ While this may seem like it will help you get through SPAM filters, it will only get your message labeled as SPAM.
It does not take SPAM filters long to figure out these new words and give them even higher SPAM ratings than the real words. The worst part of this technique is that end-users perceive this type of “creative writing” as being associated with SPAM. With the amount of real SPAM people receive, they could very easily mistake your legitimate email as SPAM because it is “dressed” like SPAM.
Don’t walk like a spammer: Spammers don’t follow best practices. They buy email lists, harvest names from websites, and send emails without consent. The quality of your email addresses will determine if you walk like a spammer. It is tempting to buy lists. In many cases these lists are not legitimate opt-in lists and will cause you problems with your Email Service Provider and possibly the law.
In the cases where these opt-in lists are legitimate, if it is not made clear to the people on the list that they will be receiving email from your company, you will look like a spammer. They did ask about information on products like yours, but they did not ask for it from the fifty companies that their name was sold to. Don’t be surprised if the “This Is SPAM” button starts getting clicked.
Don’t talk like a spammer: Spammers talk a lot! A typical spammer will send as much email as fast as he can. This in-your-face approach may work for some, but for most it is a great way to get reported to the “email police.” Send requested information in appropriate intervals.
People request information on specific subjects or products they would like to learn more about. Only send them information on what they asked about. If someone has asked for information on a specific product, it is not a good idea to dump every piece of marketing material you have on them. Separate your emails into lists and only send information that is pertinent to each list.
Don’t send more frequently than a customer expects. If they asked for a monthly newsletter, don’t send them an email every day. People will report you as a spammer just because they are sick of you cluttering up your inbox with irrelevant material that comes too often.
It is very easy for email recipients to push the “This Is SPAM” button. Whether it is correct or not, you can be labeled as a spammer very easily in the online world and getting unlabeled is not nearly as easy.
- Be smart in how you appear to your customers.
- Don’t try to mask your words - it will just end up looking like SPAM.
- Use quality opt-in email addresses. The best email addresses are those that come directly from your web forms.
- Make sure your content is targeted and timely. People want your information- they just don’t want it crammed down their throats.
All right kids- you are on your way to being upstanding email citizens. Go out there and do some good.”
~Ryan Peterson – Email Systems Manager
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Infusion Software liberates and empowers small businesses by putting their marketing, sales, and customer service on auto-pilot. Their web-based software, called Infusion CRM, centralizes, organizes and automates lead generation, lead conversion and client fulfillment for small businesses who are tired of dealing with a hodge-podge of incompatible software programs and manual grunt labor.
Unlike any other CRM software available on the market today, Infusion CRM is a comprehensive, active CRM built specifically for marketers, entrepreneurs and successful small businesses that recognize marketing and automation are necessary to growing quickly and profitably.
Technorati tags: Infusion CRM, Infusion Software, spam free, Ryan Peterson, Email Systems Manager, copywriter, marketing strategist, provocateur, ROI Copywriting, Walter Terry
By Walter |
Topics: Client Top Secret, Marketing Mishaps, Pet Peeves, Pro Analysis |