SUBSCRIBE TO THIS FEED4 shady list-building tactics to avoid
In these times, when every email signup counts, it might be tempting to take shortcuts to build your list.
In fact, you may have already engaged in so-called "gray hat" tactics—practices that aren't illegal, but certainly won't win you any fans or new customers, and may even affect your deliverability. Here are four shady list-building approaches that Dave McCue, marketing manager for email marketing service provider SubscriberMail, and Loren T. McDonald, VP-industry relations for Silverpop, said could seriously harm your marketing program.
1) Prechecking an opt-in box. Your potential customer clicks through to an e-mail preference center to sign up for your messaging and what do they see: lots of little prechecked boxes. Or maybe they signed up for a white paper download and you, via small print at the bottom of the form, signed them up to receive marketing e-mails. Both strategies, McCue said, take the decision-making process out of the recipient's hands, potentially angering him or her. "Never make assumptions for someone," he said. "Let them choose which communications they want rather than strong-arming them into getting more e-mails than they actually may want or need."
Read the full article at BtoBOnline.com
In fact, you may have already engaged in so-called "gray hat" tactics—practices that aren't illegal, but certainly won't win you any fans or new customers, and may even affect your deliverability. Here are four shady list-building approaches that Dave McCue, marketing manager for email marketing service provider SubscriberMail, and Loren T. McDonald, VP-industry relations for Silverpop, said could seriously harm your marketing program.
1) Prechecking an opt-in box. Your potential customer clicks through to an e-mail preference center to sign up for your messaging and what do they see: lots of little prechecked boxes. Or maybe they signed up for a white paper download and you, via small print at the bottom of the form, signed them up to receive marketing e-mails. Both strategies, McCue said, take the decision-making process out of the recipient's hands, potentially angering him or her. "Never make assumptions for someone," he said. "Let them choose which communications they want rather than strong-arming them into getting more e-mails than they actually may want or need."
Read the full article at BtoBOnline.com