Web Marketing all-in-one for Dummies®

Chapter 2. Becoming a Trusted Sender

In This Chapter

• Understanding spam laws

• Getting permission

• Familiarizing yourself with e-mail laws

• Minimizing spam complaints

Everyone who uses e-mail deals with spam on one level or another. Consumers receive so much spam that they're hesitant to open e-mails unless they know and trust the sender, and they're more than willing to report your e-mails as spam to their Internet service provider (ISP) if your e-mail doesn't appear trustworthy.

Every e-mail marketing strategy is subject to the possibility of consumer spam complaints, and numerous legal and professional standards apply to commercial e-mail. Consumers also expect marketing e-mails to come from a trusted source with just the right frequency and amount of content. Here are the three authoritative benchmarks for determining whether your commercial e-mails are regarded as spam:

• Legal standards, as outlined in the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and the 2008 revisions

• Professional standards, as outlined by consumer advocates and the e-mail marketing industry

• Consumer preferences, as dictated by consumers themselves

Adhering to e-mail professionalism keeps your e-mails legally compliant and improves your relationships with the people who receive and open your e-mails. In this chapter, I show you how to become a trusted e-mail sender, minimizing consumer spam complaints while maximizing the trust between your business and your existing and future e-mail list subscribers.

Complying with Spam Laws

Spam is bothersome ...