In the B2B industry, trade publications have long been a trusted resource for their readers. Subscribers know that they can expect highly relevant, well written, and validated content and they actively seek it out. As the industry moves online, it is taking all of these qualities with it. However, the online experience is inherently different from the print one. Seth Godin, the author that coined the term “permission marketing”, wrote an excellent article recently on permission. There are a lot of misconceptions of how permission marketing works. Lets take a look at some possible impact permission can have not only on an email program and online presence, but also the publication’s reputation that takes so long to build.
For a moment, place yourself in the shoes of Joe. Joe is the Director of Technology at a medium sized company. He has been lauding your publication, which he previously received in print, to all of his friends, employees and the CIO. Joe decides that he wants to receive your email newsletter too, so he goes to your website to sign up. He enters his email address in the form and sees the notice that you have a privacy policy, but doesn’t have the time or inclination to read it. After all, the text where he is opting in tells him that he is going to be receiving a daily newsletter[i].
The next day Joe receives his first daily newsletter, skims through it, and reads an article or two. He is happy that he signed up and is glad to know that online he is still getting the kind of content he has come to expect from the publisher. The next day Joe receives his daily newsletter, and he again skims through it. Later that day he receives another email suggesting that he opt in for a related publication. Joe realizes that he just signed up for this publication, so maybe they thought he’d like a companion to go with it. He decides against the other publication. The next day he receives his daily newsletter, which he still skims through, and an email from a printer company. The email appears to have come unsolicited from the printer company, but has an unsubscribe link he decides to use[ii]. He then realizes that the email from the printer company is actually from the publication he signed up for. He tries to unsubscribe from the type of publications specific to the printing company while staying signed up for other emails.
Time goes by and Joe changes jobs. The newsletter is no longer relevant and he is getting more frustrated by the emails that he has discovered he agreed to by not reading the privacy policy[iii]. Not knowing which lists he is on and therefore unable to opt out, he is left with no choice but to complain[iv]. So, Joe takes the path of least resistance and hits the “this is spam” button in his email browser. The complaining doesn’t stop there though. Joe is frustrated now. All of the people that he has told about the daily newsletter he now warns not to sign up. Joe also stops telling others about the benefits of your magazine. Potential new subscribers are being turned off before they have a chance to subscribe because of warnings that their addresses will be sold, traded, or generally “abused”.
All of this could have been avoided by taking a few simple steps:
1) Be clear at the time and place of opt in exactly what Joe will be receiving
2) Provide a clear and simple method of opting out of email globally
3) Offer a concise and easy to use preference page allowing Joe to manage the email he wants to receive
4) Respect Joe and the fact that he gave you permission by only sending to him what you have mutually agreed to send
5) Do not rely on privacy policy to convey what Joe is signing up for
In the online world, respect is crucial. If you want to keep your subscriber base and maintain a good reputation, respect your subscriber. They will return the favor.
[i]According to Tom Bartel, Chief Privacy Officer at Return Path, historically the percentage of users that read privacy policies has been in the single to low double digits
[ii] 41% of people surveyed clicked the spam button for email that wasn’t of interest – Special Report: Spam Complainers Survey, Marketing Sherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008
[iii] 25% reported spam because they received too much email from the sender - Special Report: Spam Complainers Survey, Marketing Sherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008
[iv] 21% of the people surveyed reported spam to unsubscribe, even though they didn’t consider the message to be spam - Special Report: Spam Complainers Survey, Marketing Sherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008
