CMA Report Uncovers Disturbing Email Trends

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May 20, 2007 by James
Filed under: Classical Marketing, Internet Marketing 

A recent report from the Canadian Marketing Association uncovered some very disturbing data regarding peoples opinions and thoughts about email marketing.

Did you know that…

  1. 97% of people say email that tricks them into opening it is spam…
  2. 93% of people say email from unknown senders is spam…
  3. 93% say email with offensive subject matter is spam…
  4. 58% say spam includes permitted email that is now arriving too often!
  5. 57% say spam includes permitted email that they now no longer wish to receive!
  6. 38% say anything that tries to sell them something is spam, regardless of who sent it.

So, what can we learn from this?

  • #1 teaches us NOT to use ‘bait and switch’ tactics.
  • #2 is pretty obvious - build a relationship BEFORE you pitch someone.
  • #3 Says use good taste - I know, subjective, but hey… you have been warned.
  • #4 and #5 deserve special attention. #4 suggests people who are happy getting your email have a ‘frequency’ threshold. Send too much and people respond negatively - again, highly subjective and depends greatly on the list, the timing, the offer and other social issues of the time.
  • #5 is similar to #4 in that this is a not a question of sending email to an unwanted recipient, this is now a function of the recipient changing their mind and not telling you! You end up being tagged a spammer because they changed their mind - not fair, but nothing every is… except maybe the Lottery ;)
  • And finally, #6 - nearly 4 out of 10 people don’t like the idea of you trying to sell them something - period. Until of course… the moment they want it. But hey, who said business was easy?

Email may still be the ‘killer app’ when it comes to on-line marketing, but these are some very important issues to consider and I hope you heed the advice above.

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