Mobilize Mail Opinion

It will not be a surprise to learn that the number one way to get people to open your email is to send email to people that know  you.  An Email Consumer Survey conducted by Return Path in December 2006 also revealed that 51 percent of people surveyed opened email when they had thought they had opened that email previously and believed it contained useful information.  The Subject Line was another key reason for consumers opening email.  If the subject line suggested the email was important or offered relevant information then the consumer would read the email message.

Regular email (but not too regular) gets attention as long as it is relevant to the recipient and the suggestion of a discount on offer will capture the attention of readers.  Surveys provide us with valuable feedback and suggest to us that forming relationships and trust with the people we are emailing is key to getting a good open rate.  With email marketing in particular we need to get into the habit of sending relevant newsworthy emails that are personalised (Dear Sue etc) and written in first person.  Respect and trust needs to be built between you and your mailing list (readers).  Ensuring your email communication is compliant with Spam Laws is essential and also key to getting a good open rate.

Analyse the feedback you received from the statistics captured from your email campaign to learn of your readers choices.  The saying ‘seek to understand, then to be understood ‘ is probably the most fundamental requirement for getting a much improved email message open rate.

Q. Do I have to keep permission details sent by my opt-out subscribers who previously given consent to receive a commercial electronic message?

A. Our legal advisors suggest it is advisable to keep as much detail and evidence of opt-in and opt-out subscriptions. The information may be required in case of a complaint.

Some of the key information that needs to be kept as evidence is: consent to the receiving of commercial email, time of sending and the content of all commercial email, evidence of the ‘unsubscribe’ facilities included in the commercial messages and subsequent removal of recipient from a mailing list and this may also include messages confirming the removal.

It is also recommended that you keep all subscriber history including consents, ‘opt-out’ and compliance records for at least six years.

Mobilize Mail provides a subscriber history record for all your subscribers. It is dynamically recorded and accessible from your account on Mobilize Mail.

Anti Spam Compliance Solutions For You & Your Business

To see how we can help you and your business comply with the NZ Anti-SPAM Act click here

Below is a question from one of our clients…

Do I need ensure I have consent for every subscriber before sending a commercial electronic message even though they are already on my existing mailing list and have received numerous emails from me?

Short answer – YES

After 5 September 2007 anyone who sends commercial email must have one of the 3 types of consent (express, inferred or deemed). You need to check your existing mailing lists to be sure you have the requisite consents before you send another email after the 5th Spetember.

We have a number strategies on how to get consent but at the end of the day if you don’t have consent you will need to get it someway or removed the subscriber from the list.

I am also very sure that it will cost most businesses more than the NZD $2000.00 government seems to think it will cost to make systems compliant with the New Zealand Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007. I have had first hand experience with some of our clients and the estimate is rubbish.

Anti Spam Compliance Solutions For You & Your Business

To see how we can help you and your business comply with the NZ Anti-SPAM Act click here

I have just quickly browsed over the Singaporean SPAM Control Bill which was passed by the Singapore Parliament on the 12th April 2007 and it makes for interesting reading (if of course you like reading this kind of stuff).

Here are the most interesting points for me when I reflect on the NZ Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act.

• Like the CAN-SPAM the Singaporean SPAM Control Bill supports the Opt-out model where you can send one commercial email without consent.

• One-to-one commercial based emails do not trigger the Act only bulk email. The Bill provides the watermarks for what is considered “Bulk”. This is a far cry from the NZ SPAM Act which is triggered by even one-to-one email communication which will be a big headache for NZ businesses. To this day I have no idea why the government decided to add this in. If anyone in government is reading this please contact me as I can relay to you how our own clients are trying to come to terms with this additional overhead to their already bloated processes.

• The bummer thing for the Singaporean people is the Act relies only on consumers to engage in civil lawsuits against people and businesses who are deemed to be spamming. How many Singaporean’s could afford to take someone or some business to court or who has the time?

• But by far the most interesting requirement of the Act is that all Singaporean senders must add the following tag to all unsolicited bulk emails “<ADV>” (quotes not included). It can be in the subject line or within the body of the message. Now as an ESP in order to help our customers comply Mobilize Mail would implement a tool that would automatically add this tag into the emails going out if it is not already present. I think it’s a cool idea!

In summary as I have said before the bulk of the SPAM in the world today comes from 200 core spammers of which 80% of them reside in the USA. This Act will not stop the bulk of the SPAM but merely add additional overhead to ethical and legitimate businesses trying to make a buck in this world.

Why do we still receive SPAM? Well its because, and this really blows me away, there are still a lot of people buying goods and services off spammers and there is enough of them for the spammers to make quite a bit of money.

Maybe government should focus more of warning people not to buy off spammers instead of focusing on creating policy that adds headaches to business. But then again who has the right to tell you how to spend your money?

Anti Spam Compliance Solutions For You & Your Business

To see how we can help you and your business comply with the NZ Anti-SPAM Act click here

The Australian Spam Law – “Spam Act 2003″ provides an exemption for Charities and Religious organisations. The New Zealand Spam Law – “Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007″ is not following suit – all charities and religious organisations will need to comply with the legislation as from 5th September 2007. Imagine the following headline – “Salvation Army fined $100,000 for Spamming” in the News. It’s quite unthinkable really – in my humble opinion it is difficult for Charities to get awareness and funding for their cause – they end up spending lots of money and time on driving funds their way.

I suppose on a positive note Charities may be encouraged to utilise email more effectively and be an integral part of the marketing campaign. Like all perceived set backs – there are positives too. We are working with charities and non-profit organisations providing as much value as we can so they can get the benefit of measurable email marketing and compliance without it taking their valuable time away from their cause – helping others.

There is less than four months to go before the New Zealand Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 is enforced. We believe you need to be analysing your existing email marketing practices and planning your compliance project now. Individuals and Businesses can be affected by this new law due to compliance requirements for one to one email communication as well as bulk email.

Here is a situation that will be affected by the new Spam Law that you may be familiar with: You get talking to a friend, or associate and they suggest you contact someone they know and they pass you the person’s email address. You send this person an email introducing your services and you may also provide a link to your website. Sound familiar? This situation happens to us a lot  – it’s great to get these referrals or leads for your business isn’t it? Well as from 5th September 2007 the action of sending someone an email with ‘commercial’ content or a link to a website that has commercial information (without prior consent from the person) will be non-compliant. Are you aware of the email practices of your employees? Sales people in particular may be caught out by this type of situation. Here is an article that explains the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007. Contact us to assist you with your email practices assessment.

Anti Spam Compliance Solutions For You & Your Business

To see how we can help you and your business comply with the NZ Anti-SPAM Act click here