email marketing campaigns

Great Advertising or Spam? A Conundrum!

Avoid alienating customers

Many who are familiar with, or actively engage in, Web marketing will agree that there is a very fine line between legitimate ads and spam; but what makes this distinction so alarming is the fact that many business owners – online and offline – do not understand the difference between the two. In view of this lack of understanding, it is therefore important that marketers have the ability to identify spam and avoid it at all costs; because while a clever, well planned Web marketing campaign can help to attract new customers and keep existing customers loyal, spam is likely to alienate both new and existing customers, which can be extremely damaging to profit margins for the business owners.

That having been said, we will take a closer look at the grey area between ads and spam while touching on a number of Web marketing strategies, including email marketing campaigns and banner ads as well as message board posts, and describe how each can quickly cross the line from clever advertising to spam.

Email marketing campaigns are very useful tools in an industry like Web marketing, since these campaigns are comprised of the most important means of communication between the marketer and his/her client and/or customer base. Included in such campaigns might be periodic e-newsletters consisting of information requested by subscribers along with advertisements, brief educational email courses and/or offers of discounts on products and services. Loyal customers who opt into the marketer’s email list will likely not view these emails as spam and may purchase additional products and services from the marketer’s business which will justify this kind of marketing strategy.

Additionally, potential customers who have specifically requested additional information about the marketer’s products and services will also find this type of marketing to be useful. But email recipients who did not request information from the marketer are likely to view these emails as spam, which brings us to one of the key points in differentiating between advertising and spamming. It is the difference between those who “requested” information and receive the marketing emails; and those who “did not request” information, but still receive marketing emails.

Simply put, emails to those in the “request” category are considered legitimate advertising, while emails to those in the “did not request” category are considered spam. In view of this distinction, it can be said with some certainty that harvesting email addresses in a deceptive manner and using these addresses to send out mass emails will likely be considered spam in ninety out of ten times.

Banner advertising

Banner ads have for a long time been considered among the most popular strategies utilized by Web marketers, including email marketing professionals, because they are the types of ads that can be placed atop most websites and span the width of those sites. In fact, this placement is directly related to how they earned the name “banner ads,” but actually banner ads can refer to ads of a variety of sizes, shapes and colors that appear in an array of different locations on a website. Business owners have been known to purchase advertising space on various websites, but the banner ad may also be utilized as part of an exchange or an affiliate marketing campaign.

The most popular kind of banner ad exchanges is when business owner #1 places a banner ad from business owner #2 on his/her website in exchange for business owner #2 placing a banner ad from business owner #1 on his/her website. These agreements may be made individually between business owners with comparable businesses, or as part of exchanges facilitated by a third party or network. In the case of affiliate marketing, an affiliate places an advertisement for a particular business (often referred to as a merchant) in exchange for compensation when the banner ad produces a desired effect such as traffic to the merchant’s website or generating a sale.

Terms of advertising

The terms of banner exchange agreements, as well as affiliate agreements are determined beforehand and are generally based on a scale of pay per impression, pay per click or pay per sale or lead. Now that you understand what banner ads are, it is also important to understand how they can be overused and give the appearance that they are spam. If you are a Web marketer who advertises with banners, you might judiciously place your banner ad on a few websites which are likely to attract an audience similar to your target audience, and this will be seen as smart marketing; but placing your banner ad on any website which will display the ad regardless of the target audience can be construed as spam.

In advertising, whether it may be offline or online, must always be done with the audience in mind; and in the case of marketing on the Web, your audience is the many Internet users who will decide whether your ads are legitimate or spam; because if they sense that your banner ads are everywhere they turn, and are being placed indiscriminately on any and every website who will accept them, they will likely not take your business seriously and would probably not purchase products or services from you as a result of your banner placement activity.

About message boards

Message boards provide an excellent opportunity for business owners to obtain some free advertising where it will be noticed by members of the target audience; and if the products and services you offer appeal to a specific niche, it is worthwhile to join message boards and online forums related to your industry of choice, which will allow you locate a large population of Internet users who may have an interest in your products. As a result of your membership in such a program, you might consider including a link to your business in your signature area, or post the link when it is applicable to the conversation.

However, be mindful of the kind of promotional activities you engage in by carefully reviewing the message board guidelines so that you can be certain that your activities are not in violation of those guidelines, and that you are not engaging in any inappropriate behavior. Message board advertising is a smart marketing strategy, but you could run afoul of best practices by replying to every message with a link to your website, especially when it is not relevant to the conversation since this can be construed as spam by other members. And once they begin to view your posts as spam, they are not likely to visit your website via any links you post.

Perceived Hindrances to Email Marketing

Marketing on the Web

The explosive growth of Web Marketing as an industry can be attributed to several developments over the last two decades, some tangible like Affiliate Marketing, and others not as tangible; but one of the underlying reasons for such growth is the large number of specialized fields encompassed in Web Marketing. Such fields include but are not limited to: Article Marketing, , Social Media Marketing, Niche Marketing and the various types of info products that fall under Resell Rights Marketing.

You’ll notice, however, that one of the most popular, and highest revenue-generating types of Web Marketing has been omitted from the above list of sub-industries; and if you are not familiar enough with the Web Marketing revolution to recognize which sub-industry is being referred to, it is eMail Marketing.

In fact, the field of eMail Marketing had become such a sought after, profit-generating marketing model that certain activities within the field became overwhelming and threatening to consumers, leading to a law being passed (CAN-SPAM Act) to contain it.

That having been said, some marketers currently participating in other types of Web marketing refrained from participating in email marketing, and we think their reasons for such reluctance to market via email make for interesting discussion. More about CAN-SPAM.

Questions, answers, reasons!

So the first question raised pertaining to email marketing is, should these marketers seriously reconsider the reasons they are avoiding this type of advertising? This is an important question because email marketing can be a very important part of many Web marketing campaigns. Do business owners avoid email marketing for fear of spamming accusations?

If this is the reason it may be that they don’t have a clear understanding of what spam is, and what it is not, so they avoid participation in email marketing campaigns to avoid the potential for being labeled a spammer; but why are Internet marketers so afraid of being accused of purveying spam? This is a common fear for a number of reasons.

One such reason is the severe penalties associated with sending spam emails; and many marketers know that recipients of spam have the option to report what they think is spam to their Internet service provider (ISP) for an investigation into the validity of their claim; and if the originator of such email is determined to be a spammer s/he will be subject to severe penalties and a blemished reputation as a result of such charges.

Distinguish email marketing from spam

Web marketers are also afraid to indulge in email marketing because they believe their communication messages will not be well received by potential customers. This is an important consideration because Internet users have in the past – and still are to some extent today – been bombarded with spam on a daily basis; and receiving this quantity of spam every day can certainly be frustrating, which will also anger some Internet users who, as a result of such spamming activity, are not likely to be receptive to messages from email marketers.

The fear that potential customers will view email marketing through the prism of spam marketing keeps many Web marketers from taking advantage of valid, legal, well-intentioned and profitable email marketing strategies.

Believe it or not, despite the prevalent problem with spam, many Internet users are still quite receptive to email marketing; and this is especially true in situations where they specifically requested (opted-in or subscribed to) more information from a particular business owner pertaining to his/her products and services.

Potential clients are particularly receptive to emails which provides something of value to the email recipient; especially emails that contain in depth articles and useful tips or product reviews that have most often been appreciated by consumers.

The opt-in validates email marketing

Additionally, items such as e-newsletters and correspondence courses offered via email can be of particular interest to potential customers. E-newsletters are typically longer documents than traditional email marketing pieces and can provide a great deal of additional information to the email recipient. Email correspondence courses may be offered in short segments and typically amount to a significant amount of information which is likely to be greatly appreciated by the email recipients.

One final way to prevent email recipients from viewing a marketer’s email marketing efforts as spam is for the marketer to only send emails to recipients who register with his/her website and specifically request that s/he send them additional information and promotional materials. This opt in formula is ideal because it ensures the marketer that s/he is not wasting email marketing efforts on recipients who are not interested in products or services offered by the marketer.

It also ensures that recipients of a given email marketing campaign do not view the informative and promotional materials they are receiving as spam. This technique for compiling an email distribution list is quite effective, but it is important to remember that information on how recipients can opt out of receiving future emails should always be included and a reputable e mail marketing company is a great service to help in this regard.

Provide an opt-out feature!

The “opt-out” or “unsubscribe” instructions and link is important because some email recipients may at one time have been interested in receiving marketing emails, but over time this may have a change of heart; and if they are no longer interested in these emails, they may begin to view the emails as spam if they are not given the option of being removed from the subscriber list.

As a token of our appreciation the free ebook titled, Storytelling Marketing can be yours if you have any interest in the art of storytelling. All you have to do is download it here, enjoy the reading and learn how storytelling can be a powerful ally in any business or marketing pursuit!

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