Small Business Marketing Kit For Dummies, 3rd Edition

E-mail Marketing

It’s only partly coincidental that the preceding section on junk mail is followed by this section on e-mail marketing. The sequence isn’t meant to imply that e-mail mass mailings are junk mail, but a good many of them belong in the junk mail category, and for legal and marketing reasons, you want to be sure yours don’t.

You also want to be sure that your e-mail messages get opened trigger clicks, not just to your website but to a landing page where you’re ready to capture contact information and fulfill interest with no additional navigation required. This section outlines best practices to follow.

Spam: Is it or isn’t it?

For the one in millions who may not know, spam is the term for electronic junk mail that’s sent to a large number of e-mail addresses. None of the addressees requested the information, and most of them feel invaded when they find the messages in their inboxes. Spam is the opposite of opt-in mailings and something to avoid at all costs.

What’s more, it’s illegal. In 2003, the U.S. Government passed the CAN SPAM Act, requiring, among other things, that unsolicited commercial e-mail be clearly identified as a solicitation or advertisement, that it contain a legitimate return e-mail address as well as the sender’s physical postal address, that it present a means to opt out or unsubscribe, and that unsubscribe requests be honored within a specific ...