With apologies to positive thinking devotees, today’s blog is the first in a series in which I plan to focus on what not to do when it comes to interactive marketing.

Sure, do’s are important. But unlike the other mass media, online is unforgiving when it comes to don’ts. TVs, radios, newspapers and mailboxes don’t cut you off if you happen to commit a gaffe. Email servers do.

So let’s begin with what is possibly the biggest don’t: DON’T send email blasts to people without first obtaining their permission.

Otherwise, bad things will happen. Here they are, from bad to worst:

Bad: Recipients will ignore you.

Worse: Recipients will consign emails from you to a junk folder. Thereafter, they will not even see what you send, no matter how worthy or relevant it may be, and no matter how clever you make the subject line.

Worst: Recipients will complain through appropriate online channels, and email servers will block you. For that matter, servers may detect and block you on their own. The industry term for “blocking” is blacklisting. Being blacklisted is not good. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a marketer to get off of a blacklist.

Stay tuned for more a more positive post on how to obtain (and maintain) permission to send marketing emails. Coming soon…

Posted in Marketing
Comments Off on Obtaining Permission Posted by Matt