Of course, no email campaign was ever built without getting permission to get started, so first we’ll need to focus on building a sizable email list.
There are many ways you can do this of course. Some prefer to give something away for free while others simply offer a newsletter or product updates.
I can’t tell you which is the right or wrong answer in this case, but I can tell you that it’s important to have a clear purpose when asking for an address. This is where a strong call to action comes into play, and copywriting is super important.
- What do I get when I give you my email address?
- Are you going to spam me?
- How often will you email me?
- Will I get discounts?
- Will I get a first crack at your beta?
- Will you send me relevant offers or more junk?
These are the kinds of things you’ll need to address if you want to be successful in phase 1. Simply posting “enter your email for updates” isn’t going to get anyone excited to do so. Instead, consider sharing specific reasons why.
If you’re new to email marketing, there are some basic principles to review before you start sending campaigns. We’ll talk about best practices, legal issues, and how to measure your overall performance.
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
The United States federal CAN-SPAM Act became law on January 1, 2004. According to their website, the FTC says that if you violate the law, you could be fined $11,000 for each offense (multiply $11,000 times the number of people on your recipient list). ISPs around the country have already successfully sued spammers for millions and millions of dollars under this law.
We can’t give you much legal advice, but if you send commercial email, you should read through the CAN- SPAM Act of 2003 and understand the rules. If you have a lawyer, consult with her. There are a couple of points we’d like to highlight. If you’re sending commercial email (where you’re selling or promoting stuff), here are a few rules you should know about:
- Never use deceptive headers, from-names, reply-tos, or subject lines.
- You must always provide an unsubscribe link.
- Remove recipients from your list within 10 business days.
- The unsubscribe link must work for at least 30 days after sending.
- You must include your physical mailing address in the email (PO Boxes are not sufficient).
Double Opt-in
We highly recommend the double opt-in method when managing your email lists. In fact, it’s the only way MailChimp’s built-in list management system will work. Here’s a quick overview of the process:
- A customer signs up for your email newsletter through a form at your website.
- She receives an email with a confirmation link.
- If she clicks the link, she’s added to your list, and you store the IP address, date, and time of registration. Now you’ve got proof of opt-in, should you ever need it in the future (like if you receive a false or malicious abuse report).
If she doesn’t click the link, she’s not added to the list. Double opt-in is fast replacing the single opt-in method, where someone submits a form, and bam—they’re added to a list. There are too many chances for someone to get signed up to a list without her permission, either erroneously or maliciously. And there’s no need to even discuss the old opt-out method anymore. That’s getting phased out, due to all the spam complaints marketers get from people who never saw the opt-out check. Don’t be so desperate to grow your list that you put your company’s reputation on the line.
Permission Reminders
Even when you’re on the up-and-up, take care to avoid violating CAN-SPAM, and get subscribers to double opt-in, you can still run into trouble. This is where permission reminders come into play. People sometimes don’t pay much attention when they sign up, but with a permission reminder in your campaign (“You’re receiving this email because…”), you can let your readers know that what you’re sending is something they actually asked for and want.
Unsubscribe Links
Now, say you did everything above correctly. Unfortunately, you’re still going to get people who lose interest for one reason or another. By providing a clearly visible unsubscribe link, you can avoid a lot of headaches (and abuse reports). Some readers will report you as spam if it’s too hard to find the unsubscribe link, so make it prominent and separate from the rest of your content. Style it appropriately, too, avoiding tricks like making the link a similar color to your email’s background. Spam hounds hate this, and you could get blacklisted
Getting Emails Whitelisted
While almost all reputable email service providers work very hard to make sure that your emails are not blocked by major ISP’s, they can’t control whether or not your emails hit the inbox or the spam box. Although most will help you by providing a quality score to help you determine availability, getting whitelisted is the most effective way to ensure that your emails get delivered properly.
Essentially, getting whitelisted is equivalent to being marked as a friend, and the best way to achieve this is by being added to the recipient’s address book. The best way to do this is by providing instructions to do so at the top of each email, especially on the initial thank you and first follow-up email.