email marketing

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Email Marketing- does it work?

-what are the rules – legal and otherwise?

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Does it work?

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, –

The trouble is I don’t know which half

John Wanamaker – 1838 – 1922

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Well it doesn’t ….. If you do it like this

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Or this

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This is what you should see

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And it doesn’t work if you don’t think about it

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No prizes then for the “experts”

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…unlike WARC

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…who are brilliantly simple and effective

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So what matters?

the offer25%

the creative5%

The List35%

the subject line35%

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And where does the effort go?

Offer3%

Creative95%

Subject line1%

List1%

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What about the law? Are these correct?

• Under the Data Protection Act 1998 … – “an email address isn’t personal data”

• - it IS personal data

• Electronic Communications Regulations 2003….– “only relate to consumers”

• ONLY excludes limited companies

• The ASA…– “Doesn’t cover email and doesn’t cover B-to-B”

• - specifically states it covers business consumers and consumers

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What the ASA says…..

• CAP Code says "the explicit consent of consumers is required" before "marketing by email or SMS text transmission, save that marketers may market their similar products to their existing customers without explicit consent so long as an opportunity to object to further such marketing is given on each occasion."

• Must check for explicit consent before using a list for an email campaign, even if you believe in good faith that the list comprises only those who opted to receive marketing

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The downsides – Negative PR

In the only organ that matters………..

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Google kills companies

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Where are the REAL legal risks?

• How you gather permission– E-mail opt-in MUST be a TRUE opt-in:

e.g. Tick here to receive email NOT Untick here if you don’t want email

• Rented/purchased lists– “we would like to sell your email address to anyone

who gives us money”

• Failure to respond to “Subject Access Requests” or “delete me” requests

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The seven rules

• Test, test and retest – test everything• Segment – smaller is better• Subject, content & offer should re-inforce

each other• Your own list will be better than a rented

one• Always transmit rented lists via the owners’

domain• Plan the follow-up before mailing• Be VERY skeptical of email “experts”

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Thanks for listening

Tim Beadle – 07768 512445, tim.beadle@mieurope.eu