The four letter word in the world of email marketing is SPAM. No marketer wants its emails to be considered spam. No company wants to be labeled a spammer. Certainly no business wants to be blacklisted. And yet, it is estimated that there is anywhere from 200 billion to upwards of 1.5 trillion spam email messages broadcast daily. Just exactly what is considered spam email and what isn’t spam? Email spam — also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email — involves identical or nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients via email. Definitions of spam usually include that 1) the email is unsolicited and 2) that it is sent in bulk. However, based on that, when any company sends an email to all of the contacts in its database (for whom typically it does not have explicit permission to email), that is spam. Spam email was named after Spam — the luncheon meat — which is considered ubiquitous, unavoidable and (to many) undesirable.
Because of the widespread deployment of spam email, Internet Service Providers have been and continue to be focused on developing ways to identify and eliminate spam (or at least reduce the volume of it) without preventing ‘permissioned’ email activity. It is a challenge. New strategies and metrics are being developed to decrease spam email deliverability. The focus is a one-two punch. First, ISPs are punishing unprincipled email senders who deploy unsolicited, bulk emails. Second, ISPs are rewarding compliant email senders that are sending ‘permissioned’ emails. For companies that want to not only behave respectfully and ethically but , it is important to use legitimate, proven email marketing strategies. As an added bonus, email compliant senders also enjoy improved email deliverability and therefore get better results. Thus, employing email marketing best practices is a win-win. Continue reading