This week I continue my series on e-mail deliverability inspired by the Lyris Inc panel featuring Michael Kelly of Click Mail Marketing, Craig Spiezie of the Online Trust Alliance, and David Fowler of Lyris Technologies.

Giving Your Mailing List What They Want

The CAN-SPAM act legally defined SPAM as unsolicited bulk e-mail. However, the truth is that solicitation has very little to do with whether or not someone hits the dreaded SPAM button when viewing an e-mail. The real measure that most people will use is whether or not they repeatedly receive unwanted e-mail.

8 Tips to Keep Your E-Mail Relevant and Desirable

• Before you send your first e-mail, be sure to decide upon the character of your campaign.
  • Will you include information about your personal life, or limit your correspondences to business exchanges? Do you want e-mails to be short and to the point, or comprehensive circulars that have something for everyone?
• Be sure that intended recipients know what to expect from your e-mails before they sign up.
  • When possible provide descriptions, examples, or archives.
  • You should likewise give advance notice before changing the character of your e-mails, and request that your recipients opt back into your list after they have seen a sample or two of the new style.
• Provide a clear and concise sign-up process that makes it clear how often you will contact the recipient.
  • Someone who knows exactly what you will be sending them is less likely to be surprised by it, and those who do sign up will be those who actually do have an interest in what you’re offering.
• Give the intended recipient the ability to select different levels of engagement, and honor their selection.
  • Some people may want to hear from you every day, but others will find it a burden to receive that many e-mails. If you really think that your daily content would be valuable to those who want less contact, consider offering weekly or monthly digests as well. But remember, that no ultimately means no. Never force e-mail on someone who doesn’t want it.
• If the user opts-in through a website, face to face meeting, or correspondence, send them a confirmation e-mail, and ask them to opt in again.
  • What might seem like a good idea at a conference can easily seem like spam once it arrives in the inbox. Anyone who requests inclusion twice probably does have a genuine interest.
• It should be easy for a recipient to change their preferences or unsubscribe any time they receive an e-mail from you.
  • It is better to part on good terms with uninterested recipients than to have them report you as a spammer.
• Trust your recipients to know their own desired level of involvement
  • Do not assume that someone who signs up for a monthly newsletter is also interested in weekly tips or bi-weekly e-mails from your affiliates. Each assumption makes your e-mails less relevant and more likely to get reported as spam.
• Regularly ask your users if they are still interested in remaining on your mailing list.
  • Sometimes e-mail recipients lose interest in some of the e-mail they receive, but are too lazy to unsubscribe. By asking your audience to actively indicate their continued interest you ensure that those who find your content to be irrelevant are culled from your mailing list before they report your e-mail as spam.