Just Who Do You Think You Are Emailing?

A couple of weeks ago now, I attended one of the South’s biggest business events. As with most of these events, exhibitors were out to generate leads. Each and every stand focused on attracting visitors by enticing them with a variety of incentives from competitions to prize draws. To participate all I had to do was simply drop my business card in the box provided.
I quite expected a few follow up emails or even telephone calls from any of the companies. By sharing my contact details I was basically giving my ‘permission’ to be contacted.
And indeed I did receive a few emails offering me additional services or inviting me to attend further events. This is all part of the marketing strategy and one I also use at events to further grow my database to ensure I always have a full pipeline of prospects and new leads to market to.
What wasn’t so good was receiving an email that openly showed 200+ other contacts (some of which are on my mailing list) in the cc box from a company I’d never heard of. This kind of ‘spamming’ raises suspicion, it angers and bottom line is it doesn’t work!

If you are going to use email marketing then it must be permission based. It might take longer to build your list but the quality of leads is far more important than the amount of subscribers.

Evidence shows, that permission based email lists deliver far better results, fewer unsubscribes, blocks or spam complaints.

If you are looking for better response rates and want to build trust with your prospects – be careful who you send your mailings to.

Recommended reading “Permission Marketing” Seth Godin