If used improperly, a powerful tool can create serious problems. Email marketing can be a great asset for your business, but it can hurt you, as well as help you, if you don't know what you are doing.
Constant Contact Vice President of Global Marketing Eric Groves, in his new book The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing, offers "Ten Ways to Get Your Business in Trouble with Email." Some methods Groves identifies for creating business headaches include:
"Get spam complaints. Spam is in the eye of the receiver. If your audience thinks your email is spam, all they have to do in most cases is click one button in their email program, and your email address is flagged as possible spam forever."
"Buy an email list. Email list purchases or rentals fail not because of the quality of the list, but rather because consumers dislike receiving unfamiliar emails."
"Share your business with a spammer. If you send email from an email server that also hosts other businesses, that server is only as good as the reputation of the other people who send email from that server...Using an email service with a good reputation is critical to your deliverability."
My personal opinion is that computer users here in the Overland Park and Kansas City area are even more sensitive to spam and shady email marketing practices than in other parts of the country. If you truely want to connect with current and potential customers, take Groves' suggestions to heart, and make sure your email communication is above reproach.
PerAspera Consulting, LLC is a Constant Contact Business Partner. Sign up for a free 60-day trial, or get a copy of The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing at amazon.com.
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