E-mail marketers need to clean up their act

AOL and Yahoo!’s partnership with Goodmail will have a positive impact on the quality of e-mail marketing in the US, and it will not be long before higher standards of permission-based marketing reaches the UK shores (MW March 2).

The change will benefit consumers as it will force businesses to take a more responsible approach to the quality of permission on their opt-in lists or pay the price for delivery via systems such as Goodmail.

The cost can be avoided if businesses clean up their act enough to be added to an enhanced whitelist, but this requires them to maintain low complaint rates. These are achieved by having good permission quality and by delivering relevant content, and it is this kind of accountability that is missing on this side of the Pond.

The UK has low levels of permission standards and privacy laws compared with the rest of Europe. Introducing a responsible and intelligent approach will reduce generic mailshots and force e-mail marketers to focus on individuals.

After all, targeted e-mail campaigns are far better at increasing response, so in the end everyone wins.

Andrew Burford

Vice-president

EMEA Responsys

Theale