We all get email that is downright annoying. Yet when it comes to our own business most never think twice to shoot out an email to every address they can get their hands on thinking, “but this is different”. Unfortunately, it’s not. You could be losing potential clients by annoying the heck out of them and even worse you could be breaking the law.

Ten signs your email campaign might need an overhaul

Just because they gave you their business card doesn’t mean they want spam.

People give out business cards for all sorts of reasons. To be added to an email spam list is usually not one of the reasons. If someone trades cards with you it’s because they might want to do business with you in the future. If you start blasting away the likelihood of this diminishes.

When someone hands you their card ask, can I add you to my email list?

If someone buys something from you it doesn’t give you a license to kill (their email in box)

These are existing clients and customers. They have already purchased goods or services from you, why risk upsetting them and running them off with daily updates on cat litter sales?

Instead of assuming they want to be on your list consider a friendly follow up call or email. “How is that litter box 3000 is working for you? If would like to stay updated on future software scent updates I would be happy to add you to the list.”

Expressing any amount of interest in your product or service isn’t an open inbox to be filled.

When someone asks “What is the going rate on a Vespa these days?” that doesn’t translate to “Please send me daily updates on the price of scooters, Harley’s, wave-runners, 4wheelers, special financing, and anything else you can cram in my inbox”.

When a customer asks a question it’s the perfect time to ask about adding them to your email list.

It’s not spam because I put the addresses in the carbon copy line so everyone can see them.

This is just flat out wrong in so many ways. This is the email equivalent to putting your feet up on the table and using grandma’s prized vase as a spittoon. Seriously, it’s that bad. Not only is the email messy it makes everyone on it completely vulnerable. Now everyone that gets the email can zoinks (technical term) any of the email addresses and add them to their email list. It’s like spam to the 10^th degree.

I know it’s rude to send emails with a ton of CC’s in them, that’s why I put my name in the to line and everyone else in the blind carbon copy line.

This sounds good in theory. If I get a spam using carbon lines I much prefer this one. When I see a letter with the same name in the from and to line I think “this is a courteous spam, I’m glad they took the time to read up on this and do it” then I promptly delete the mail. Nothing screams “this is spam” more than the same email address in the from and to lines.

Try using a service such as http://mailchimp.com to tidy up your email list.

He’s a friend of mine of course he wants to be on my email list.

This doesn’t even make sense if you think about it. I have a lot of friends that have absolutely no interest in social networking or Internet marketing. Why would I want to add someone to a list that has no interest in it? Friends might not unsubscribe or say anything for fear of sounding rude. It’s just not nice to back friends in a corner like that. Ask if they are interested in your email list and give them a fair chance at saying no.

This person didn’t mean to unsubscribe, I know they love this email so I’ll add them again.

I don’t know where the logic for this comes from but I know its happening. I have one specific spam mail I’m monitoring at the moment I have removed myself from 3 times now. To make matters worse it is a friend and past real estate client. I don’t want to upset the business relationship so I chalk it up to “this relationship costs me a delete click per week”.

When someone unsubscribe they mean it.

I don’t need an unsubscribe option, it’s just a small list and my content is awesome.

Have you ever gotten on a spam list you could never get out of? There’s no unsubscribe anywhere, no directions on how to do it, and when you reply to the email it bounces back saying that address doesn’t accept emails? This is frustrating. If someone doesn’t want the mail in the first place at least give them the courtesy to opt out. Not to mention the law says you have to have it in there.

I don’t need to put any physical contact info in the email, they know how to find me.

Assuming that contact info doesn’t need to be in the mail because the recipient has our email, plus they can click the link we’re spamming and find out more about us on our website anyways is not a good idea. You’re basically forcing someone to act on a call to action (getting them to your website for instance) just to get off your list. This takes even more time to get off a list and if someone is at this point landing on your beautiful flash site is probably not going to change their not so good opinion of your business.

Once again it’s also simply the law. Include a mailing address in all business email.

They wanted to unsubscribe but I’ll wait a few weeks so they get a few more emails that will change their mind.

If someone doesn’t want your email in the first place and they unsubscribe it’s probably not a good idea to hit them a couple more times. The chance of them changing their mind is pretty small. When someone asks you to do something in person it’s rude to ignore them, so don’t do it with your marketing. When someone asks to unsubscribe, do it.

I’ve got everything under control; I pay someone else to take care of it.

Paying someone to manage your email campaign in no way gets you off the hook. First of all it is a representation of your business. No one is going to get an unsolicited spam and think “it’s ok, it’s the email companies fault, not your businesses.” They will think “this business is annoying, I don’t want this”.

It also in no way removes your legal liability. The law says you are responsible for any email that goes out for your business.

What do you think? I see these 10 things all the time but I know there’s more out there. What annoys you the most (besides just getting tons of spam)?

Legal info on email spam: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm

*Image courtesy of twicepix