The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing

Ten Ways to Get Your Business in Trouble with Email

How could something so easy, so cost-effective, and so powerful get you in trouble? It usually happens the moment you think that easy, cost-effective, and powerful tools can’t possibly be abused.

1. 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. Spam complaints destroy your deliverability and reputation. To avoid spam complaints, you have to avoid looking like spam. You can read more about spam complaints in Chapter 4.

2. Use deceptive ways to collect contact information. You can find email addresses everywhere you look, but not everything shiny is gold. Collecting email addresses from web sites, directories, and web-crawling computer programs will give your email list more spam complaints than sales. You can read more about proper email address collection in Chapter 4.

3. Violate the CAN-SPAM Act. Consumers hate spam, so Congress decided to take action on spammers by creating the CAN-SPAM Act. You can be fined if you violate the CAN-SPAM Act, but the laws also shed light on the email marketing practices that consumers dislike the most. You can read about the CAN-SPAM Act in Chapter 4.

4. Send too much email. Your business has to survive, and regular communications are the key to staying top of mind with customers. Sending the right ...