Paging Dr. Spam-Free!
Answering Your Embarrassing Questions About Spam
Question # 1.15: Is Email Append OK?
The Doc Explains: “SPF”
Q: Dr. Spam-Free, we’re thinking about using an “email append” service to get email addresses for our offline customers. Is it legit?
The Doctor Replies:
Email append is legal and legitimate — however, it’s creepy and may backfire. Be very careful, or skip it altogether.
Here’s how it works:
Let’s say you have a list of customers who receive your catalog in the mail. You want to email them as well. You contact an “Email Append” service that has giant databases which includes postal and email addresses for consumers. You send them your mailing list and they find matching emails. Then they send an email to the consumer saying “Is it ok if we email you in the future?” If the customer agrees, you add a new name to your email list.
Is it legal? Yes, at least in the U.S.
The CAN-SPAM Act DOES let you send an email to someone, if you have a pre-existing business relationship with them. If they are already on your offline list, you’re well covered, especially if they’re a customer.
Is it a good idea? No way!
You may get new emails from 10-20% of your postal list. But you’ll probably permanently burn your relationship with as many formerly happy customers.
Think about it from the customers’ perspective. Imagine a satisfied catalog customer. One day they get an email from you out of the blue. They are wary, saying to themselves, “I know I never gave them my email. In fact, when I bought online, I specifically decided NOT to give them my email.”
You’ve just spooked a valuable customer. Good research shows that as many as 50% of consumers have blackballed a marketer permanently for bad email practices. See http://www.quris.com/who/release102803.html .
I wouldn’t risk my good name and valuable customers just to get a few more email addresses.
The Doc Explains: “SPF”
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is one of the favored new techniques to authenticate email senders — allowing ISPs to filter our spam from forged From addresses.
More info:
http://gaspedal.net/newsletters/pds/pds_1.04.htm