Less Corporate Spam?
by Garrick Jones on 2008/10/22
Recently I've spent a significant amount of time managing email campaigns – some large, some very small. While these campaigns vary there is one element that holds true for all of them. You shouldn't send mails to individuals who do not want to receive them.
It also happens to be the law. In South Africa we are guided by the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act Of 2002, which basically states that all unsolicited commercial communications must provide the consumer with the option to cancel his or her subscription. Offenders who do not comply with the full extent of this Act are liable to severe penalties.
Opt-Out Lists
With spam becoming such a thorn in the side of legitimate Email Marketing, there's been a move towards the development of lists that people can join to make sure that they do not receive any unwanted correspondence. Although these opt-out lists are at this point only part of a proposed law, I would like to think that we can see their real implementation in the not too distant future.
As per the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) site:
“The “Don’t Contact Me” list - previously known as the Mail Preference Service (MPS) – serves the sole purpose of removing your name and address from prospect mailing lists. According to proposed law, any company embarking on a direct marketing campaign will be required to run their list against the Opt Out register and ensure that any names on the DMA register are deleted off their database.”
So far 35 000 people have added their names to the list. Unfortunately this doesn’t mean that they'll stop receiving all those unwanted mails – this register is only used by members of the DMA. If you'd previously subscribed to get mails from, for example your bank, you will also continue to get these. Thankfully we still have the legal requirement for the inclusion of an unsubscribe link in any commercial mail.
I actually do have high hopes for a spam-free world in the future - although I do sometimes equate them with my hopes for world peace and the abolition of world hunger.
