Anyone with an email address knows what spam is, and if you’re like me you absolutely despise it. So as an email marketer, why would you want to risk associating your agency brand with that of a spammer? Given the facts, I’m sure the majority of you wouldn’t. Consider the following checklist to determine if you are following the rules.
The Permission Marketer’s Check List
- Do you have the recipient’s permission? – Before you send someone an email you need the person’s consent. How do you get permission? If the recipient is a current client, ask the next time you talk to them. For prospects, request their permission to follow up via email before you leave your meeting.
Rented or purchased lists are a no-no. The list seller will likely say you are buying an opt-in list. But what did they opt-in for? I’m going to go out on a limb, and say likely not insurance topics.
- Are you mailing too often? – This is a tough one for insurance agents. It’s not like you’re sending out a weekly flyer announcing various items on sale. Since there’s no hard and fast rules, you need to use your best judgment. Are your messages important enough, that people need to hear from you weekly? If not, you should probably stick with mailing no more often than monthly.
- Is your content consistent with what the recipient signed up for? – If your subscribers signed up for a commercial lines p/c newsletter they’re likely not interested in articles on homeowner’s insurance. If you do wish to cross promote to a different list, just send out an opt-in email requesting permission.
- Can the recipient easily unsubscribe? – Having an easy unsubscribe process is not just to prevent people from reporting your messages as spam, it’s a requirement.
