about Simplicity

Simplicity is a small creative marketing & web design company. The concept behind Simplicity is to provide hands-on, practical and creative marketing support for your business to get you up and running; give you a competitive edge, and let you concentrate on your business.

To find out more about us, please click here; or call us to discuss how we can help.

simplify, edition #6

Email Marketing Legislation. What does it mean to you?

You are thinking of launching your next email campaign. Great! Email marketing can be a quick way of reaching a large audience. eMarketing keeps you in touch with your customers; it allows you to develop a relationship; people buy from people who they trust; Email marketing gives you quick and measureable results; and it's a very cost effective way of marketing - you can cut out the expense of postage, stationery, printing and other associated costs. This is all good stuff, however, your email list has to be obtained as well as managed in accordance with the various Spam legislation. You have to get people to opt-in to receive email from you.

'Permission Marketing'. The key is to get people to WANT to receive your mailing; to opt-in. You hear about it, but what does it actually mean to YOU? It is illegal to send unsolicited email messages except in limited circumstances. If customers have consented to receiving information from you in the past, i.e. opted in, you can send them information on other things you think they might be interested in. However, you must give these people the option to opt out of receiving any further messages from you.

Here are some reasons why you should comply with UK email legislation. Non-compliance could result in a £5,000 maximum fine under the Data Protection Act (per record), 6 figure fines in other EU countries. Unsolicited marketing should not be sent by electronic mail to an individual subscriber unless the subscriber has given his/her consent. Avoid negative PR and keep your customers and prospects happy.

As a general guideline you should be good to go if:

• Your contacts opted-in to receive email communications from you. For example, your contacts subscribed on your website to receive your newsletter or e-comms where you explained to them what you'd be contacting them about.
• Your contacts purchased products or services from you in the past within the last 2 years.
• Your contacts handed you their business card at an event, a networking session, or a tradeshow knowing that you would be contacting them. So, if you told the card owner that you would be in touch, you have their permission. However, if you did not state or suggest to them that you would be contacting them, you do not have their permission.
• Your contacts have completed an offline form of communication, for example a survey, or they may have entered a prize draw. You will only be able to contact them if you have in fact explained to them that you would contact them AND they ticked a box indicating that they would like to be contacted.

Now on the other hand, you must NOT email them if:

• You have obtained an email list from a third party. For example you were provided an email list by a partner or you may even have purchased a customer list from a bankrupt competitor. Those contacts never gave YOU permission to contact them
• You have collated a contact list from the internet. Just because people have published their contact details online does not mean that they have give YOU permission to send an email campaign to them.
• If you do not have explicit, provable permission to email your contacts, don't.
• Generally, you should not be emailing your contacts who you have not sent something to in the last 2 years. They won't remember giving you permission.

You're good to go? Now that you have established what you can and can't do, what content MUST you include in your email? (1) A single-click unsubscribe link that instantly removes the subscriber from your list. Once they unsubscribe, you can never email them again. (2) The name and physical address of the sender.

Please review the “Guidance for marketers on the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive)” for details on email legislation.

What happens next? Just how do you build your opt-in email marketing list? Stay tuned for our next edition on how to build an opt-in email marketing list.

Learn more about Simplicity: View our services; or simply contact us to discuss how we can help. You can also download the full article by clicking here: Article download.

Can you still feel the pulse?

How healthy is your marketing? Are you taking full advantage of all marketing initiatives that are suitable for your business?

Request your free Marketing Healthcheck now, click here.

Who? Simplicity is a small web design and creative marketing company. For whom? We specialise in working with small, medium and start-up businesses. Why? Small feet, big shoes; just because you’re a small business does not mean you don’t need to get your message out there in a big way. What’s it all about? We help make your marketing and design matter, be known, be heard, be found; and make the pieces fit. It's not just about your products and sevices, it's about the whole experience. What’s the difference? Personal. We strongly believe in the personal approach to doing business. Creative. We fuse strategy & creativity into one compelling voice. No fuzz. We are practical & hands-on; passionate about what we do; and practice what we preach. Focus. We specialise in working with small companies and start-ups. Ideas. Ideas are the currency of our business. Ideas can have the power to change minds, transform brands and even make a difference to the bottom line. How much? Because we’re a small company without the high set-up costs of larger marketing firms and the fancy London postcode, we don’t charge London rates and are able to pass on some cost savings to our clients. What’s in the mix? [The Roadmap] Marketing Planning & Strategy: Get your marketing up and running. [Image Works] Branding & Brand Identity: Define who you are, what you can see, touch, feel, hear and watch. [A Box Of Chocolates] Demand Generation & Integrated Marketing Campaigns: Integrated marketing in harmony & style. The ideal blend of marketing initiatives. [The Bigger Picture] Website Design: Every website tells a story. Let your website do the work for you. [A Refreshing Change] Website Re-Design: Give your website an inspiring facelift. [The Perfect Pitch] Collateral Design: You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. What is the concept? Simplexity. The concept behind Simplicity is to simplify complex matters and make the pieces fit. Simplicity, where ideas come to life.