Marketing choices run amuck

I received an email today from a company I've never heard from before. Not really a surprise in that, but more in what they sent. It reads like this:

Ardath

Please click here to subscribe / unsubscribe the following:

• Company press release
• Company monthly newsletter
• Company webinar invitation
• Customer survey
• New product announcement
• Customer success story
• Tips of the Week
• Best practices
• Company technical support notes
• Company product tips

We respect your privacy.

Thank you,
Company name

Yes. I'm serious. Are they kidding?

There are 10—count em—items on this list. Eight of them are all about them—a company I've never heard of before. And, in case you missed it, I have to click on the link at the top to both unsubscribe or (in case I'm struck by lightning) subscribe. Already too much effort required. Where's that spam button?

Yes, I'm being really hard on them. They never for one moment thought about the recipient of this email. They gave me no reason to even want to give them my attention. There's nothing in this email for me. It's all about them. And now their reputation is mud, where before this I was blissfully unaware of them.

And the "we respect your privacy" bit at the end made me laugh out loud. They spammed me and they respect my privacy?

Not to mention that the email didn't even warrant a personalized signature line and the grammatical mistakes in the first sentence.

Now, all of that said, I know where this concept probably came from. This is likely a response to some recent marketing research that says people want to have a choice in what kind of messaging they receive, and the frequency they receive it. The point of that research is to give people who want to hear from you choices to further engage them. This is not a strategy for getting people to opt in. 

Take another look at the choices they've given me at the top. What do they think they'll learn about me should I select any of them? Asking your email recipients to expend effort to tell you things that tell you nothing to help serve them better is just a waste of time.

Instead, had they sent me an email telling me about this new series of articles they were going to be sending out about a topic I'm interested in and asked me if I would like to sign up to receive one article a week for the next month, I might have thought it interesting enough to take a look.

And, if I signed up, think what they might be learning about me. Not to mention if they follow my responses to the articles they send and gauge whether or not they peak my interest or lost me somewhere during the campaign.

Marketing research is great for directing your focus and consideration. But it's not a follow-the-dots map for blind implementation. If what you're doing doesn't help you gain insights that help you make better connections, why are you doing it?

Comments

[George]

Tangence Inc Presents Webinar On Strategies To Accelerate Your Marketing In 2009. The live webinar will discuss issues such as the latest marketing trends, prioritizing the marketing programs, and making the most out of your marketing strategies and plans. The webinar is scheduled to be on 21st November 2008.
To register for the live webinar log on to - [Links removed by Ardath]

[Ardath Albee]

Hey George -

I don't know you. Why do you think it's appropriate to spam my readers about your webinar on my blog?

Your company teaches people to market like this? Whoa! Please refrain from such bad behavior in the future. Participating in the conversation is one thing - usurping it for your own self-interest is another thing.

If you want an event promoted, ask. If I want to promote you, or think my readers will benefit, I'll write about it.

I'm removing your other spam posts from the additional places you posted your promo. It's very disappointing to see marketers behave this way.

Ardath

[Mark Nagurski]

Oh the irony - a spam comment on a post about spam email. Priceless.