Email Advertising

an_other

Hi Guys

As business owners how do you feel about getting a flyer by email?
Would it p**s you off or is it just the same as getting a flyer in the post?

I am trying to cut down on advertsing costs and have complied a list of local businesses email addresses. I just don't want to annoy any potential customers.

It will cost me nothing to email them but a fortune to get flyers printed and distributed.

What do you think?

delllat

an_other wrote: »

Hi Guys

As business owners how do you feel about getting a flyer by email?
Would it p**s you off or is it just the same as getting a flyer in the post?

I am trying to cut down on advertsing costs and have complied a list of local businesses email addresses. I just don't want to annoy any potential customers.

It will cost me nothing to email them but a fortune to get flyers printed and distributed.

What do you think?

viking seem to send me a thick magazine nearly every day with more details of their wonderful offers
i shredd them and use them as packaging material for the fragile items i send to my customers

i think people will be equally annoyed by getting unsolicited flyers or emails so from that perspective id send both if u can afford it

or if moneys tight just start an email campaign

paddyb125

Im pretty sure thats called spam...

enviro

paddyb125 wrote: »

Im pretty sure thats called spam...

X2

delllat

paddyb125 wrote: »

Im pretty sure thats called spam...

unsolicited flyers are just more expensive spam

call a spade a spade

an_other

Is it any worse than getting a flyer in the post?

It's the quickest and cheapest way that I can let a target group know I'm out there. thats the only reason I am considering it.

delllat

an_other wrote: »

Is it any worse than getting a flyer in the post?

It's the quickest and cheapest way that I can let a target group know I'm out there. thats the only reason I am considering it.

if some people complains you could have your website deleted by the hosting company

its in the terms u would have signed up to that u are not allowed to spam people

an_other

So if I dont send it from my website host domain, I'd be alright?

delllat

an_other wrote: »

So if I dont send it from my website host domain, I'd be alright?

possibly but then theyre not going to be from sales@yourbusiness.ie

if your host also provides your email addresses

it would look a bit weird if i was spamming advertising for carpetland.ie from a yahoo or hotmail address would it not?

CamperMan

It annoys me when I get spam in my inbox, you should only send these emails if the customers have requested it!

Axwell

Delllat you have gone from telling him to do it along with flyers to telling him now not to do it thats its spam. :rolleyes:

OP if you send mass email to people without their permissions it is considered spam. IF a complaint is sent by any of these your hosting provider can discontinue your hosting as you will become blacklisted on online spamlists. This is based on sending bulk emails using mailing list software or using the CC option in emails. If you are sending emails like this they are supposed to already clients and you have to give them an option to opt out. However, if you send personalised individual emails you are less likely to get complaints of spam but this means sending single emails which are targeted specifically at that business and to a person there. If you are just copying and pasting text from one email to another you risk being accused of sending spam.
Have a read of

http://www.irishwebmasterforum.com/email-marketing/154-emailing-without-spamming.html

zeusnero

My recommendation here is to get in touch by phone with the list of contacts you've compiled (use skype if you can for a big saving on phone costs). Try to speak to the appropriate person in the business (Have a pre-prepared list of items you want to talk about) and gauge their interest. If there is any ask for an email address and send the flyer then.

This takes a lot more time but it's going to be much more effective than sending out a load of, what basically constitutes spam, most of which is just going to go straight into junk mail anyway (plus the other negative side effects as described above).

delllat

Axwell wrote: »

Delllat you have gone from telling him to do it along with flyers to telling him now not to do it thats its spam. :rolleyes:

OP if you send mass email to people without their permissions it is considered spam. IF a complaint is sent by any of these your hosting provider can discontinue your hosting as you will become blacklisted on online spamlists. This is based on sending bulk emails using mailing list software or using the CC option in emails. If you are sending emails like this they are supposed to already clients and you have to give them an option to opt out. However, if you send personalised individual emails you are less likely to get complaints of spam but this means sending single emails which are targeted specifically at that business and to a person there. If you are just copying and pasting text from one email to another you risk being accused of sending spam.
Have a read of

http://www.irishwebmasterforum.com/email-marketing/154-emailing-without-spamming.html

well i still consider it spam in electronic or paper form .

it stands to reason that more people will view his ads if he hits them electronically and also does a flyer campaign as well

i dont personally like spam but it does work to some degree and obviously a small amount of sales will result from it

Im not going to argue about the rights or wrongs of spamming-i was just trying to tell him he will get more views doing both campaigns...but obviously spamming can also get him in trouble with his host so i was trying to show himm both sides

but seriously,have u ever heard anyone saying they like spam.:rolleyes:

Axwell

delllat wrote: »

it stands to reason that more people will view his ads if he hits them electronnically and also does a flyer campaign as well

i dont personally like spam but it does work to some degree and obviously a small amount of sales will result from it

So you advise he sends them in the hope of getting some business from it even though he runs the risk of jeopardising his business. Seriously awful advice.

OP if you send flyers there is little people will do but put them in the bin, sending email spam is a lot more serious as it can result in the hosting company shutting down your account. Please read up on it and what constitutes spam before considering your options.

OP also have a read of http://www.irishwebmasterforum.com/email-marketing/264-email-marketing-compared-to-direct-marketing.html

delllat

Axwell wrote: »

So you advise he sends them in the hope of getting some business from it even though he runs the risk of jeopardising his business. Seriously awful advice.

OP if you send flyers there is little people will do but put them in the bin, sending email spam is a lot more serious as it can result in the hosting company shutting down your account. Please read up on it and what constitutes spam before considering your options.

OP also have a read of http://www.irishwebmasterforum.com/email-marketing/264-email-marketing-compared-to-direct-marketing.html

if hes going to spam them anyway ,why not spam them properly

as someones already mentioned previously-its not spam if its addressed to the addressee so just have a similar letter going out with a differnt heading

Axwell

delllat wrote: »

if hes going to spam them anyway ,why not spam them properly

as someones already mentioned previously-its not spam if its addressed to the addressee so just have a similar letter going out with a differnt heading

You should really stop giving advice at this point, your telling him to spam and could ruin his business. Also just because you address it to someone and then copy and paste in the letter with a different heading does not mean it isnt spam, you obviously have little or knowledge in this area so stop giving incorrect information.

delllat

Axwell wrote: »

You should really stop giving advice at this point, your telling him to spam and could ruin his business. Also just because you address it to someone and then copy and paste in the letter with a different heading does not mean it isnt spam, you obviously have little or knowledge in this area so stop giving incorrect information.

if you had cared to read my earlier posts you would notice that i was the first one who advised him that his web hosts may have a problem with his spamming

people generally dont report spam so he could still get some sales from it and hosts are not quick to throw away paying customers on a single allegation so it would probably take a few complaints before they would "ruin his business" as u say

Axwell

A problem is putting it mildly, you are also the one telling him to spam both by email and flyers. It will affect his buisness regardless of the hosts actions, people dont like getting email spam and by doing so he has more chance of putting a potential customer off than sealing a business deal from it. As regards the hosting, they are going to be quick enough to deal with it if they get any complaints for a simple reason, it affects them too and their businesses reputation. The spam blacklist goes against the IP which in most cases is shared so the hosting providers own server is being blacklisted for spamming. Your advice is uninformed and bad advice, you shouldnt spam just because you might get away with it or you might get some business. The facts are if you spam and it gets noticed you will suffer over it and this isnt a chance worth taking.

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/consumer-affairs/telecommunications-and-postal-services/dealing_with_unsolicited_or_offensive_email

If there are Natural Persons on the email shot you risk more than just being blacklisted.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2003/en/si/0535.html

13. (1)

(b) A person shall not use or cause to be used any publicly available electronic communications service to send an unsolicited communication for the purpose of direct marketing by means of electronic mail, to a subscriber, who is a natural person, unless the person has been notified by that subscriber that for the time being he or she consents to the receipt of such a communication.

delllat

Axwell wrote: »

A problem is putting it mildly, you are also the one telling him to spam both by email and flyers. It will affect his buisness regardless of the hosts actions, people dont like getting email spam and by doing so he has more chance of putting a potential customer off than sealing a business deal from it. As regards the hosting, they are going to be quick enough to deal with it if they get any complaints for a simple reason, it affects them too and their businesses reputation. The spam blacklist goes against the IP which in most cases is shared so the hosting providers own server is being blacklisted for spamming. Your advice is uninformed and bad advice, you shouldnt spam just because you might get away with it or you might get some business. The facts are if you spam and it gets noticed you will suffer over it and this isnt a chance worth taking.

if hosts had such an agressive policy on spamming it wouldnt be the problem it is today
its quite obvious some hosts are doing little to nothing to prevent spammers,

if they did companies would be scared ****less to spam and spam filters wouldnt exist

Axwell

delllat wrote: »

if hosts had such an agressive policy on spamming it wouldnt be the problem it is today
its quite obvious some hosts are doing little to nothing to prevent spammers,

if they did companies would be scared ****less to spam and spam filters wouldnt exist

Take that up with your own host if they arent providing good enough spam filtering but dont come on here and try tell someone its ok to spam cos you "might" get some business from it when it clearly is not ok to spam.

Dabko

Spam is only spam if your not interested in the content of the email. One mans trash is another mans treasure and all that.

In my opinion there are 2 types of spam. One is viagra this, big titty that. The other is from genuine businesses taking the approach that if 1 in 1000 of their emails gets a sale, that a success.
I receive "spam" from different companies which have being quite beneficial for me, saving money on things i was going to buy anyways.

I do see the point though of having an opt out link/feature within the email to give customers the option.
And in all fairness, its only pedantic tools who would complain about a genuine company trying to make a sale.

I say go for it, but dont just send a sh1tload of emails to complete unknowns. Research the possible customer base you want to target and go for it.
He who dares, wins.;)

an_other

Thanks for all the advice. It's making me think again about this.

My advertsing budget is $0, so I just thought if I could email a flyer to local companies rather than getting them printed and delivered I would get my name out there at zero cost.

delllat

Axwell wrote: »

Take that up with your own host if they arent providing good enough spam filtering but dont come on here and try tell someone its ok to spam cos you "might" get some business from it when it clearly is not ok to spam.

my spam filters works fine,thk u 4 asking!

the_syco

Dabko wrote: »

In my opinion there are 2 types of spam. One is viagra this, big titty that. The other is from genuine businesses taking the approach that if 1 in 1000 of their emails gets a sale, that a success.

If someone spams me, I don't buy from them.

betonit

the_syco wrote: »

If someone spams me, I don't buy from them.

when would you deal with someone that was trying to selll something or offer a service, or even a free service. face to face, phone. A letter??

I need to promote something also (soon..hopefully:))

the_syco

betonit wrote: »

when would you deal with someone that was trying to selll something or offer a service, or even a free service. face to face, phone. A letter??

I need to promote something also (soon..hopefully:))

An ad on a billboard, if catchy, I'll look into it. Ad's on TV are usually interesting. If not, I will channel hop. Spam (electonic or leaflet format) is often not interesting, and get binned. Maybe if the retailer was a local one, I'd look at their special offers. If they ring, I'll waste their time, and not buy off them.

Dabko

the_syco wrote: »

Maybe if the retailer was a local one, I'd look at their special offers.

And that is what its all about. It made you look, first step successful in getting a sale!

aidan_walsh

Or in thinking "what a spammy git. Must remember never to do business with them."

betonit

If your selling and product or service to a business what is the way to go about it

delllat

Dabko wrote: »

And that is what its all about. It made you look, first step successful in getting a sale!

exactly-nobody will ever buy anything if theyre not made aware its for sale

people do buy on impulse and its these impulses that advertising targets through its various channels

fmcc

I know its being mentuioned here before but check out seth goding on permission marketing. Spam is not liked now and wont be in the future either.
get yourself known as the expert in your field and then people give people a free report etc in your area if they sign up for a news letter or to follow your blog when they are ready to buy something in your filed they will not even look anywhere else as they now have a percieved relationship with you or your company and have built up a certain level of trust.