The fine line between spam and courtesy

by Rob Stokes

2007/04/05

After we sent out our newsletter yesterday, we received an unusually large number of replies. All bar one were really positive feedback which is always so great to receive because I know Sarah and the team sweat blood to put that thing together each fortnight.

The “bar one” wasn’t actually a negative response; instead it was a bit of feedback from David Cruikshank at Farrellsoft. I’ve never met David but we’ve exchanged emails over the years and he seems like a pretty cool and smart guy. Nevertheless he unsubscribed from our newsletter because he gets too many emails. Fair enough, I’ve been doing that a lot lately myself, not because the newsletters aren’t good but because I get too much stuff and I’ve moved most of my knowledge gathering over to RSS.

After clicking on the unsubscribe link in our newsletter, David then landed on the unsubscribe page on our site and clicked to confirm his unsubscription. Following that we sent him a short automated text email confirming his unsubscription and it is this email that annoyed him. David’s comment was that given that he already told us that he wanted out, why should we send him yet another email?

I see his point, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with it...
As I explained to him in my reply, our thinking behind this is that because our newsletter list is strictly double opt in, people on the list have definitely requested to receive the newsletter and are therefore unlikely to consider us spammy. Furthermore, it is our feeling that in many instances when someone unsubscribes through a web page, they are often left uncertain as to whether their unsubscribe request will be honoured. It is for this reason that we send this confirmation email, to provide peace of mind.

However I think David raises an interesting point and although it’s a relatively minor issue, I care passionately about email marketing and getting it right. So I went and did some research into what others are thinking about this issue. Now it may be my poor research skills but I found nothing… hence this blog post. I know a whole bunch of smart people read this blog so I’m hoping to get some feedback on whether it was a good or bad thing to send an unsubscription confirmation email.

If you have any thoughts or experiences on this please drop me a line or leave a note in the comments. Thanks again to David for his feedback; I always enjoy comments that make me question the status quo.

top

8 comments Muti

Muti

Make a comment

Comments

I personally wan't a confirmation email of when I am unsubscribed, because it has happened to me in the past that I tried to unsubscribe from a newsletter yet still got the email everytime they sent it out.

The small annoyance of receiving another email confirming that you have been unsubscribed is worth the peace of mind to me.

Posted by Jean on 2007/04/05

Annoying? Having your shampoo cover your shoes in your gymbag, now that is orchid fragranced annoying..

A bunch of electrons saying, yes i did do what you told me, and heres the proff so you can slap me in the face should I mail you again, is not annoying.

Posted by Smith on 2007/04/05

A confirmation of opting out is professional and appreciated by anyone familiar with websites because they break ALL the time. I want the confirmation email to prove it worked.

Posted by April on 2007/04/05

double opt in
double opt out

sounds fair

Posted by boer on 2007/04/05

April said it perfectly. I too often find that when I do not receive e-mail notification, I still end up receiving the newsletter.

Like you Rob, most of my information are now channeled through RSS and I tried to unsibscribe from some newsletters too, (Bar yours, as it seems my RSS Reader stuffs up your feed regularly) and have found that sometimes they still make their way to my inbox.

I must admit though that it has happened to me too, so usually I just unsubsribe again.

What is truely annoying is that I also receive "newsletters" from previous suppliers of mine that do not make use of CRM, but tried to "manufacture" their own with no opt out option. Sometimes these e-mail addresses aren't manned by people all the time hence any unsubscribe replies are useless.

Anyway, enough ranting, have a good easter. We'll strive for perfection again on Tuesday.

Posted by Henre on 2007/04/05

Rob, this is also the perfect place to bring up what we were discussing the other day. Apologies if this is a blogjacking...but we are in SA ;)

What is the consensus regarding the use of a dummy domain to not honor/ prevent spam allegations?

And before I am shot down in a hail of electrons its not me, I have come across a digital pimp advising small businessman in SA that this is the best policy.

Posted by Smith on 2007/04/05

I agree with prior comments. I like to get a comfirmation that I am unsubscibed, as I have experienced my attempts to unsubscibe fail. On one occasion I sent an unsubscibe mail, as per the instructions, and it was bounced back to me as spam.

The only thing I would say is clearly warn them on the unsubscibe page that they will receive a final confirmation mail.

Posted by Lachlan on 2007/04/05

Lachlan I absolutely agree, we should state more clearly on the unsubscribe page that we will email them a confirmation. This is something we don't currently but that will change fast!

Posted by Rob on 2007/04/05

top