PR Spam
While checking my RSS feeds today, I couldn’t help but notice the interesting contrast between this post by B.L. Ochman detailing the recent “trip to e-mail hell” as a result of a mass mailing sent out by PR Week Magazine and this post by Rich at Copywrite, Ink. about a report from the Direct Marketing Association saying that direct e-mail is one of the marketers most successful tools and results in a high return on investment (approximately $45 for every dollar spent).
The high returns probably don’t take into account the cost of paying for computer support for nearly everyone on the mailing list as a result of problems faced
The high return on investment probably also doesn’t take into account the thought that for every customer that responds positively to the mailing there are probably five more that become annoyed with your brand. As Rich writes, “while more than 70 percent of marketers said they intend to use e-mail to enhance consumers relationships, one wonders if consumers share their point of view.”
-Parker
February 1st, 2008 at 8:40 pm
You’re certainly right that this consumer isn’t happy. and i bet the issue is far from over.
i can guarantee that i’m not the only unhappy camper.
i gave them a little search engine juice today. maybe that will wake them up. and i gave them a little blog exposure since i have a pretty big audience.
what i have asked for - for them to pay me for the software i had to buy to fix the problems that they caused, is not unreasonable. I didn’t ask them to pay for the more than 30 hours of @$200per hour time i have spent solving the problem, but i still might.
it would not surprise me if they ended up in a lawsuit brought by others who are similarly damaged.
don’t forget - the PR Week email was sent by Adicio to an OPEN list, and passwords, user names and email addresses of the recipients were exposed. that can wreak all kinds of havoc for people and companies.
dumb, dumb, dumb of both Adicio and PR Week.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 am
Nice match up of the issues. It’s a growing problem and getting worse daily.
I don’t really understand the concept of loading up inboxes with larger and larger files to allow for graphics when there is nothing useful anyway. E-mail works great if people subscribe (not forced to unsubscribe) and/or it remains extremely light (expect for subscribed industry news as in “real news”).
But if it is large files on a daily basis … including teasers (teaser spam that tells you will be spammed) … or updates on every webinar/workshop, it’s nothing more than anti-branding buzz, kind of like fruit flies.
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Thanks for your comments, guys.
I’ve always been against the idea of e-mail blasts as a way of promoting a product or service, and I’m glad to see that we are starting to see the same kind of backlash against this as we do with paper junk mail.
B.L. Ochman - I hope you post some updates as to what happens with PR Week and Adicio.
Thanks for reading blog campaigning!
February 6th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I’m all about individualized emails–more time consuming, but I know those on the other end appreciate me taking the time to send an email to them vs. mass emailing.
Also–thank you for the link love to our blog Jess.