No, I’m not referring to the versatile canned meat product, although growing up Seventh-Day Adventist I have enjoyed my fair share of canned (vegetarian) meats.

I’m referring to the email variety. The official definition of Spam according to Techopedia is “…the use of electronic messaging systems to send out unrequested or unwanted messages in bulk.”

Spam can also be used as a verb: to send the same message to (large numbers of recipients) on the internet.

Unfortunately, many people have come to associate ANY marketing email with Spam.

Today I want to set the record straight and help you ensure that the emails you send do not fit the definition of spam!

Avoid being considered Spam!

Here are three things to start doing today to ensure your emails go to the inbox, not the spam folder, and delight your customers while keeping you out of trouble with the law.

1. Create your email program value statement and make sure it is clearly stated at every location you acquire emails from – online forms, point of sale, team scripts, etc.
2. When you create your email campaigns, refer to your program value statement to make sure that you’re delivering on your promise.
3. Get feedback from your subscribers on what content they like most and what they don’t care so much about. You can do this with a quick survey, by emailing them directly if you have a tiny list, or by simply looking at the metrics in your emails to see what people are actually clicking on.

Easy, right? I hope you found this helpful and that you understand what Spam is and how to avoid being considered it. 

Summin’ it up

At the end of the day, the best way to be both requested and relevant is to put the needs, desires and goals of your ideal customer at the center of your decision making process, in all facets of business, not just in your email marketing. So now I want to hear from you! Tell me your worst spam email nightmare in the comments – hopefully it is benign and we can all have a good chuckle about it!