Privacy Concerns Email Marketers

Keeping customer information private while still serving the latest organization deals and news is a prime concern both for marketers and for consumers. One of the biggest challenges is determining what customers deem private matter what they don’t.

by Kristina Knight

Trevor Hughes, executive director of the E-mail Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC) told members at the Clickz Specifics: E-mail Marketing conference (via Clickz), "Consumers think of privacy as [everything from] intrusion and annoyance to ID theft and actual harm," Hughes said. "They are reacting to new marketplace dynamics with real concerns they put under the heading of 'privacy,' but it means lots of different things."

In addition to phishing – the practice of gathering private information and using that to commit fraud - many consumers are now thinking of too many emails from individual companies as a privacy issue. Many consider too many emails spam, and this is a huge problem for email marketers.

Most online marketers are already diligent about weeding out bouncing addresses and non-responsive addresses. Scanning to make sure unsubscribing members have been removed prior to sending a subsequent message is another step. Many experts recommend periodical (bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly) audits of email lists to make sure that unsubscribed members are not receiving emails. Another step is to provide authentication for your member lists.

Keeping customers happy with company email practices is key to keeping them on your list.