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One of the things most if not all Internet
marketers come across at least once in their lives is "spam." Whether
they've used it, contemplated it, rallied against it, or received it,
the deceptively appealing nature of unsolicited commercial email as
well as the gut-wrenching, mind-numbing, nerve-racking person-hours it
takes to manage spam makes it the most detested form of online
marketing. But the question remains: Why is it still being used?
It's Like a Drug
Today, while driving to a client
in my consulting practice, I listened to the audio version of one of
my favorite books, "The
22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Al Ries and Jack Trout --
the fathers of positioning. One of their laws struck me in a
way it has never struck me before, for I realized, now that I am
online, how much these laws apply to Internet marketing as well. It
also struck me because the book was written in a time when email was
relatively unknown and "WWW" was thought of as an acronym for some new
sports organization.
Law number 11, the law of perspective, states: In marketing, "The
long-term effects are usually the exact opposite of the short-term
effects." Al Ries illustrates this law with sales promotions and the
way they work -- and work against you. While sales do help to
increase business in the short-term, in the long-term the effect wears
off and, like a drug, one has to inject more price based incentives to
keep the volume at a certain level. Ultimately, a discount driven
company will see its business inevitably decrease. As Ries points out,
"Sales tend to educate consumers over time never to buy at regular
prices."
Sex, drugs, money, and crime are all
typical examples in which short-term gains can lead to long-term
losses. But these hedonistic-like marketing approaches are not limited
to sales promotions. With the Internet comes along another -- this
seemingly unstoppable barrage of unwanted commercial email called
"spam." Obviously, spam is effective and very profitable since, if it
wasn't, it would have stopped haunting our inboxes long ago. However,
in addition to the potential infringement of new business-related
laws, the negative consequences of spam with regards to long-term
profitability far outweigh the short-term advantages.
Credibility is Crucial
A business' most important asset
is its credibility -- and more so online, for the Internet lacks the
human element. (By the way, it is this very lack that often makes spam
so attractive if not addictive, as some people tend to forget that
people receive the mail, not computers.) Nevertheless, credibility in
the faceless world wide web is like oxygen in its offline version:
It's critically important and inescapably essential. Therefore, a more
profitable, long-term solution is the creation of one's own opt-in
mailing lists or the use of others that are opt-in, responsible, and
targeted.
Consequently, ezines are growing with astonishing fervor. Beyond the
fact that they help build trust and credibility, ezines help you to
stay in constant touch with your prospects. People want to get to know
you. And the level of value they attribute to their purchase from you
is -- as unrelated as it may seem -- inextricably tied to the level of
trust they place in you.
Sure, short-term band-aid solutions
can produce good results. Sales and profits can be made with spam (or
without the need for prospects to know you, for that matter). But like
drugs, these solutions are only short-lived, which is why they must be
continuously repeated in order to remain viable let alone profitable
-- hence, the reason why spammers keep spamming.
Knowing you is the basis of any long-term business success. If you're
in it for the long haul and if you want to remain profitable for a
long period of time, then consider the converse -- short-term losses
versus long-term gains. In other words, don't spam. Find ways to stay
in contact with eager, interested, and consensual prospects. Publish
your own ezine. Buy or rent targeted opt-in lists from reputable
mailing list brokers. Get linked on as many other sites as possible.
Most important, advertise in ezines... It's your surest and safest
bet.
Needless to say, it is commonsensical that, if you sell a product
online that helps to make life easier for your prospects, don't market
your product in a way that negates or contradicts that very point. Use
responsible email marketing strategies. The pitfalls of spam marketing
will, in the end, cost you much more than some of its more respectable
alternatives.
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