An introduction to email marketing in Malta

An article of mine regarding email marketing, which appeared in the Technology Sunday supplement of the Sunday Times of Malta:

What is email marketing?

You might have come across the term ‘email marketing’ lately and wondered what that is supposed to mean and whether it is something you should seriously look into. So let’s go ahead and start demystifying this term and see what the whole concept of email marketing entails.
Email marketing is simply a form of direct marketing that takes advantage of the Internet and email services to allow businesses and other entities to send information directly to potential customers and clients.

It differs from other marketing mediums due to its high degree of measurability, indeed today’s leading email marketing software enables you to see exactly who opened your emails and moreover whether your recipients were interested enough and took the extra step of clicking the links in your newsletter.
This degree of measurability usually either frightens marketers or else gets them very excited about the potential of such a system. In essence, with email marketing, you get the naked truth about whether your marketing campaigns are working or not, down to each individual to whom your marketing message is being directed to.

SMEs: Is it worth the effort?

Many small businesses are still wary of investing time and money into online marketing, an unfortunate situation that has been improving in recent years thanks to greater awareness and initiatives aimed at helping businesses set up their online presence. A website is a step in the right direction as it enables people to find you online, however with email marketing you are going a step further and actually reaching out to your clients and prospects yourself.

Let’s take your typical hairdresser as an example here. Clients tend to be particularly interested in taking good care of their hair, thus a bi-monthly newsletter can include an article about hair care, for example in the run-up to the summer months an article on protecting your hair from the blistering heat would likely be well received. Focusing on particular hair products available from the hairdresser can also help to raise awareness of their benefits and increase sales.

Such a newsletter, which provides value to customers, will help in fostering the business-client relationship by reminding customers that that hairdresser cares for them and should be the first choice when it is time for another appointment. Other attractive features could be images of clients before and after a makeover or hair done for special occasions such as weddings. Of course emails which provide value tend to be forwarded to friends and thus are an excellent way of getting new clients.

Big Companies: How does it fit within our marketing strategy?

Given that Malta has a thriving tourism sector which invests a lot of money in marketing, we can take a typical hotel operator as an example of how email marketing can benefit bigger companies. In our scenario, the hotel has already invested in a good website which is getting a fair share of traffic from search engines and online advertisements. The first step would be to include a ‘newsletter sign up’ section on the website, in which people can enter their name and email address. These details would go directly into the hotel’s mailing list. Email addresses can be also collected when tourists check in or out of the hotel. At this point it is also easier to gather other useful details such as the date of birth or anniversary date.
Once the system is in place the hotel’s marketing department can actually start formulating their email newsletters. An ideal start would be sending out monthly emails promoting that month’s best deals and providing information about important events taking place in Malta, thus enticing people to visit. Hotel upgrades such as a recent refurbishment or visits by famous personalities can also be included in this newsletter.

It is also important to take into consideration that, with the right email marketing software, a portion many tasks can be automated, thus for example the hotel can prepare a special weekend break deal for people having their birthday or who will be celebrating an anniversary. These emails can be automatically personalized and sent by using special triggers that are activated, for example, two weeks before a person’s birthday.

I’m Convinced, how do I get going?

There are several options for getting started with email marketing. A quick Google search will give you a list of established players in this field. Email marketing software suppliers tend to offer online systems which enable you to upload your contacts, then edit and send your newsletter through the online system. Most services also give you detailed statistics about email campaigns. Pricing plans tend to consist of either a fixed fee per month or a fee per number of emails sent, although other variations also exist. If you are new to email marketing it is also a good idea to hire a local consultant or company who can help you get started and point you in the right direction. Although foreign service providers offer technical support it is always better to have someone you can talk to locally who will offer you advice on email content and help to design and deploy your newsletters.
Before rushing to send out your emails it is very important to know that there is Maltese and European legislation which strives to protect internet users from unsolicited emails and misuse of their data. In Malta we have the Data Protection Act while the European Union has also issued a Privacy and Electronic Communications directive in this regard. To be safe one should follow the general rule of only sending emails to people who have indicated their willingness to receive such information, and always include a link within the email that permits the recipient to unsubscribe/opt-out from receiving any more updates in the future and thus be removed from your mailing list.
Conclusion

Email marketing is definitely one of the best marketing methods as regards to Return on Investment. Compare the low cost per email to the huge budgets needed to run TV or print advertising campaigns, plus the fact that you get full statistics on whether your efforts were effective or not, and you can quickly start seeing the advantages of having an email marketing system in place.
Whatever the size of your business, email marketing should definitely occupy an important place in your marketing toolbox. When used properly email marketing will improve the relationship between a business and its customers, bringing old customers back and keeping new customers coming in.

Email Marketing resources

http://www.email-marketing-reports.com

The CAN Spam Act

The CAN SPAM law went into effect January 1, 2004. Here’s a quick rundown of the law’s main provisions to keep in mind while sending out your email marketing campaigns. I’m not a lawyer, obviously, but following these recommendations should keep you clear of the 100 known SPAM operators list.

* Header information must be correct and legitimate. Your email’s “from” and “to” lines must be accurate, including the originating domain name, and identify the person who initiated the email.
* The subject line cannot mislead your email recipients about the content within the email.
* Your email recipients must have an opt-out method and it must be clear, easy to follow, and it must work to end any commercial messages.
* The opt-out option must be available to recipients for at least 30 days after they receive your commercial email.
* Opt-out requests must be handled within 10 business days.
* It’s illegal for you to sell or share opt-out email addresses.
* If your list is not double-opt in, your email must be identified as an advertisement and include a valid bricks-and-mortar postal address.
* Don’t harvest emails and don’t use automated means to create email addresses.
* If you share an email address with a third party, you must give the recipient “clear and conspicuous notice at the time the consent was communicated”.

The law also distinguished commercial emails from transactional emails, if the purpose of the email is to “facilitate, complete, or confirm”. Earlier this year, in May, the Federal Trade Commission updated the law. Here are their four new provisions, cut and pasted directly from the FTC Web site:

an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender;
the definition of “sender” was modified to make it easier to determine which of multiple parties advertising in a single e-mail message is responsible for complying with the Act’s opt-out requirements;
a “sender” of commercial e-mail can include an accurately-registered post office box or private mailbox established under United States Postal Service regulations to satisfy the Act’s requirement that a commercial e-mail display a “valid physical postal address”; and
a definition of the term “person” was added to clarify that CAN-SPAM’s obligations are not limited to natural persons.

Keep in mind, CAN SPAM law is intended for the U.S., so email in other countries would be governed differently. The European Union, for instance, has a set of standards, but the actual laws are different throughout Europe.

At the time when Bush signed the original CAN SPAM law, in December 2003, many critics said it would do little or nothing to lessen the amount of spam. The joke by pundits at the time was that CAN was a verb allowing permission. It appears the critics were correct. But proponents of the federal law still say it helps send a powerful warning message to spammers through a nationwide legal standard.

Email marketing laws in Europe (EU)

The EU issued a formal “Privacy and Electronic Communications” Directive in 2002, specifically covering the sending of unsolicited commercial email. Member states are obliged to implement directives in their own national legislation. Indeed, EU directives carry no practical implications on their own, but only when actually transcribed into local laws.

Don’t expect all EU countries to share common email marketing laws, though, despite the standard established in the EU document. The directive leaves it up to each country to choose their preferred approach on some issues. For example, B2B emails require a mandatory opt-in in Austria, but may be sent to some companies on an opt-out basis in the UK. Countries also differ in how they interpret the wording of the directive.

So although the EU documents give you an overview of the base standard in Europe, you still need to check each country’s local email marketing laws on a case-by-case basis.

Key documents

Unsolicited communications – Fighting Spam
Page from the EU with information and links on EU anti-spam legislation and activities. Check the news section for updates on relevant EU policy and projects.

EU Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive
Access to the full text of Directive 2002/58/EC on data protection and privacy, “concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector.” Article 13(1) deals specifically with the issue of unsolicited commercial email.

Communication from the EU Commission
…on fighting spam, spyware and malicious software. Issued in November, 2006, this is a statement of intent and call to arms. But it remains to be seen whether it leads to any actual action by the EU or its member states.

Other links

FEDMA
The Federation of European Direct Marketing maintains regular updates on (and interpretations of) EU data protection initiatives, including the directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications.

Europe not so harmonious
Survey reveals that anti-spam laws in Europe are not yet fully harmonized across all countries.

New Email Marketing Rules in the European Union
Offers a very thorough overview of the state of email marketing legislation in the EU (as of mid-2005).