DUBLIN – 25 SEPTEMBER, 2008: A recent survey into the state of Irish e-mail marketing, found that the overwhelming majority of marketers are failing to fully meet their obligations under the Companies Act when sending permission based marketing. The survey was conducted by multi-channel marketing provider CustomerMinds.com.
Over 100 email newsletters were rated against recently revised legal and Data Protection requirements. 82% percent of senders are failing to include their registered company number; 79% are failing to include a company telephone number in all email messages and 62% are failing to include their company’s physical street address. All of these are now required by the new Companies Act Regulations which came into effect on 1st April 2007. A breach of the Regulations carries a fine of up to €2,000.
As well as failing to meet legal standards, email marketers are also failing to meet the highest standards of marketing practise. An analysis of six market segments’ communications- IT, publishing/marketing; travel, entertainment, sports and retail – shows travel marketers adopt the most “best practicesâ€, while IT companies scored lowest performers in most categories. Each newsletter was rated against 10 best practice criteria: a working one-click unsubscribe link; company postal address; company registration number; company telephone number; advanced deliverability features; web version of their email; link to privacy policy; personalisation; forward to a friend; and navigation links to their website.
Of the three most highly recommended best practices, only 38% of senders included a working web version of their message to allow recipients to click through and view the message as a Web page regardless of image or personal settings; only 28% included personalisation in any part of their message; and only 31% used a ‘forward to a friend’ link. The survey also reveals that despite an unsubscribe link being a mandatory regulatory requirement, one in five Irish marketers still fails to include an obvious unsubscribe mechanism in their email messages.
Mike McMahon, Managing Director of CustomerMinds.com said: “By failing to ensure legal compliance and best practise we are risking the growth and credibility of a marketing medium that is still in its infancy. Right now most of our marketers run the twin risks of legal action and being blacklisted by ISPs. They are also making basic mistakes, such as failing to maximise their return from e-mail – and risk annoying their audiences. Permission based e-mail marketing is growing exponentially. It’s a highly cost effective and accountable medium. But we need to make a much greater effort if we are to guarantee the success the sector deservesâ€.
In response to these findings, CustomerMinds.com is offering a free audit to marketers who are concerned about their campaigns’ compliance. Organisations can avail of a free consultation with an e-mail expert by calling 01 2311017 or at www.customerminds.com.
