E-mail Relevancy Powered by Privacy

Source: Dennis Dayman, ClickZ

It used to be only things that mattered to senders of email were simple content and filters.  But in today’s society where consumers suffer from information overload and are worried about data collection practices, marketers must face a new set of challenges.  Challenges like email reputation, data governance, and newer marketing practices, which are forcing a fundamental shift in the way markers do business.

Because the Internet changes so frequently it does make it harder to keep up with the ever-changing requirements set forth throughout the industry. There are many new coalitions, new best common practices, new products being launched that effect how we interact with people. Furthermore new legislation will have an impact on how marketers are allowed to collect and process personal identifiable information (PII) and how you can use it.

The international marketing community has already implemented rules and regulations about collecting targets personal information. For example, a new legislation in Canada called Canada’s Online Protection Legislation (COPL) requires email senders in the country to include an explicit opt-in policy in the body of the message. Additionally, the European Union is planning for full tracking opt-in requirements for mid-2011.

In the United States discussions are still under way about creating similar requirements for marketers.  The regulations will put into place a formal opt-in policy and parameters on data collect and use.  In order to prepare themselves, companies will need to adopt practices like “Privacy by Design” and “Fair Information Practice Principles“ which builds self-regulatory capabilities to address and amend privacy concerns at any stage of a marketing campaign. With the rising popularity of social media, maintaining a respectable reputation while also keeping the interest of prospects could become much more challenging. Marketers will have to be even more careful about what is being sent and to whom when it comes to PII.

To try to make all this much easier for you to understand, I have developed a Guide that can help even the newest member to our marketing community understand what is required to do business efficiently and correct with today’s ever changing standards. Email deliverability and privacy pose a variety of challenges for marketing departments. In order to be successful, marketers need to understand the fundamentals. The idea behind the Guide is to help marketers understand the basics of deliverability and privacy, how these concepts are best employed, and to preview what rules and regulations are on the horizon.

I hope you all enjoy it and feel free to post questions so that I can help further the industry where I can in education. To download the full Grande Guide to Email Deliverability and Privacy, click here.