Consumers have received unsolicited purchasing opportunities for as long as enterprise and commerce have been around. Medieval peddlers to traveling traders to door to door salesmen to direct mail to commercial email have kept up the continuity of the tradition of direct marketing. Direct marketing has, on the one hand, educated the public about new products they would not have otherwise had access to and, on the other hand, taken the brunt of consumer ire when used irresponsibly by a small percentage of unscrupulous scammers.

According the Federal Trade Commission, unwanted Internet spam accounts for up to half of all email traffic. With the popularity of the national do-not-call registry, spam and bulk mail will probably increase, as the direct marketing avenue of the telephone is less accessible.

What’s the difference between commercial email and spam? Business users of commercial email act responsibly and from a consumer service perspective. They provide an opt-out option on each communication and honor every request for such. These businesses also demonstrate their integrity with consumers’ personally identifiable information (“pii”) and take steps to protect that information. I define spam as untargeted mass emailing thrown out randomly with no provisions for the protection of consumers’ pii.

The criteria put forth by the Direct Marketing Association for legitimate commercial email includes: 1) an honest subject line; 2) no forging of headers or technological deceptions; 3) the identity of the sender, which includes a “physical” address; and 4) an opt-out that works and is easy to find and easy to use.

Landata Information Services, Inc. assisted a client in conducting a very targeted commercial email campaign recently and had some surprising results. Their aim was to reach homeowners in specific Texas cities whose appraised property value had increased 10% or more, and with it, their taxes. These homeowners were offered a tax protest kit by which they could protest their valuation. Landata’s Senior Vice President of Business Development Tom Abbate tells the story.

“Our client enhanced a property mailing list which we supplied by using a third party service to add email addresses and followed the best business practice of including an opt-out in the body of the email”, according to Abbate. “Out of the 200,000 emails sent, some business was generated, though not enough to support the cost and the aggravation, especially the latter. About five people went out of their way to determine Landata was involved, and thought it was malicious spam. (Guess they don’t care about their dramatic tax value increase!). Of those folks who went through chain of email and contacted us to complain, four of the five hadn’t bothered to take the first step and opt-out. While we complied with all of requirements, these sophisticated users want to show off and create problems. Had they opted out, that would of handled their concerns,” explained Abbate. “We did what we knew was right as far as responsible business practices, but even if you follow the rules, you are not going to make everyone happy.”

Would he do it again? Abbate muses, “Traditional direct mail marketing would have worked better at less cost since this offer was so targeted. We will see what happens next year.”

There is virtually daily legislative activity nationally and on the federal level regarding the regulation of commercial email and spam. Activists are forming non-profit organizations to stop the scourge of spam. The debate about consumer opt-in and opt-out approaches are being debated by businesses and consumer groups around the country. Businesses need to stay informed and active on the issues.

What can responsible business commercial emailers do to protect themselves? Adopt a consumer service approach. Put yourself in the position of the recipient. Be sure to put an opt-out opportunity on every communication and honor it. If businesses do not voluntarily follow through on the opt-out approach, consumer uproar will insist upon opt-in legislation, which can significantly reduce opportunities to reach potential customers. Publish your privacy policy or a link to it on each piece of email you send. Tell consumers what information you are collecting about them and what you are planning to do with it.

Though there is no way to close the Pandora’s box of spam, responsible businesses can take the lead to create an attitude of service to their customers, employees and consumers. The successful use of a consumer service model can be seen in several Internet booksellers who collect pii and refer titles that match the reader’s preferences- thus educating their customer with the value-added benefit of providing new opportunities they may not have otherwise had. Their customers appreciate it. That’s the high road of direct marketing and has been for centuries. Make sure your business is on it.