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Is Your Mailing List Privacy Compliant?
If your organisation does direct marketing, handles any personal information (such as individuals’ names and addresses) or has a turnover of $3 million or more, your organisation may need to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The Act governs the collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal information, being information or opinion from which an individual’s identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained. Your organisation must comply with the 10 National Privacy Principles.
For a Summary of the 10 National Privacy Principles... click here |
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Tips 4 - 7 in the Online Branding series
"Your brand is a promise to your clients... a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability."
- Jason Hartman
Self-made millionaire and Personal Branding™ guru, Jason Hartman, sees today’s four tips - quality, consistency, competency and reliability - as essential to your brand’s personality. Here, we explore them with relevance to the online arena and help you answer: What is the personality of your brand? Is your e-newsletter delivering on its promise?
These follow our first three tips on brand alignment, unique style and attention to detail. To revisit those tips, click here.
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Newsletters 101 - How to Kill Your Server.
With over 50% of recent workshop attendees admitting that their e-mail marketing consisted of attaching pdf documents and broadcasting through Outlook groups, I thought it would be a good idea to investigate the potential hazards of this common form of distribution.
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Open Your Mind to Open Office
Whether they know it or not, or admit it or not, chances are most businesses will have at least one illegal copy of a popular software program on their PCs. Small business is particularly susceptible, and most of the time it isn't even intentional. It could simply be that your software license only permits the installation of Microsoft Office on 10 PCs in your company, and you have it on 12, not realising that you've exceeded your limit. Although it might be an honest mistake, if the software police come knocking on your door one day, then you'll wish you'd paid more attention.
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Is That Spyware in Your Inbox?
I saw something interesting today among the 20+ pieces of junk that arrive in my inbox each day (that's not counting the hundreds automatically removed by my email client Thunderbird's excellent junk mail controls). Normally I just delete anything that slips through. But this morning something caught my eye, 'SPY on your Boyfriend or Husband by sending an E-Card!'
Despite myself, I had to click through and find out about it. Apparently, it's a simple process. Once you own the snoopware, you can send it disguised as an 'E-Card' - an email attachment (.EXE file) that pretends to be an innocent greeting card, but actually installs software on your significant other's computer. This software runs in the background, secretly tracking the user's behaviour, and sends regular reports back to the jealous lover.
According to the excitable pitch on the website, it catches a wide range of information - URLs visited, usernames and passwords, emails, and instant messages, such as ICQ or MSN. All reports are dated and are sent frequently by email, making sure the spy can quickly confront her errant partner (all the advertising for the spyware is pretty explicitly targetting straight women as the most likely market). Specific words or names can be searched for, to refine the spying process and deliver only the most damning pieces of evidence - perfect for the green-eyed monster in a hurry!
This technology isn't really new. It's similar in its approach to 'stealth' spyware programs that have been quietly installing themselves for years on our machines, and reporting our behaviour to the highest bidder - usually a marketing firm with an interest in identifying target groups for advertising. By the way, programs like this can be removed with a free utility called Ad-Aware.
What's different about this type of software is that it brings snooping to the masses - or to anyone willing and able to shell out the rather hefty price. Its legal status is also dubious; it quite blatantly sets out to violate the target's privacy. Just now, I tried to follow the link from the email; it no longer goes anywhere. Perhaps the law caught up with that particular set of spyware-smiths. But the Internet isn't easily policed. Like spam, peer-to-peer file sharing, and other legally controversional technologies, it's doubtful that we've seen the last of spouse-snooping spyware.
Email your comments to the author
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Tuning Subject Lines for Better Open Rates
Results prove that tweaking your subject line can really make a difference.
Just how much impact can tweaking your subject line have on open rates? Because the subject line is one of the main factors in getting your bulletins opened, making sure you are using the right one can be a valuable asset. This is where testing is vital.
You see, the beauty of e-mail is that you can test - and test you should. Testing will help you get every extra inch out of your e-mail communications. For example, in the last edition of Eureka we published three times. To test open rates, each broadcast was sent to randomly selected segments of our subscriber database with different subject lines.
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Your Questions
Q:Our company is considering moving our printed newsletter to an e-mail bulletin. Some of our customers really like the printed one though. Should I continue and do both?
A:Many organisations are doing exactly what you are suggesting, and have the same dilemma. Sometimes a 100% migration is not possible due to the nature of your customers but there are a couple of ways to get the most out of both formats.
Firstly, tell your customers what you plan to do and what benefits it will provide them (faster delivery, reduced membership costs, more timely and shorter bulletins and so on). I like to push the 'green' button here. Tell them how much paper you will be saving.
Secondly, make sure the solution you adopt allows you to track. That way you can post your print copy to customers that don't open your e-mail one.
Thirdly, increase the value of the e-mail bulletin by including a little more information than in the print one and refer to the e-mail newsletter through print regularly.
You will easily reduce the print run and possibly be able to reduce the frequency or paper quality eventually phasing it out altogether if that is your objective.
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Take a Behind the Scenes Tour of Eureka.
Ever wondered how this bulletin comes together?
To take a behind the scenes tour, click
here.
All you will need is an internet connection, a phone and in 20 minutes you will get the picture.
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Register for our next workshop
Thanks to all that attended the recent workshops in Sydney and Melbourne. It was great to meet with everyone who attended, and rewarding to hear that so many of you came away with some useful insights into e-mail publishing. The main issue raised in our feedback survey, was the importance of tracking results. Interesting though, was the fact that so few people were actually doing it - i t looks as though that is about to change for some of you. For people who attended, keep an eye out for the members lounge coming soon on the PeopleLogic:) web site. This will be a great resource area for additional worksheets, FAQ's and resources to help you in your e-publishing endeavours If you want to be notified of our next worshop, click here. |
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Post a Question
Just e-mail us with your question. Answers will be posted anonymously here next edition.
YOUR QUESTION_________
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"Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful."
