September 2003

Who's afraid of the new spam laws?

Robin Houghton

Here in the UK we are facing imminent new legislation aimed at curbing unsolicited commercial email. We're told that when the UK finally falls into line with the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (DPEC), small firms will find their marketing options 'severely restricted'. For example, see this article).

It's an interesting take on the idea of a company's 'right' to market to people, whether they want to hear what they have to say or not. There was a similar uprising of outraged marketers when the 'opt-out' version of the Electoral Roll appeared. For the first time, people could choose whether or not their details were sold and used for marketing purposes. (And whose data is it, anyway? See the article about selling your digital privacy on this month's links page.)

The most pathetic excuse I hear in support of the 'right to market' is that by preventing unsolicited marketing communications it denies people the chance to hear about products and services that might interest them. Tragic!

The DTI will have had a year to formulate the new rules and to consult with interested parties. As it stands, the results of consultation were due to be made public last month. Since they are behind schedule we are now told that the implementation date has been put back to at least November. This could be due to the 'fuzzy' terminology of the EU Directive making it difficult to agree on wording that will satisfy all parties.

The item that appears to be causing the most chatter amongst marketers concerns the problem of opt-in: up until now, companies have been able to get away with the tiny opt-out box at the end of an order or enquiry form. The new rules could mean that people have to actively opt-in to receive further e-missives. Not only that, but opting in to marketing info about one thing doesn't give the marketer carte-blanche to email on an unrelated matter.

Rather than getting into a stew about the new laws (the details of which haven't even been announced yet!) perhaps marketers should seize the chance to re-think their e-marketing strategies and tactics. The new rules are hardly likely to reduce the amount of offshore spam we all receive, but that wasn't the intention anyway.

What these laws are intended to do is to nip in the bud the kind of lazy, easy and thoughtless customer acquisition practices that do no favours to the marketing industry. Intelligent marketing isn't about intrusive or aggressive sales tactics. If the only way you can get people to buy your goods is to pester them by phone and email then something is wrong (and don't talk to me about 'targeted' email lists!)

We are way behind the US when it comes to getting our e-marketing right. Many UK companies still display signs of having no clue what constitutes email marketing best practice. Whilst the DPEC goes some way towards improving things, there are other issues to consider if we want email marketing to come of age as a legitimate marketing tool. For an example of how US marketers are taking a more sophisticated view of things, see this recent article from ZNet.

Far from dreading the new laws, I welcome them - because in the new e-marketing environment the good marketers will thrive. Because fewer unsolicited messages in the inbox makes the welcome ones stand out. Because a little more respect for one's customers, actual and potential, goes a long way to building successful brands and happy, loyal buyers.