I have previously explained the important part permission can play in successful mail programs. But what if you intend to send messages to people who never gave you any level of permission to do so? You may feel entitled to send these messages because they have a veneer of legitimacy such as implied consent or legal permissibility. But is is really a good idea?

Implied consent is when you collect an email address but fail to also collect explicit permission use it for marketing purposes. Sometimes that’s fine because the address was surrendered with an assumption that that it would be used for marketing. Sometimes it’s not fine because no such assumption was made. How do you know the difference without waiting for complaints? Get any contacts with implied consent properly permissioned before you start sending marketing messages to them. Reluctance to take this step is proof of how weak you know the implied part really is.

Mandated sends

Mandated sends cover regulatory and product recall type notifications. These are messages you are legally required to send and sometimes the scope may include former customers, people who have unsubscribed, etc. These sends can generate a lot of bounces and complaints. While you are legally required to send these messages you should take steps to mitigate the risk of damaging your sender reputation. Talk to your ESP and follow their advise. Push back on any requests to attach a PDF and if you must do, follow the advice I covered in this post.

Sales emails

By their nature most sales emails are unsolicited. Regardless of legality many people consider all unsolicited sales messages to be spam and vote them out of the inbox. This is understandable since most organizations use spammer math when sending sales messages. On the other hand some businesses can make a data-driven argument that sales emails are their top source of qualified leads and contribute to growth. There is a paper thin line between sending relevant emails to properly targeted prospects and outright spamming. Tread carefully.

Remember, sometimes the only way to win is not to play send.