Lazy Marketing Is Not Compliant

Does "spam" (and I mean the electronic variety) bother you? From a business perspective we often focus on the issue of receiving spam. However the sending of spam is also an issue when your business operates in jurisdictions such as Australia where we have anti-spam laws in place.

This year I've noticed that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is really trying to take the enforcement of the Anti-Spam Act 2003 seriously and a number of companies have been fined, most recently a racing tips company for sending SMS. Its a timely reminder that all businesses in Australia, no matter how large or small their marketing activities, must comply with the Spam Act. Apparently since the Spam Act came into force in April 2004, the ACMA has dealt with 200 businesses who were not compliant. This is probably just the tip of the iceberg of course.

On the otherhand, while its important to comply (and really, its not hard with the right policies and systems in place) the flip side of spam is that its lazy marketing. An article in CMO magazine highlights that e-mail is really a great tool for developing 1-to-1 relationships. They conclude that:

"It's time, many experts say, for CMOs to acknowledge the potential of e-mail marketing not as a broad-stroke communications tool, but rather as a highly measurable and controlled way to foster relationships with customers."

Tags: anti-spam, marketing