Email Marketing + Social Marketing ≠ Spam
July 13, 2009 @ 3:45pm
by Mason Razavi
I recently had a conversation with someone who asked if I thought that social media marketing should be considered spam. He posed an argument including the fact that people buy accounts and followers, and also that email marketing, which is in the same vein, is widely considered to be spam.
I began to think about some misconceptions regarding social network marketing and email marketing and how they might be thought of as spam. I thought I’d take a moment to clear that up for you – free of charge!
First of all, let’s talk email marketing. There are pretty strict laws in place about who you can and cannot contact with email. People have to opt-in to an email list before receiving contact. This is contrary to traditional direct mail marketing, where it’s standard practice to mail-bomb an entire neighborhood unsolicited. So, if people are asking for it, how can it be considered spam?
Secondly, social media marketing is anything but spam. Again, people choose who they want to hear from. Not only that, but companies that execute a smart social marketing plan can actually make it fun (say it with me: fun) to hear from them. The result is that sometimes people add certain profiles to their friends lists to appear cool, kitschy or irreverant. For instance, someone might add Family Guy, Pepsi, and Marvel Comics to their web 2.0 circle just for kicks. I’ve never seen anyone do that with spam!
Social marketing and email marketing campaigns, when well executed, are fun, interesting, entertaining, and provide value to fans. Still, even if it’s done poorly I don’t know that there is a case you can point to and call spam.
Tags
email marketing, social marketing, spam, web 2.0
