Three interactive trade groups, taking a tougher line than the Direct Marketing Association, have agreed that marketers must obtain permission before sending e-mail.
That measure was included with several other guidelines in an e-mail marketing pledge jointly drafted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, TRUSTe and NAI’s E-Mail Service Provider Coalition. Together, the groups have 1,509 members.
The pledge states that companies must not send messages to an individual’s e-mail address without informed consent or unless there is a prior business relationship.
The document also includes provisions that the DMA agrees with, one being that commercial e-mail must not include false or misleading address fields, subject lines and message bodies. The groups also state that e-mail addresses should not be gathered surreptitiously.
Another measure is that every commercial e-mail should give recipients a chance to unsubscribe.
The groups feel that an opt-in will help consumers distinguish between legitimate e-mail and spam. However, the DMA defines spam as fraudulent unsolicited e-mail.
The E-mail Service Provider Coalition was formed last year to protect legitimate e-mail while fighting spam. The Interactive Advertising Bureau represents companies that sell online advertising. TRUSTe operates an online privacy seal program that has certified almost 1,300 Web sites.
Last month, the DMA, through its subsidiary the Association for Interactive Marketing, put out a best practices document that recommended marketers only send bulk commercial e-mail to recipients with whom they have a prior business or personal relationship, or when permission has been obtained.
AIM’s best practices spell out how that consent may be obtained, but stops short of actually recommending that customers expressly opt in. The group also defines affirmative consent in a broad sense that includes opt-out.
“Marketers who implement affirmative consent permission practices generally have higher response rates, lower complaint rates and blocking issues,” the document states.
A business relationship may be established by proven offline contact such as an application, purchase, request or transaction.
On the subject of content, the document advises marketers to use subject lines and content that accurately reflect the purpose of the message.
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