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AP Information
Services Ltd., one of the most highly respected business information providers
in the UK has teamed up with the DMA to provide you with monthly advice on all
you need to know for easy data management. These articles will provide suggestions
on how to manage your direct marketing in the most effective manner according
to current legislation. |
One of the key reasons for the success of direct marketing is its ability to adapt to new technologies. Expenditure on new media is now estimated at £679 million according to the DMA UK’s annual Census of the UK Direct Marketing Industry for 2003/2004, and email marketing has shown a continued year on year growth, reflected in the growing numbers of consumers reporting some participation in different forms of email marketing. Around 30% of consumers have received some form of ‘cold’ email and 37% of consumers have received an email as an existing customer. 37% of consumers have also used email to request help from a company, suggesting that whilst ‘spam’ has been getting a great deal of bad press in recent months, use of email as a two-way customer medium is relatively popular with consumers.
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, introduced in December of that year, state that it is illegal to send unsolicited direct marketing email and SMS communications to individual subscribers, unless the recipient is an existing customer of the sender or has previously subscribed to receiving messages from the sender. Following the introduction of these Regulations adherence to legislation and ensuring best practice in email marketing campaigns is essential if the dm industry is to distance itself from the minority of rogue spammers who continue to cause misconceptions about email marketing.
The DMA Email Marketing Council responded by launching its
Best Practice Guidelines in July 2004. These were developed in collaboration
with industry experts including the Information Commissioner, LINX and DMA Council
members, to help marketers using email marketing to achieve ‘Best Practice’
by:
- helping to stimulate the positive development of email as
an effective marketing medium reinforcing the key legislative issues of which
clients should be aware
- sharing examples and practical advice in terms of how clients
can maximise their results from using this medium providing practical advice about
complying with working practices and standards of the Internet industry.
In addition to a demand from DMA members for best practice guidelines, there was increasing demand for research into the key metrics within the UK’s email marketing industry and the development of a benchmarking mechanism, enabling organisations to measure their performance and providing an understanding of how the commercial environment is changing.
To meet this demand, in September this year the DMA Email Marketing Council launched it’s first national benchmarking survey appointing leading independent benchmarking firm tank! to collect the data. Data will be accumulated on a quarterly basis beginning with email service providers, to give a comprehensive insight into the most important metrics in email in the UK. This includes types and volumes of campaign activity, delivery and response metrics, deliverability issues and key success criteria.
The Email Marketing Council’s Benchmarking Survey will also enable the DMA to spot trends within the market, acting as a feedback loop into other important Email Marketing Council initiatives for 2004 including various best practice initiatives and the development of cross industry co-operation with stakeholder groups such as ISPs. |
