"How do I collect email addresses?"

Many businesses worry about how to collect email addresses. With strict spam laws in place, the concern is whether a large enough email list can be collected without creating spam.

Express and Inferred Consent

There are two forms of consent defined within the Act – express and inferred. Express covers the instances where there is a clear indication that the recipient has requested to receive the emails to a specific address. Inferred consent is based on the existing relationship between a business and a customer as well as customer behaviour.

Express consent is easy to define. A customer specifically ticks a box or types in an email address in the clear expectation of receiving email communications. Sometimes this can sit on the website as an open invitation. Sometimes it can be a tick box within the checkout process. Either way, the customer is under no illusions that they have chosen to take this option.

Inferred consent covers those situations where there is an expectation of further email contact, even if it hasn’t explicitly been stated. For example, if a consumer enters their email online as part of a transaction or in registering a product or warranty, the assumption is that there will be some email contact. The nature of that additional contact is usually outlined on the site, sometimes within the Terms and Conditions, suggesting that the email address may be used for additional communications. Human reality is that not everyone reads the Terms and Conditions when they tick the box on a website, but that doesn’t mean consent hasn’t been given. The downside of this approach is that consumers may not be aware of what they have agreed to and may not understand that your email campaign is not spam when it turns up in their inbox.

But, if there is already an ongoing email relationship between you and your customer, for example through day-to-day transactions related to their account, the relationship has been established sufficiently to infer consent.

Methods to Avoid

Don't buy email lists - there are plenty of services on the internet selling long lists of thousands of email addresses. By using these lists, you are risking your campaign being identified as spam.

Don't use trickery - building lists through trickery - gathering email addresses without disclosing that they may be used for marketing material - breaches the Spam Act and creates distrust among your customers. Transparency is always perferable.

Methods to Adopt

Use promotions - some of the best email campaigns work because they offer promotions unavailable anywhere else. Clearly advertise on your website or in your high street store that your newsletter comes with special offers, and more people will subscribe. Borders books uses this technique very well. Every sales assistant asks whether you would like to joion the newsletter as part of the transaction. Plus, each email contains vouchers available for a limited time, offering deals not available to general customers.

Ask - As with the Borders example, simply asking is the best technique. A good email campaign offers the customer something for nothing - free advice, vouchers or informative news - motivating more people to gladly give you their email address. Don't forget to use this strategy in your offline business as well as your website.

Add a subscription box - Place a clear area on your site where people are invited to enter their email address to subscribe. This catches those readers who may be interested in your area of expertise, but may not be ready to make a purchase. Again, make sure this section promotes the benefits to them in subscribing.

Offer subscriptions in checkout - if your customers are able to complete their transactions online, it is normal to follow up with a confirmation email. As this necessitates the customer providing their email address to you, you can give them the opportunity to receive additional material from you with a simple check-box.

Motivate customers to spread the email - some successful campaigns allow customers to enter the email addresses of others they believe may be interested in your content. Usually, the customer receives more entries into a competition or a discount for every successful referral. These new email addresses could be sent a separate introductory email outlining that they have been recommended by a friend and selling to them the benefits of subscribing. This allows your customers to do some of the work for you.

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