PHOTO | FILE A computer-generated image on e-mail spamming. Spam has become a widespread menace in cyber space.
NATION
I hate spam. I always have. If you send me spam,
it will have the reverse effect to what you intended: after receiving
your unsolicited mail, I will never even consider buying whatever you’re
selling.
I tweeted this sentiment recently, and got an
odd reply: “But Mr B, what’s really wrong with this practice? Isn’t it
just clever marketing?”
So I thought I should explain that this Sunday.
So I thought I should explain that this Sunday.
In
my book, spamming is for losers. It is for businesses who don’t have
anything good going for them otherwise: no quality or convenience or
utility or uniqueness in their product; no distinction in their service.
Spam
works on probabilities. It is sent out en masse, to as many customers
as possible. It’s known in advance that the vast majority will not
respond to the uninvited intrusion.
What is hoped is that the small minority who get reeled in will make the mass communication effort worthwhile.
Wait:
isn’t that what those notorious Nigerian conmen who send bizarre
e-mails offering millions of fictitious dollars do? Don’t they count on a
few gullible fools believing them, while the wiser majority click
‘delete’ immediately? Did you know that spammers of that ilk rely on a
positive response rate of just one in a million?
My
question: why would a strategy used by conmen be something a credible
businesses would consider? Why would you want that brand association?
Sadly,
the digital era has brought with it an escalation in spamming and other
distasteful practices. Now that e-mails, text messages, tweets and
instant updates can be sent on a huge scale at minimal cost, even those
who should know better are joining the game with gusto.
This
leads to some unfortunate players on the field. I refuse to join
LinkedIn, for instance, for as long as it appears in front of my face
uninvited in the form of relentless email invites. I look on with
concern at Google+, which finds ever more unsavoury ways of forcing me
to join and participate in its social network. I like Gmail; I like
YouTube; but I would prefer to decide for myself whether I like Google+.
Google, however, is making it increasingly difficult
for me to use the products I like unless I participate in a product I’m
not sure about.
As Chris Taylor, head of tech site
Mashable’s editorial team pointed out recently, you can’t force people
to attend your party. You should make the party worth attending in the
first place.
These tactics are used even more badly
here in Kenya, where top telcos have been busy sending relentless spam
messages, as well as forcing people to join premium services they never
asked to join. Crappy text messages start arriving on your phone, which
you pay for.
The only way to stop them is to ‘opt
out.’ But why on earth should you opt out of something you never wanted
in the first place? This is just a bad practice, one that reputable
firms should never get involved in.
Good business is
not done by forcing people to listen to you, or invading their private
spaces. It is not done by tricking them into buying. It is not done by
cashing in on the gullible few while annoying the hell out of the silent
majority. But too many businesses find these practices acceptable,
because they build numbers in the short term.
It
doesn’t last, though. In the long run, only adding genuine value to the
lives of your customers allows you to survive. The only viable long-term
business strategy I know of is to put the customer first, and to allow
the customer to protect you and stave off competitors. That’s a far cry
from invading customers’ privacy and insulting their intelligence.
Create and run good businesses. Offer unmatched value. And then watch the customers invite themselves to your party.
www.sunwords.com
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