Happy New Year and welcome to our many new subscribers!  We wish you a prosperous, abundant and most of all successful 2008.

And what a year it's shaping up to be for email marketing!  I've been watching email since its inception, have seen it struggle past growing pains and increased regulation, and am now happily witnessing it bloom into maturity.  Just look at some of the recently-published facts and predictions for this dynamic marketing channel:

• Jupiter Research predicts spending on email services to nearly double in the next four years from $1.2 billion in 2007 to $2.1 in 2012.
  
• Marketing Sherpa reports more than a quarter of their annual email survey responders say they will spend 1.5 times as much or more on email marketing as they did in 2007.
  
• Datran Media reports in its second annual marketing and media survey that 82.4% of companies are likely to increase their use of email marketing in 2008 vs. 2007.

If you have not already integrated email into your marketing mix, it's time (heck, it's past time).  With help from Synchronicity Marketing your existing program can be improved or a new program can be up and running quickly.

But first, be sure you understand the email playing field by understanding one of its core principles: Permission.  Read on for part 3 of this insightful look at the subject, and keep it in mind not just for your email program, but in all your marketing.

Together, let's make 2008 great! 

- Karen Talavera, President

(Click here to read Part I)  (Click here for Part II)

If you now understand or can at least appreciate the first four C's of Permission -Conscious Consent, Choice, Clarity and Confidence, you're ready for our final two: Control and Confirmation.

5. Control

Control as an aspect of permission has everything to do with offering your audience members control and nothing to do with trying to control them. Control as a dimension of permission means you put your list members in the driver's seat, allowing them control over their permission choices, access to and use of their data, and even the ultimate control to broaden, narrow, or end their relationship(s) with you.

Your target audience will truly be in control if you not only present them options for selecting, but also allow them to change their preferences regarding:

1. The types of communications they receive from you (alerts, reminders, announcements, offers, news, legal, etc.)
   
2. The channels by which they receive different communications
   
3. The data they've provided about themselves
   
4. The extent to which marketing permission as well as data is shared with parent companies, sister brands, partners and third-party advertisers
   
5. How their data is used
   
6. When and how they can leave a communication stream
   
7. When and how they can opt-out of previous choices

Restricting control and access to choice is a hallmark of not only email spam but also poorly-run affiliate marketing programs.  And while many marketers may find it operationally difficult to allow all the points of control listed above, those who offer control where they can will find their members and customers reward them not merely with appreciation, but loyalty.

6. Confirmation

The final step in any permission marketing process is confirmation.  Critically important to the opt-in process is confirming that a voluntary join action has taken place as soon as possible after it occurs.  In opt-in email where a member joins a list via a Web site this typically occurs via a return email confirmation message, immediately deployed to the email address owner, which does double or quadruple duty by:

• Verifying that the email address provided is correct and deliverable
  
• Restating log-in IDs and/or passwords if applicable
  
• Providing a link to a central preference or account management center, and an option for redress (unsubscribe) if the opt-in is invalid
  
• Including contact information for customer service or tech support
  
• And last but certainly not least, beginning the onboarding process with an initial offer.

The format of your confirmation should match the medium in which you're communicating. If you request an email address, even offline via a printed form or mail-in business reply card, confirm it has been added to your list via return email confirmation message. If you request permission to call or mail list members, remind them of their chosen preferences when you make that first call or send that first marketing packet.

Confirmation beyond initial sign-up should also be provided whenever a member modifies preferences, adds or deletes data, or unsubscribes.  Again, match the confirmation to the channel at hand.  Since significant preference and data control is now offered by many marketers through their Web sites, return Web pages, sometimes in conjunction with email confirmation messages, are a best practice when changes are being made online.

With a growing trend toward opt-in rather than traditional opt-out marketing being driven by consumer overload and environmental concerns, if you keep the Six C's of Permission in mind at each stage of your customer relationship building process you'll be at least a few - if not six - steps ahead of the game.

No doubt, permission marketing involves considerable fore-thought and planning which is what makes it both more complex and infinitely higher performing than opt-out approaches. For help on how to devise your cross-channel opt-in strategy, just ask.

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