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I'm curious what people would think of this scenario: You have made a niche software product that targets a very specific kind of small business (hair dressers

by ssp 16y ago

I'm curious what people would think of this scenario: You have made a niche software product that targets a very specific kind of small business (hair dressers, say). The product is genuinely interesting to many of them; it will save them time and money. You have a big list of email addresses of such businesses, but no prior relationship with them. Is it okay to send all of them a one-time polite mail about the product?

arethuza 16y ago
As far as I am concerned it doesn't matter if it is polite or not - if someone doesn't have an existing relationship with me and they send a non-targeted email to me offering a product or service then it is spam. However, if someone contacts me with a targeted email that looks like they have actually given it some thought and explains where they got my details then I will give it some consideration and reply politely (even if it is to say "no" - which it usually is).
peteforde 16y ago
If you take the time to research every person on said list and construct an email to them instead of at them, then I don't see the harm. A good baseline test is whether you're working from a template or not — and the answer should be no. Of course, you might have some bits that you paste in that would be repetitive to type, but in general there's a world of difference between composing an email and targeting a campaign. Now, this might be OT but I have noticed that the most successful start-ups are run by an entrepreneur with a very specific unfair advantage: history/experience/connections in the target domain. That's not to say you won't pull it off, but if you have to cold email everyone you hope to sell to, perhaps you should considering partnering with someone that already knows the folks you'd be pitching. It seems obvious, but it's amazing how many folks are arrogant enough to think that they can walk into any vertical and take over.
- notahacker 16y ago
  I don't think legal templated emails are particularly harmful provided your targeting is sufficiently precise for the content to be relevant to most of the recipients even without you knowing explicit details of their individual circumstances "Are people more likely to actually express an interest in buying the product than unsubscribe?" is probably a good rule of thumb (and that goes for opt-in emails as well)
ericabiz 16y ago
As a marketer myself and someone who advises small business owners on this, you're far better off calling them than emailing them. First, with the right phone script, you'll get a much higher response rate. Second, you don't risk getting your email list account dropped because you bought a list and your subscribers didn't actually opt in to receive YOUR marketing messages. This especially applies in any "non-techie" industry such as the one cited (hair dressers). Non-techies are far more likely to hit "Report Spam" than to find the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each message.

by ssp 16y ago

arethuza 16y ago

As far as I am concerned it doesn't matter if it is polite or not - if someone doesn't have an existing relationship with me and they send a non-targeted email to me offering a product or service then it is spam. However, if someone contacts me with a targeted email that looks like they have actually given it some thought and explains where they got my details then I will give it some consideration and reply politely (even if it is to say "no" - which it usually is).

peteforde 16y ago

If you take the time to research every person on said list and construct an email to them instead of at them, then I don't see the harm. A good baseline test is whether you're working from a template or not — and the answer should be no. Of course, you might have some bits that you paste in that would be repetitive to type, but in general there's a world of difference between composing an email and targeting a campaign. Now, this might be OT but I have noticed that the most successful start-ups are run by an entrepreneur with a very specific unfair advantage: history/experience/connections in the target domain. That's not to say you won't pull it off, but if you have to cold email everyone you hope to sell to, perhaps you should considering partnering with someone that already knows the folks you'd be pitching. It seems obvious, but it's amazing how many folks are arrogant enough to think that they can walk into any vertical and take over.

notahacker 16y ago
I don't think legal templated emails are particularly harmful provided your targeting is sufficiently precise for the content to be relevant to most of the recipients even without you knowing explicit details of their individual circumstances "Are people more likely to actually express an interest in buying the product than unsubscribe?" is probably a good rule of thumb (and that goes for opt-in emails as well)

ericabiz 16y ago

As a marketer myself and someone who advises small business owners on this, you're far better off calling them than emailing them. First, with the right phone script, you'll get a much higher response rate. Second, you don't risk getting your email list account dropped because you bought a list and your subscribers didn't actually opt in to receive YOUR marketing messages. This especially applies in any "non-techie" industry such as the one cited (hair dressers). Non-techies are far more likely to hit "Report Spam" than to find the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each message.