I Love Spam! Mass Marketing Email is a Marketer's Dream

Some time ago one of your (CNet) editors asked me to write an article, which I did, called, "Why I Love Spam."

As you might imagine, many thousands of readers helped me with my love by sending me so many emails my account was blocked-overloaded by tens of thousands.

In that article and countless columns since then I have postulated that Mass Marketing Email (AKA Spam) was and is a "marketing lubricant" of the first order because it is a marketer's dream venue-low cost-no cost, virtually unlimited audiences, and low cost-no cost response mechanism.

What marketer wouldn't drool at this opportunity.

Spam laws and regulations, filters and other methods have all failed to address the basic problem; at virtually no cost, any marketer worth his salt will use an opportunity to reach "everybody."

What difference does it make if only one in 10,000 responds? The cost to acquire that order is negligible. Why do you think so many Nigerians have millions to offer us because of unfortunate plane crashes, or unclaimed bank accounts in England, or Spanish Eurolottery winners that we have become because of our Email address?

The cure? Simple.

MAKE EMAIL COST SOMETHING.

Give consumer Email accounts up to three thousand or so Emails a month at no charge, but charge even .01 cent (one penny)for each Email over the limit and 99% of Mass Marketing Emails (AKA Spam) will go away. Marketers would be forced to do what we all do in Direct Marketing; develop a prospect profile, research ways to find and talk to prospects, and create and test a Message which gets a positive response-an order.

The Direct Marketing Business Model absolutely provides the right solution to the Mass Marketing (AKA Spam) "problem."

Oh, and for what it's worth, any Marketing Strategy which can legally use email at the ridiculously low cost of today should be avidly pursued by any marketer, or they should get fired!

What's so hard? Getting agreement on an International Convention, which ICANN could absolutely create almost overnight by refusing Internet access to ISPs that don't agree (and then don't honor the Agreement). The Agreement itself? A simple requirement that participating ISPs in any country would charge for, or block, any Domain which violated the Agreement.

Don't Agree? Then no Internet access.

The Email charge virtually eliminates the Mass Marketing Email (AKA Spam) through purely economic coercion because those that do Email will have to have determined some hope of viability of their Email prospect list, and the ISP blocking of accounts insures compliance.

The development of targeted prospect lists is the reason for so many innovations like E-Newsletters on virtually every subject; relationship and subscriber lists for jokes, home improvements, medical information, and on and on. That works! And it leads to the holy of holies in Marketing, Affinity Marketing in the sense that even a tenuous relationship is better than none; even an oblique interest in related things may create a prospect (and an Email address) out of virtually thin air.

So, there is a solution to the millions of words written complaining about Email.

Guess what? It probably won't happen.

People, commentators, pundits, legislators would all rather talk about it than use a free market solution to deal with it.

Good luck with that!

Here's to Mass Marketing Email!