October 13, 2015 Now I Gotcha Marketing – The Poison Of The Single Opt-Out Option Marketing Share this post: I have long advocated that, core to one’s digital marketing strategy, one must focus on two components: website (as a hub) email list (for communications) It’s a very simple story. With the spiralling costs of social media (it’s widely accepted that you now have to pay to play) and the changing nature of the media landscape (most recently on ad blocking), any brand or business that does not have the above two facets buttoned down and central to their program will struggle in their digital marketing strategy. That said, there are some eager beavers out there who try to cut corners and rush to get results. I like to call it Now I Gotcha marketing. Gotcha Marketing Gotcha Marketing Gotcha Marketing is the mindset whereby marketers want to trap their visitor. Click To Tweet For example, they might avoid having any outgoing links on their website for fear of having any visitors, heaven forbid, leave their site. A second approach that is awful and awfully common is the sneaky opt-in clausing. In other words, brand marketers think that they can efficiently and effectively capture more emails by framing the opt-in with deceptive tricks. Outside of the involuntary sign-up (where there has been no permission given whatsoever and is not legal in most countries), the worst offender is the single opt-out option. The single opt-out option By way of definitions, the opt-out is where you are asked to tick a box if you do not wish to receive communications. The single opt-out means that there is no email of confirmation to ensure that the recipient is in full agreement of the sign up. Below is an example of the type of gotcha tactics that, in my opinion, are poisonous when it comes to building trust. The sign up for this particular conference comes with a set of choices for various workshops. Once you have selected the workshop, there is a CONTINUE button. Underneath that, if you are not careful, you will surely miss the opt-out clauses for three different mailing lists. Loss of respect This type of marketing is foul for a number of reasons. From a brand perspective, with such deception, you are announcing that you are NOT respectful of privacy Click To Tweet, despite (as in this case) claiming to be “committed to protect your personal information.” Secondly, the emails have a good chance of going directly into the spam bucket (especially if using a third-party software). Thirdly, if the person receives and opens the email and finds the content irrelevant, the brand will take a double hit in terms of brand trust and appreciation. Gotcha marketing is a thing of desperation. It is a remnant of the old style of marketing where customers were prisoners to the TV programming. Click To Tweet It has no place in my life. Thus I call it out. Your comments are welcome! NEWSletter Subscribe to Minter’s Bi-Weekly NEWSletter and receive a free copy of the exclusive and updated 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation Your Gift For Signing Up 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed! brand trust, deception, email list, email opt-in, gotcha marketing, marketing, opt in, opt in marketing, opt out, optin, privacy, single opt out Minter Dial Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, author & consultant on Leadership, Branding and Digital Strategy. After a successful international career at L’Oréal, Minter Dial returned to his entrepreneurial roots and has spent the last ten years helping senior management teams and Boards to adapt to the new exigencies of the digitally enhanced marketplace. He has worked with world-class organisations to help activate their brand strategies, and figure out how best to integrate new technologies, digital tools, devices and platforms. Above all, Minter works to catalyse a change in mindset and dial up transformation. Minter received his BA in Trilingual Literature from Yale University (1987) and gained his MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1993). His newest book Heartificial Empathy, Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence, bowed in December 2018 and won the Book Excellence Award 2019 as well as being shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2019. It's available in Audiobook, Kindle and Paperback. He is also co-author of Futureproof (Pearson, Sep 2017) and sole author of The Last Ring Home (Myndset Press, Nov 2016), a book and documentary film, both of which have won awards and critical acclaim. Minter has a new book on leadership, You Lead, How being yourself makes you a better leader, published by Kogan Page, that released January 2021. It's easy to inquire about booking Minter Dial here. View all posts by Minter Dial Previous post Next post
Gotcha Marketing - Email Newsletters Without Unsubscribe October 20, 2015 at 12:30 pm […] another in the series of “Gotcha Marketing,” this is a howler. By way of a definition, Gotcha Marketing is where marketers are too […]
Trick or Treat: Gotcha Marketing – Email Newsletters Without Unsubscribe | | Minter Dial March 9, 2020 at 5:10 pm […] another in the series of “Gotcha Marketing,” this is a howler. By way of a definition, Gotcha Marketing is where marketers are too […]