When marketers are marketing with email, they are often surprised when some of their email campaign delivery issues revolve around the privacy policies they put in place or of lack of privacy policies. While it is not hard nor it is mandatory, it is highly recommended to have comprehensive privacy policies in place.
To have an effective privacy policy that treats email subscribers with respect a company should follow the following suggestions
• Use plain and simple language that not only lawyers can understand but that we as people can as well. Using language that would be confusing and one that only my lawyer would understand makes me think twice about joining your email marketing list.
• Once a policy is put in place, it has to be respected and used by everyone in your organization to earn the trust of everyone signing up to receive email newsletters and email campaigns.
• The privacy policy should be included in the company’s website site map for the simple reason of having search engines find it. If your organization tends to stick by these privacy policies, there is no reason to hide them from the public. On the contrary, share it with the world to show them you are serious about the privacy concerns that clients may have.
• Always have a ‘contact us’ link. This is an easy way for email subscribers as well as ISPs to get in touch with your organization in case there are any questions or concerns about your privacy issues.
• Update your privacy policies when needed and always inform your clients and website members when you do so. Share with your email subscribers the information that your organization will be collecting and how it will be used or shared.
For example let your subscribers know if the organization is collecting the IPAddress, browser they are using, operating system being used, if they opt-in, email address, first and/or last name and so on.
• Make sure that all email newsletters as well as sign up forms are linkable to the privacy pages to show that these policies are taken very seriously.
• As times change, so will the public impression of what should be shared with companies and what should remain private. As these changes take place, it is a good idea to update the company’s privacy policies to reflect the times.
Once your privacy policies are updated, send an email to notify everyone on your list what privacy policies have been updated as well as give them an easy way to opt-out of future email campaigns if they do not agree with these new changes.
Putting the requirement of the ISP’s aside, a privacy policy is often times the first step an email marketer should take to help build trust with prospective list members. Clearly stating that email addresses will never be shared or sold, and that you take your list members’ privacy very seriously will help alleviate any fears prospective members might have when entering their personal information.
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