Zenoss jobs mailing list: Mistakes to avoid
Oh, how unfortunate: Zenoss, most likely not by malice but because they were not paying close enough attention to social netiquette, committed a big no-no: they decided that everyone whose email address they had on record was to be automatically added to their new jobs-related mailing list, no confirmation required.
Of course, now people are — some pretty aggressively — complaining and demanding to be removed from the list, and this makes matters worse because their list server is configured so that all replies go out to everybody on the list.
In the process, these unhappy responders’ signatures with work phone number, etc, are in turn published for everybody to see/collect.
And, to make matters worse, their list server does not properly weed out out-of-office messages and these, too, have become part of the email storm.
So, how could you avoid the same mistake(s)?
- When launching a new mailing list, it’s OK to *tell* people about it but the list itself should be opt-in (ideally double opt-in), never opt-out
- Even so, make sure that all emails sent from your list server contain a prominent link allowing your users to easily unsubscribe
- Configure your list server properly! Have a professional marketer do it for you it that’s not your thing. Do not underestimate what could go wrong: this is real-time communication, you do not have a safety net.
Update: – June 18th
Uh-oh. What was, I am sure, a misguided act, is starting to elicit more “hateful” reactions. I hope the Zenoss people address the issue before things get too ugly.
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December 5, 2009 @ 3:36 am
Thanx these are very usefull tips, specially the idea of easy unsubscribiing. I guess most senders ‘forget’ about this important thing. They don’t realize that unhappy customer is worst than having none.