Don't Be THAT Marketer

Look, I get it. We all have to make a living, and marketing is an important part of commerce.

I really enjoy watching businesses succeed, and small businesses even more so. EFFECTIVE marketing is often crucial to that success.

On the OTHER hand, anything can get OUT of hand.

Lately, I have been barraged with offers to provide me with services and products. Some are cold contact emails, some are the result of connecting on LinkedIn.

Most of my new LinkedIn contacts quickly and politely acknowledge when I politely tell them no.

In some cases, I am not a strategic fit for their services; in others, I am not interested right now, but I'll keep them in mind if the situation arises.

Most of these providers understand and respond with a polite "thank you." We remain connected. Maybe we'll do business one day.

A few of these providers are more insistent. Demanding a "conversation to assess my situation" does not work. I have little patience for such tactics.

Cold contact email is another issue. Again, I realize we are all just trying to make a living, but no one OWES you a response when you cold contact them as a prospect. If they don't respond, MAYBE follow up once, then go away. You are wasting your time and harassing the recipient.

I have noticed a few trends recently:

One trend is a steady stream of emails purporting to come from successively higher levels in the hierarchy, with each email proclaiming how impressive you are. This may work for some, but it has a distinctly unpleasant odor as far as I am concerned.

Another trend I have recently noticed is the marketer who tries to shame you for not responding to their NUMEROUS emails. Some even ask to be referred if you are not the correct person to contact. Again, as a cold contact, no one OWES you a response or a lead to someone else inside or outside their organization.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with trying to get to the right person; that's precisely what you need to do. How you go about that is the issue.

Something else I have noticed a few times lately are very nice, professionally worded emails that I decide to respond to -- only to have my reply rejected by the email servers with the explanation that the "reply" address has been flagged and blocked for spamming.

Frankly, I do not believe in some of those cases that the sender is an intentional spammer. I believe instead the problem lies with their bulk email process.

A word of advice, if I may. Make sure your email list is targeted, not indiscriminate, and make sure you know how many emails you can send in a specific period without being tagged for spam. This is critical. Some email service providers vary their limit depending on whether the outgoing mail is via browser or SMTP; some vary their limit depending on the level of service you use (including free); others may have virtually no limit.

All of the practices mentioned here could actually cost you more than lost time. Some of these email recipients might actually convert in the future, but they won't if they see you as "that person who wouldn't leave me alone" or your email address has been flagged as a spammer.

In short, don't be THAT marketer.