Is e-trawling finally coming to an end, or are we looking at just another colorful lifebuoy?

Originally appearing on LinkedIn

With about 350 BILLION emails being sent every day around the world the challenge of cutting through the pixelated noise is clear to most of us. That between 45% to 70% of these emails (depending on source online…) are qualified as #SPAM doesn’t help in any way shape or form when you are trying to get your message across. #Google and #Yahoo have now announced that by February, 2024, they will implement new rules of engagement hoping to stem the flow and stop the mind numbing e-trawling.

I call it e-trawling as that is the way I look upon SPAM and the effect it has. A massive amount of emails sent out without any particular aim, just like a fishing trawler lowering its net to blindly scoop up anything that comes its way on the ocean floor without care or regard for what it leaves behind. Annoying e-debris to clean up in your inbox at best, at worst utter destruction.

The rules of engagement moving forward aren’t crystal clear. Sure, following simple guidelines such as sending the emails from an authenticated domain and using best practices is one, another is to enable simple and clear unsubscribe options and lastly, and perhaps most importantly, make sure that the recipient actually wants to receive the email to begin with. From what I can gather any email ending up in your inbox that you don’t want or haven’t asked for can be labeled as SPAM which puts your company and its reputation at risk. I have been told that organizations sending out 5,000 emails or more per day need to make sure they have all their marbles in place as a mere 0.3% reported as SPAM is all it will take for Google and Yahoo to take action (various texts talk about bulk email and others do not). That means that if 15 out of 5,000 emails sent out from one company domain GLOBALLY are reported back as SPAM then you are in for some new treats, and not of the savory kind.

So, what can you do to avoid this? It is not like you can, or should cancel your e-mail accounts, they are part of your toolkit after all. However, there are multiple ways you can go about to ensure that you are on the safe side. For example:

- Establish a rapport with the people before sending them anything
- Do not send out unsolicited bulk emails
- Create and curate content that you can publish online that will draw your target audience in
- Learn how to engage with your audience with relevant content and become a trusted thought leader

The saying “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” comes to mind. In this case it is the e-impressions that can mess things up for you if you don’t learn from other people's mistakes and adapt to the new rules of engagement.

Adopt the thinking of a master angler and leave the e-trawler mentality to sink in its own wake and you will see and create real change. If you would like to have a chat about this, send me a DM.


#spamageddon #socialselling