Summary of Silverpop Survey and White Paper

Silverpop surveyed 400 consumers age 18 to 55 to find out what they think about spam. Survey results show a broad variance in how spam is defined by consumers. 53% consider spam "email I didn't subscribe to receive" while 35% consider spam to be "email from any commercial entity.” The 35% group is the one that direct marketers need to be most concerned with. They're irritated and ready to click the "mark as spam" button at the first inclination that they've received something they didn't ask for.

• 84% of respondents said they were receiving the same amount of spam (or more) than they were last year. Many people use multiple email accounts or throw away email addresses to help reduce the volume of spam.
• 76% said that when they reported messages as spam, the message was one they felt they had never registered to receive.

Surprisingly, there is a high level of confusion regarding what happens when the spam button is clicked. 68% thought their email provider would block a company's message from the inbox while 67% didn't care if hitting the spam button blocked senders' emails from reaching people who really wanted to receive them. Not surprising is the fact that the ultimate power over your email marketing efforts rests with your recipients.

Silverpop provided the following strategies to reduce spam complaints:

• Don't delay in sending an email after opt-in.
• Only send what they ask for.
• Provide a clear and easy-to-use, opt-out mechanism. 
• Don't send too often or too infrequently. 
• Make sure subscribers recognize your message. 
• Practice good list hygiene.

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